‘6SpeedOnline’ Racers’ Star Season Comes to a Spectacular End
Drivers Jurie & Giordano and the team had a great season of Polo Cup Racing.
Bullion IT Racing closed off a splendid season of racing at a bruising finale at Zwartkops Raceway outside South Africa’s capital city Pretoria. Three-time race winner Jurie Swart arrived at championship decider within five points of the championship lead in the blue Bullion IT Polo. Rookie leader and winner last time out, Giordano Lupini was also still within striking distance of the title in the red car.
“We headed for Pretoria with everything to play for and just a few points off the championship lead,” Swart recalled. “I had won three races this season, but we’d been through a dry patch, so we were looking to finish in a flurry and hopefully steal the championship. “Bullion IT Racing threw everything we had at this one and did everything we could to be best prepared for Zwartkops!”
Teammate Lupini arrived at Zwartkops on a high after his maiden victory at home in Cape Town last time out. “I was absolutely delighted with my first win at Killarney,” Gio admitted. “We planned to maintain that momentum into the Zwartkops finale and with three races over the weekend, I was still within mathematical contention for an outside title. “That said, I was more focused on doing as best we could in each of the races, and to consolidate my lead among the first-year turbo Polo Cup drivers.”
Team Took Their Once a Season Joker Test
Jurie and Giordano both took their joker test at Zwartkops in the lead up to the final races. Polo Cup allows drivers to nominate only one away track to test at through the season, over and above their home track, but outside of the week leading up to the race. So the Bullion Boys chose to get their cars up to Pretoria, 850 miles north of their Killarney base to test on the Wednesday before the race. Both lads made good progress in practice although Jurie was still battling his mysterious misfire.
After the test, they parked their cars, flew home, and returned a week later to close off their 2022 campaign. It would prove a crunching season finale at a blisteringly hot Zwartkops. It took until after qualifying for the VW Motorsport Technical Officer to finally solve the lingering issue on Jurie’s car.
By when he’d scratched to sixth on the grid. Giordano meanwhile followed his plan to the tee and looked set to qualify right up front after topping final practice. Unfortunately, a late change in conditions caught the team out on set-up and Gio lost a ton of pace on his crucial first qualifying lap on new rubber.
“Zwartkops was tough,” Jurie explained. “I fought hard to clinch a championship third in the end, but it could have been so much better. “We had struggled to find a misfire in my car since two rounds prior.
“It’s something we had no control over and despite changing our engine and just about every other component over the past three months, VW Motorsport finally figured out we had a problem with a tiny module in my car on Saturday morning! “Then with that finally sorted, I suffered heatstroke on Saturday, so it really was a challenge. “I could barely stand after the race.
Zwartkops Races were Crunching to Say the Least!
“The races went well enough though. “I compromised my first heat by slipping wide and fought back from there. “We went into that final race needing three points to catch and beat Dawie van der Merwe to that title third. “Miraculously his car had lost all the pace it had since East London. “So I got past easily enough this time! “Then I must thank Gio for doing the team job. “He got ahead of Dawie and helped a couple of guys behind him to get past Dawie too, for me to sneak that championship third! “Congratulations to Clinton Bezuidenhout on the title and thanks to my race engineer Andrew Goslett and my dad for all their effort. “And special thanks to Bullion IT for a brilliant season of racing!”
“Unfortunately, we made a small tire pressure miscalculation in falling temperatures before qualifying. “That saw us stuck in the mad mid-pack for the rest of the weekend,” Giordano reported. “We live and learn so that’s another important one down to experience! “Zwartkops was hot and hard, I had three great dices, and I was happy to help Jurie to get those extra points in the final, while still protecting my sixth place. “So, overall, it wasn’t a bad weekend.
“Looking back, we had a mighty good first season in turbo Polo Cup. “I am absolutely delighted with my maiden race win in my first year, as well as two pole positions and three fastest laps. “Only two other drivers have won in their first season since the change to the turbo cars six years ago, so I’m chuffed with that! “There are so many people to thank, but most of all to Bullion IT, my race engineer Nian du Toit, my dad and all of our backers, fans and sponsors, for all the support!”
2022 Season Was a Great Adventure for the Entire Team
All in all, it has been a huge adventure for Giordano, who returned to racing with his grand a race bargain Jetta early in 2021. He was quickly on the pace and won several times as he attempted a come from behind GTi Challenge championship. Failing only in the last straight. Gio’s success convinced sponsors, tellerless cash sales device experts Bullion IT, to back his step up to Polo Cup. It was decided to bring Polo Cup veteran in Jurie Swart in as teammate. It was to be a two-car team at the track, albeit with each car prepared by individual Cape Town outfits.
It started brilliantly. Giordano scored a sensational people position at his Killarney home track season opener. Jurie took two race wins on the day. Swart won again in round 2 and led the championship through to midseason. Both cars sat consistently inside the championship top six all the way.
Giordano then delivered another pole position and a splendid maiden win at the penultimate round at Killarney, before bruising Zwartkops saw Jurie end up third and Gio sixth in the chase, and best of the first-year drivers for the season.
It Was a Great Season in So Many Ways
Although the title ultimately eluded Jurie Swart, he won three races through the season. He also set a fastest lap en route to third in the championship in his blue Bullion IT Polo. Rookie teammate Giordano Lupini took a maiden win along with two pole positions and three fastest laps. Gio went on to a first-year turbo Cup title sixth in the red car.
It was a great season in so many ways, And the culmination of a great two-year racing adventure. Where to next?
Photos: Bullion IT Racing