Subaru Kyalami Race
Team Sasol Subaru Media Release Sunday, 28th June 2009
Team Sasol Subaru debuted their new Impreza STI hatchback and immediately set the proverbial cat amongst the pigeons, recording the fastest time in the first practise session on Friday afternoon ahead of raceday – and more was to come in rounds nine and ten of the Bridgestone Production Car Championship.
Practise and Qualifying: It was a dream start for the Sasol Subaru Impreza STI hatchback, setting the fastest time, 0.077 seconds ahead of Robert Wolk’s BMW and nearly two tenths faster than Melvill Priest’s Audi. The second session, run in the late afternoon, produced a quicker time than session one but left a frustrated Olivier with the eighth fastest time. “The car felt really good initially. I was really impressed. It proved the point that Derrick, Petrus and I could and did build a car that’s on a par with anything in the series, considering the fact we had conducted limited testing, specifically at Kyalami – a whole 45 minutes prior to the race weekend. I expected to gain half a second in the second session but I don’t know where it went”, said Dawie.
Crunch time was the official qualifying session; Saturday morning. Dawie ran four laps and setthe second quickest time at 1:51:763, just 0.066 seconds off pole position. The qualifying run was ultra competitive with the top eight cars separated by a mere half a second. Dawie was ecstatic. “I would have been happy with a top six place and over the moon with a top four. On my first hot lap, the rear tyres hadn’t heated up sufficiently and I lost control in turn two at over 180km/h. I went off and thought I had damaged the tyres so backed off. The guys came on the radio and said I was fourth. I knew I had three or four minutes left and did one more flying lap which was good enough for second. This was important for the team; it’s about proving a point. I’m cautiously optimistic for the race”
Race 1: Production Car racing provides plenty of thrills and spills and Kyalami provided the spectators with top drawer spectacle and entertainment. Dawie was well up with the race leader Johan Fourie’s Audi and after a couple of laps was looking to take the lead. As Dawie tried to pass Fourie he was on the wrong side of the track and ran wide, allowing Priest’s Audi into 2nd place. The yellow flags came out for an incident and as Dawie slowed - as drivers are required to do – Michael Stephen’s Engen Audi sailed past. With the green flag displayed, Dawie set about taking back his position but the Subaru Impreza safety car was deployed, slowing and bunching the field. “Three guys came past me; both Engen Audis and Poulter’s Nissan”, said an irate Dawie after the race. This pushed the Sasol Subaru Impreza STI down to 6th at the finish. After discussing the matter with race officials, Dawie was awarded 5th place. “We should have finished third, had the correct protocol regarding the incident been enforced by race control”.
Race 2: With the grid inverted from race 1’s result, Dawie started in 4th place and rocketed the Impreza STI into 2nd place by the second corner. He was chasing down the race leader Anthony Taylor (BMW) but another yellow flag and safety car incident brought the race to a temporary halt while the track was cleared. As the Impreza safety car peeled off into the pits at the end of lap 4 the race was on and Dawie had the legs on Taylor’s very quick BMW. He takes up the story. “I took a tighter line into Clubhouse Corner on lap five and out dragged Taylor to the first of the Esses’. As I moved alongside him, he turned in more sharply than I expected and we made contact. The knock broke my tie rod end and caused Taylor to spin out in front of me. It was a hairy moment avoiding him but my race was run”. Dawie continued: “Taylor vigorously defended his position and I’m very disappointed for our supporters, sponsors and the team, who have worked hard for the past five months building this car. At least Subaru is adding some spice to what was becoming a rather dull series”.
Grant Bowring, Sasol Subaru Team Manager: “Even though the results don’t reflect our achievements, we’ve demonstrated the new car’s potential and pace and there’s undoubtedly going to be fireworks for the rest of the season. Subaru is back with a vengeance; you could say our competition was both shaken and stirred! There’s a long way to go with the Impreza STI hatchback, with the advances in technology and visible advantage over the old sedan very clear and evident. This is a car that was designed to perform from the outset. On Monday, we’ll start the development wheel rolling and further fine tune what is definitely one of the few cars in the series that will keep heads turning and tongues wagging!”
Dean Somerset, Sponsorship Manager – Sasol: “It was a tough day at the office for Team Sasol Subaru. The hard work has paid off for the team if you look at the Impreza’s performance out of the box. There were externalfactors that prevented Dawie from achieving the results that he demonstrated the team is capable of producing, and I’m satisfied that Team Sasol Subaru’s future prospectswill deliver the results that this weekend’s racing confirmed are possible. It’s going to be a very exciting second half of the season”. Team Sasol Subaru would like thank its existing sponsors, Paint Technics, Ferodo, City Lodge and DC Design for their patience and hard work over the last 6 months, and further welcome three new partners, SAX shocks, Cowan Signs and Handel Street Upholsters. The next outing for Team Sasol Subaru is the non-championship Soweto street race onSunday 19 July.
ENDS Issued by : Subaru Southern Africa
Name : Grant Bowring
Position : Team Manager
E-mail :
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Contact : 011 608 0116
Websites : www.subaru.co.za
www.subarupreowned.co.za
www.subaruconnect.co.za
