Shoestring Jetta: Dispelling Motor Racing Myths One Win at a Time

Smashing Lap Record

All was not lost, however. Gio managed to obliterate the class lap record in the few laps when the Bullion Banhoek Jetta was still more or less selecting gears. So we were back on pole for race 2. Which meant that it was its action stations in the Nian Du Toit Racing shop as Nian, Chase and Munier spring to action with the angle grinder and welding kit. Sure enough, an hour later Gio was back in the shop and smiling after a quick test. The repaired lever and linkages were working again.

We also headed to the grid without penalty ballast, having finished outside of the top three. Giordano was cautious off the line, allowing race 1 winner Thompson to get ahead, but he was able to make a move round the outside through Turn 1 and into Turn 2. “Eden kept me on my toes all the way, but I managed to hold him off for the win! “Our single lap speed was great, but we lacked a bit of race pace, so I had to deal with pressure from Eden throughout.”

Still, our comeback race day had proven significantly better than we had expected. The car also showed great potential, which we immediately planned to unlock before race 2 in May. Not just because we planned to continue off a great start, but because we were also dead sure that our rivals would hit right back.

Back to the Drawing Board

So straight after the race, team boss Nian, race engineer Chase and Giordano studied the day and the data in their debrief and we set a course of action. Our build-up to the previous race was also compromised, so we plotted a program to deal with some of our concerns. The lads made a few changes, mainly around the back of the car and we were back at the track and testing the Wednesday after the race. And again, a week later. There were just three short weeks between races.

Our second race day once again dawned bright and crisp, but we knew we’d be up against it. Our chief rivals, four-time Class B champion and triple overall GTi Challenge champion Eden and his MAD team had also not rested since their shock second race defeat last time out. And then there was the tire conundrum.

We are only allowed eight new tires for the race season, which means we take two new front tires every second race. We also started at the second round, which meant that we carried our last race rubber over to this, being our second round. While our opposition would take two sticker tires on the front for this one…