The temperature is rising, as is the intensity of the King of the Hill qualifying sessions – but it’s leading to technical problems for several of the top competitors, with three major dramas playing out so far.
Franco Scribante’s Nissan R35 GT-R had a gearbox problem in Q5 after the team dialled up the engine power to maximum boost. The transmission lost drive after hitting one of the bumps particularly hard at the end of the uphill straight, and he was unable to complete his run. Scribante’s team is hard at work trying to diagnose the problem to see if he can continue.
Reghard Roets made even less progress, as his first full-power run appears to have damaged the front diff as he pulled away from the start line in his R35 GT-R. A differential replacement is impossible as the engine has to be removed, so the BB Motorsport crew is busy looking at the feasibility of running the car in rear-wheel drive.
Meanwhile, Wolk has failed to complete all three of his last qualifying attempts due to a battery voltage problem on the Pillbeam MP58. The team changed the battery for Q5 but the niggles continued and he stopped on the hill once again.
Dawie Joubert led the overall times and class B yet again (38.346 sec), with Ian Schofield topping class C (41.828 sec) and JP van der Walt remaining dominant in class A (42.759 sec).
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Release compiled by Colin Mileman (082-897-6145 colin@milemanmedia.co.za)