The 2016 South-African ORE national championship moved to Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape Province at the Diaz RC Club for round 4 over weekend 1 and 2 June 2016. With the 3rd round being rained out, the challenge to gain championship points was on between the drivers. Some of the drivers could not make the event but quite a few of the top drivers in the country still participated.
The track and â tennis courtâ™ surface was foreign to most drivers and the fast technical layout proved to be great for racing. Free practise started on the Thursday but a cold front hit the coastal city on the Friday with hectic winds and cold rain. The rain stayed away for the weekend but the track surface gathered lots of sand and water, and the cold temperature made that traction very low. The first qualification round started late on the Saturday and the drivers were urged to do lots of practise laps to help clear the track of the fine sand that blew in from the coast.
1/10 Touring Modified
The championship leader Jason Hillcoat started well again with consistent runs with his Xray T4 and he took Q1 and Q2. It was evident though that there would great competition from Anderton Smith, Alex Ribeiro and Ashley Hurley. Anderton Smith manager to win Q3 and Q4 but Jason just beat him for TQ with a faster run. The finals were fast, very competitive with a small margin for error on the track due to the sand/dust picked up if the driver was of the racing line. Jason Hillcoat drove fast and consistent winning the first and second final. The rest of the podium was highly contested between Anderton Smith, Alex Ribeiro, Ashley Hurley and Willie Noordman. The podium was eventually completed by Alex Ribeiro and Ashley Hurley.
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The final results for the Touring Modified A-Main:
1. Dillon du Plooy - XRAY T4
2. Christo Hitchins
3. Abu Abrahams
1/10 Pro-Stock
With championship contenders Shaun Schutte and Deon Gove not attending the event, it left Alex Ribeiro dominating the event with a TQ and win. The local drivers Christo Hitchins and Marius van Niekerk had some great battles with Jonathan Wilken and Hennie Viljoen but they managed to take the remaining podium positions between the two of them.
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The final results for the Pro-Stock A-Main:
1. Alex Ribeiro (TQ) 2. Marius van Niekerk - XRAY T4
3. Christo Hitchins 4. Jonathan Wilken - XRAY T4
5. Hennie Viljoen
6. Morne vd Berg
7. Tiaan Erasmus
8. Michael Desmond
9. Marno vd Berg 10. Michael Rabe - XRAY T4
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The results for the Pro-Stock B-Main:
1. Eric Jansen 2. Jared Rabe - XRAY T4
3. Fanie Viljoen Snr
The Formula 1 class drew only 8 entries but it was great spectator value with these beautiful cars racing wheel to wheel. The low traction conditions were also not suited for these rear wheel-driven cars but some drivers managed to get good setup for the track. Pedro de Gouveia found a good setup with his Xray X1 and improved his car throughout the qualification rounds and managed to take TQ with great consistent driving. Marius van Niekerk kept him honest with good runs and qualified second on the grid. Pedro managed to win the finals followed by Marius and Tyronne Wilken managed a great run in the last final which gave him 3rd overall.
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The final results for the Formula 1 A-Main:
1. Pedro de Gouveia (TQ) - XRAY X1
2. Marius van Niekerk - XRAY X1
3. Tyronne Wilken - XRAY X1
4. Michael Rabe - XRAY X1
5. Jonathan Wilken - XRAY X1
6. Thinus Strubel
7. Jason Thompson
8. Gerhard vd Westhuizen
