Julian Fameliaris (Lube-Net / Di Matteo Racing Chevrolet Corvette) emerged as the winner in the only heat that was held in the fifth round of the 2024 Mobil 1 V8 Supercars season. The event, which took place at Killarney International Raceway in Cape Town on 9 and 10 August, was run in cold conditions under skies that eventually delivered on their promise of rain.
Killarney has regularly been a happy hunting ground for Terry Wilford (Fuchs Lubricants Ford Mustang), and, combined with the work done on his car during the winter break, it proved to be that once again on Friday when he set the fastest lap time of the day in the practice sessions. Things didn’t go as well for his dad, Larry, who suffered brake failure on his Fuchs Lubricants Ford Falcon while heading into Cape Town corner and slammed into the barriers on the outside of the circuit. While Larry emerged unscathed, the same cannot be said for his car.
The track was dry for Saturday morning’s qualifying session, where Fameliaris took advantage of the new tyres he had available to claim pole position from Terry Wilford by just over half a second. Thomas Reib (Mobil 1 / Café 9 Automotive Chevrolet Lumina) was next up alongside Franco di Matteo (NHR Mining / Di Matteo Racing Jaguar XKR). Despite taking his maiden win of the season last time out, Warren Lombard (PepBoys Automotive Ford Mustang) could only manage fifth place. He lined up alongside the first of the competitors in the local all-APV347is V8 Masters series, Sean Moore (Zeigler Logistics). Four of the local V8s filled the next two rows of the grid, Jason Ibbotson (Autohaus Angel) and Rui Campos (Campos Transport) on the fourth row and Ken Finneran (Blockkoin) and Gary Thompson filling row five. Then came Sam Dahl (Arc Pro Tech Ford Falcon) alongside Larry Wilford, who had borrowed one of the local APV347is cars. GT2 competitors Steve Herbst (PREI Instrumentation / PPG Coatings / QI Systems Chevrolet Corvette) and Auke Campaan (Hurricane Automotive Ford Mustang) rounded out the grid.
By the time the first race got underway, the light drizzle that had begun falling intensified, making the track very slippery for the slick-shod V8s. A couple of early off-track excursions shuffled the running order, but Fameliaris made the most of it, opening up an almost four-second gap at the end of the opening lap. However, he couldn’t build on that, as the red flags came out on the following lap after Campos and Ibbotson tangled in turn two, leaving fluid and debris all over the circuit.
When the race re-started a few hours later, a somewhat reduced field took to a properly wet track. Fameliaris, who had a new set of rain tyres available to him, completely dominated the race, running five or more seconds a lap quicker than anyone else. Behind him, Reib was the best of the rest. He led Larry Wilford and Moore home. In a spare car, Ibbotson was fifth ahead of Lombard, who took third in the GT1 class. Next up was Thompson, another local driver, ahead of di Matteo. Finneran and Dahl rounded out the top ten.
Race 2 was rescheduled to end the day’s Extreme Festival programme. With the daylight fading rapidly and the rain intensifying, the decision was made to abandon the second heat on safety grounds.
Nicole Jooste, African Group Lubricants’s Marketing Manager, summed up the short but action-packed race day. “It is a pity that our fly-away event turned out being the one with the least amount of competitive track time, especially when taking into account the enormous anticipation from the Cape Town crowd, who are known to be fanatical in their support of the Mobil 1 V8 Supercars. However, safety does take priority; therefore, we agree with the decision to cancel the second race. That said, the short show of South Africa’s most powerful circuit racing series provided an excellent display of the skills required to succeed in this field. African Group Lubricants also wants to convey our sincere thank you to the V8 Masters series, not only for adding to the spectacle but also for assistance in getting Larry into a car. One of the most disheartening things for any driver is to travel to an away round only to be out of contention before the business end of the weekend starts. However, our friends in Cape Town showed us the true spirit of sportsmanship.”
The Mobil 1 V8 Supercars competitors return to Gauteng for the next championship round, which will take place at Zwarkops Raceway on September 13 and 14, 2024.