High-octane racing at Tony Rust race tracks

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LOTTERING

The likes of the youthful Mark Sternagel raced against more senior drivers like Alan Martin and Richard Slamet. Sternagel kept the spectators on their feet, with his powerful BMW M3 Turbo flashing around the Tony Rust Raceway at breakneck speed, followed by Slamet in his yellow BMW and the well-known trademark white and green VW Golf of Martin. From the start, the leading three were the favourites to finish the races, but the question was who, as motorsport is very unpredictable and anything can happen.

Sternagel's hope of taking the lead throughout the race after he clocked not only a personal best around the tracks, but also the Tony Rust best with a time of 63,72 seconds, was dashed when he lost a tyre in heat 2 that cost him dearly.

Speaking to The Namibian after the race, Sternagel described the day as wonderful and successful.

“I managed to break my own and the track record, but sadly in heat 2 I got a puncture in my left rear tyre. However, overall, I'm happy and the car behaved well.” Sternagel said.

Despite failing to finish heat 2, he ended in second place, with 18 points to his name in the supercar category.

Slamet, the winner in the superclass, did not have a smooth race either, as his car experienced technical issues with some turbo lagging in the third and last heat.

“In the last heat, during the third lap, my car's exhaust broke just in front of the turbo, leaving me without any boost. So, I had to nurse the car back to the pits to avoid any damage to the engine.” Slamet told The Namibian.

Despite the mechanical problems experienced, Slamet ended in first place in his class, with a total of 19 points – one more than Sternagel.

Alan Martin, a legend in the motorsport fraternity, ended in third place after trying to capitalise on Slamet's limping car during the last heat but the more powerful BMW was too much for Martin's VW. However, Martin did not give up until the chequered flag indicated the day was over.

“When I saw that Slamet had a small problem, I had to capitalise on it and see if I can take him though he is way out of my league.” Martin said.

Martin added that he is excited to be back after his recent accident at the same tracks, which left his racing car a total wreck. However, due to the high safety standards and equipment in the racing cars, he walked away with minor injuries and could soon bounce back.

Other results of the day:

Clubmans Class D: Micheal Rust in his Volvo

Clubmans Class D: Ewald Bisschoff with 21 points, Wayne Rust 19 points and Micheal Strydom with 9 points.

Hein Bisschoff took the honours in the X-class of the Clubmans race with a total of 12 points.

Despite stiff and fierce competition on the tracks, it is a different ball game off the tracks, as the competitors share and give each other mechanical advice, tools and even spare parts to their competitors to return to the tracks. Something unique to local motorsport as the saying goes, “all for the love of sport”.

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