Julian Fameliaris took another step closer to taking his maiden Mobil 1 V8 Supercars title this past weekend (25-27 August) when he won two of the three double points-paying races at Kyalamii Grand Prix Circuit.
Confident with his pace on Friday, he set the second-fastest time in Saturday morning’s qualifying session. Saturday’s only race, the first of the weekend, saw him occupy second place for a large portion of time before taking the lead on Lap 6. His lead was, however, cut short abruptly when an electrical issue forced him to retire his Lube-Net Chevrolet Corvette. Having completed two-thirds of the race distance, he was classified in fifth place despite the race marking his first failure to complete the entire race distance in 2023.
With the repairs conducted, Fameliaris took to the grid in Sunday morning’s race, determined to take back the points he sacrificed on Saturday. Pole starter Thomas Reib had a spin, while early leader Terry Wilford retired. This saw Fameliaris battling for the lead with Mackie Adlem and taking the position at the half-distance mark, from where he kept his record of a race win per round in 2023 intact.
The afternoon’s final race saw him jostling for the race lead with Ben Morgenrood. While the latter went on to take the win-on-track, he was not competing in the GT class. Fameliaris took his first double win and extended his lead to 63 points over his nearest rival, Mackie Adlem, with two rounds to go.
“Saturday was a bit of bitter one, but we came back with all guns blazing on Sunday morning” said Fameliaris. “All in all, we had an excellent weekend at Kyalami (Grand Prix Circuit), which does take a bit of pressure off us going into the final two rounds at Zwartkops Raceway. The on-track battle with Ben, one of the legends of South African motorsport and the Mobil 1 V8 Supercars series, is certainly a highlight. Thank you to everyone who made this weekend possible and who supported us.”
The penultimate round of the 2023 Mobil 1 V8 Supercars Championship will take place at Zwartkops Raceway on 13-14 October.
Julian Fameliaris and the Mobil 1 V8 Supercars field would like to acknowledge and thank African Group Lubricants for making the 2023 season possible. For more information, please visit https://aglubricants.co.za/
Issued by Motorsport Fanatix on behalf of Julian Fameliaris