Difficult season for Castrol MINI ends with points for both drivers in final round A podium finish for Lee Thompson in the opening 10-lap sprint race and sixth place in both the sprint and the 15-lap feature races for Mandla Mdakane were the spoils of the Castrol MINI John Cooper Works team in the final round of the Bridgestone Class T Production Car Championship at Zwartkops Raceway west of Pretoria on November 1. As has been the case almost throughout the eight-round championship, the day’s results were not a true reflection of the two-car team’s talents and efforts. In fact, for the experienced and versatile Thompson it has been “probably the most frustrating and least rewarding season I can remember”. Despite his undoubted talent – he posted three wins during the season, two sprint races and one double-points feature race, six podium finishes, a pole position and two fastest race laps – the former national Formula Vee (2002) and Volkswagen Cup (2007) champion was sidelined by technical issues and accidents, recording seven pointless outings out of 16 races. “When the force was with us, we were hard to beat,” said Thompson. “The Castrol MINI is an awesome package and the ADF Motorsport team managed to get more pace and all-round performance out of it with every race meeting. This weekend was a good example of the good and bad we’ve had to endure this season. We qualified well enough in fourth place for the opening sprint race, just four tenths of a second behind the fastest time. There’s not much opportunity in the short sprint to improve on your grid position, unless you make a demon start and catch your rivals on the back foot. I managed to make up a place by the end of the race and finished a respectable third. “I started from fourth place on the grid in the feature race and was pushed wide into turn two at the start, but managed to fight my way back to the leading bunch. Then, at around half distance, I hit another car and punctured the MINI’s radiator. Only seven laps completed in the final race of the season – very disappointing. The team deserved better.” Young team-mate Mandla Mdakane, who joined the team for his first taste of national championship production car racing in round four, struggled to get a good set-up for his car in Friday’s practice and had to settle for sixth place in Saturday’s qualifying. His pit crew managed to make some improvements before the first race and he reported a trouble-free outing to sixth place. He, too, has had more than his fair share of problems in his debut season in the senior ranks and has led races on occasion only to lose out under unfortunate circumstances. And so it was at Zwartkops in the final race of the season. He was forced to pit with a loose wheel while leading the feature event, losing an almost certain race win in the process. “It’s been an awesome experience,” said the 20-year-old. “Competing with established veterans like Lee, Gary Formato and Graeme Nathan, all multiple champions, has been a dream come true and I can’t wait to get back into action in 2015.” ADF Motorsport team principal Donovan van Heerden commented: “Both drivers gave it their all and deserved better results at the end of the day. When things went well, we were fast and successful. Lee and Mandla showed a lot of character despite their hardships and lost opportunities. We all know just how good Lee is and now we have a new star in our midst. Mandla impressed us, with his determination and his skill. He is a winner.” Van Heerden also paid tribute to BMW South Africa for entrusting their MINI John Cooper Works racing programme to ADF Motorsport. “The MINIs have a massive presence on the track and have been well received by the fans around the country. This is a brand that adds value to the sport and which, we believe, has benefitted enormously from its exposure in race trim.” #TeamCastrolMINI #CastrolSA #MINISA #Playstation #LeeThompson #MandlaMdakane
Posted on: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 06:00:00 +0000
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