- Reib and Fameliaris are separated by a single point at the head of the GT championship
- Campaan leads the way in GT2
The Mobil 1 V8 Supercars competitors will head to the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in Midrand from 11 to 13 April for the second round of their 2024 championship.
At the opening round, Thomas Reib (Mobil 1 / Café 9 Automotive Chevrolet Lumina) claimed victory in the first heat, narrowly beating the defending champion Julian Fameliaris (Lube-Net / Di Matteo Racing Chevrolet Corvette). Fameliaris bounced back in the second heat to take a hard-fought win ahead of Reib. The pair are separated by just a single point at the top of the championship, with Reib holding the advantage thanks to the point he scored at Zwartkops Raceway for taking pole position. The last time the Mobil 1 V8 Supercars visited the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in August last year, both Fameliaris and Reib experienced mechanical problems at various stages during the event. They will be hoping that things will run smoothly this time around.
Behind the leading duo, Warren Lombard (PepBoys Automotive Ford Mustang) lies third in the standings, thanks to two third places in the opening round. Additional development on the new Mustang should see Lombard give Reib and Fameliaris an even tougher fight. Terry Wilford (Fuchs Lubricants Ford Mustang) showed good pace at the championship’s opening round. Still, minor mechanical niggles limited his race results, leaving him tied for fourth in the championship standings with Sam Dahl. Last year, Dahl ended the Kyalami race weekend in third place overall. He will again make the trip from Finland and hopes to get a similar result with his ArcProtech Ford Falcon.
Two comfortable GT2 wins at Zwartkops gave Auke Compaan (Hurricane Auto Ford Mustang) the class championship lead heading into the second round. Contact between Shaun Holtzhauzen (Ford Falcon) and Steve Herbst (Prei Instrumentation / PPG Coatings / QI Systems Chevrolet Corvette) in the early stages of the first race at Zwartkops brought Herbst’s race weekend to a premature end. In contrast, Holtzhauzen managed to gather some points and sit in second place on the table. Both Holtzhauzen and Herbst will be out to close the gap to Campaan at Kyalami.
Nicole Jooste, African Group Lubricants’ Marketing Manager, looks forward to the series’ third visit to the iconic circuit in just under 14 months. “This coming weekend is already billed to be the biggest weekend in South African motorsport, and with the Mobil 1 V8 Supercars being spectator-favourite, we look forward to another exciting chapter in this year’s title battle.”
The Mobil 1 V8 Supercars will be out for their first race at 16h20 on Friday afternoon, with the second race due to take place at 13h55 on Saturday.
Spectator tickets can be purchased from Computicket.