Grats on the retirement Tony; hope it becomes you well
Initially I lamented the fact that it wasn't the 70's version of Kyalami, but as soon as I had (re)learned this newer version, I started enjoying myself - as Tony guessed I would
Did dread the Opel with its end-swapping tendencies, as this track seemed perfect to provoke it, with all the crests and dips. It was surprisingly benign however, only mugging me 3-4 times in the race...
Race 1 put me under heavy pressure from Dan for the first1½ laps, until he went slightly off. He was gaining on me afterwards, so had to keep pushing until he went off again, after which I didn't see him again and the rest of the race was relatively quiet.
Race 2 a lot more eventful. Surprised to be 3rd on grid in the Opel, but lost a place to another catapult start from Dan. Then at T4, he nudged Ziu into a spin, and in trying to avoid him, I lost the rear and spun. Last, bar from Dan who waited for Ziu, but I regained two places when I happened upon Roger & Bob milling around in a later corner. Dan soon on my case, so had to push - a little too hard and I spun under braking. Just got going again as Roger arrived. Chased Dan as hard as I could over several laps; we seemed very even over the course of a lap. Then it was Dan's turn to spin and I was up to 4th. After a few laps things were going great - gap to Dan was 11 secs and holding, and I started entertaining ideas about catching Tony, when I overdid it at T4, spinning into the gravel. By the time I had dug myself out, any thoughts about Tony evaporated, and I again had to work hard to escape the clutches of Dan, as I had thrown away most of the gap between us. Got a breather when he went off, but on the final lap I spotted Tony up ahead. Maybe he was in trouble ? Pushed a little harder, and promptly got a whack in the back of my head by the Opel, doing a half spin and losing another 6 secs.
Grats to Clive on the win, and Dan/Ziu/Tony on the other podium places in both races.
Grats also to Ziu on a Championship win that never seemed in doubt, and Geoffers on 3rd - would have been interesting if you had been here for the final
Thanks to Tony for the organizing and Kurt for all the results.