information supplied by: Volkswagen Motorsport - Engen Volkswagen Cup 26 November 2011
A TOUGH season of Engen Volkswagen Cup racing finished at Zwartkops Raceway on Saturday with the final points decided for the 2011 season. At the head of the field for the year was Devin Robertson (2 – Sparco) who claimed the title two rounds ago.
 
In second place for the season is Kosie Weyers (3 – Engen Xtreme) with Kelvin van der Linde (31 – Ferodo Racing) taking third overall for the season. The toughest race day experience was saved, not for one of the championship contenders, but rather for a guest driver.
 
Lindsay Vine (M0 – Volkswagen Racing) of television motoring programme Ignition took to the track at the final round as an invited competitor – and she found out first-hand just how much of a handful these Volkswagen Polo Vivo race cars are. After two hard races Vine placed 24^th in race one and 25^th in the second race, achieving what many other guest drivers in this series have failed to do – finish.
 
“My day was amazing, I loved it and it was completely different to what I expected,” says Vine. “Historics is a hobby class and my car is slow so I’ve had to change tyres once in three years, not like Engen Volkswagen Cup where the tyre wear is a big factor in the racing. It was great working with a team that is responsible for preparing the car (which was done by Graham Nathan and the IndyOil team on race weekend), they just do everything.
 
“I could tell them what’s wrong and they fixed it,” says Vine. “The next time I went out its fixed and felt great. When we came out for first practise on Wednesday I did quite well – better than expected. Even at the slower speed, you don’t realise how much racing teaches you instinctively. I’ve been racing for three years in historics and it’s fairly slow but the instincts remain the same.
 
“I had some very hairy moments out there, but it is that instinct helped me fix it,” says Vine. “When I got involved in this Engen Volkswagen Cup race, everybody said that up front its argy-bargy and I was worried. That first race something happened on every lap, and that’s totally different to historics. Still, I managed to stick with the pack and it is wonderful having someone to chase – that made me push harder.”
 
Race one saw the champion battling to post a result better than 12^th. With fourth gear simply no co-operating Robertson had to concentrate on nursing the car home and, after running repairs were effected he made a strong comeback to claim third in race two.
 
Masters category leader, Lee Thompson (M30 – Ferodo Racing) made no mistakes, claiming both victories with Kosie Weyers (3 – Engen Xtreme) in second and Graham Donker (M2 – Mini / Maxi Panelbeaters) claiming third in race one and Robertson finishing third in the second race.
 
For Robertson the championship title was the culmination of a strong year behind the wheel and Weyers – with his dash to the line for second place – must also be happy with his performance. It is, however, the third place driver in the championship who has the most reason to celebrate. Fifteen year-old Kelvin van der Linde (31 – Ferodo Racing) finished third overall in his first season in the Engen Volkswagen Cup series.
 
“We had a good debut race at Kyalami and this helped to feel out the series and see what it is all about,” says Van der Linde. “I was confident for the rest of the season, that top three finish the first time out played a huge role in me being able to do it for the rest of the seasaon.
 
“I made a few rookie mistakes here and there,” says Van der Linde. “It has been a good learning season and near the end it has obviously paid off. This has been a fantastic end to the season, I couldn’t ask for better. We are still waiting for our first race win, but we’ll leave that to next season and see what happens.”
 
RACE RESULTS:
RACE ONE:

1. Kosie Weyers – (3 Engen Xtreme)
2. Kyle Barnes – (5 Gold Liberations)
3. Jeffrey Kruger – (24 Steamsure Combustion)

 
RACE TWO:

1. Kosie Weyers – (3 Engen Xtreme)
2. Devin Robertson – (2 Sparco)
3. Kyle Barnes – (5 Gold Liberations)

 
OVERALL:

1. Kosie Weyers – (3 Engen Xtreme)
2. Kyle Barnes – (5 Gold Liberations)
3. Bryan Morgan – (4 Greatsoft)

 
MASTERS:

1. Lee Thompson – (M30 Ferodo Racing)
2. Miguel Pasqualli – (M1 Engen Xtreme)
3. Graham Donker – (M2 Mini / Maxi Panelbeaters)

 
Ends Season finale sees plenty of action in Engen Volkswagen Cup series.doc (34kB)

Complete Release: Season finale sees plenty of action in Engen Volkswagen Cup series.zip (14,312kB)