*For brand focused South African news and inspiring stories, visit NOWinSA.
Highlights:
- Xolile Letlaka, Stuart White, Mikaeel Pitamber win SA Endurance Nine-Hours of Kyalami driven by RACE!
- Pesty Racing wins V8 Roadster and Index of Performance National Championships
- Adjust for Sleep team hit with 20 second penalty, losing the race win
- Backdraft trio Robert Maudant, Mark Futcher, Denver Branders win Nine-Hours Index of Performance
Celebrated South African motorsport racer Xolile Letlaka and Stuart White claimed victory at South Africa’s most iconic circuit, the 2024 Endurance National Championship after taking victory at the Nine-Hours of Kyalami.
Mikaeel Pitamber drafted in as a third driver for the season-ending double-points race. The father-and-son team of Harm and Barend Pretorius won the inaugural V8 Roadster and Index of Performance National Championships in their Team Pesty Backdraft Roadster.
The Nine-Hours of Kyalami, proudly driven by RACE! was a frenetic race from the time the lights went out to unleash the 34-car grid until the chequered flag fell at 10pm.
Charl Arangies, the defending SA Endurance champion sprinted into the lead in his Bobcat Audi R8 LMS GT3 until pitting on lap 36 to hand the car over to his teammate Arnold Neveling who wasted no time re-gaining the lead from the Adjust for Sleep Nova of Nick Adcock, Michael Jensen, Charl Visser and Jonathan Thomas three laps later.
The Nova quartet won Friday’s Three-Hours of Kyalami and fought hard for the 100 points on offer by taking the lead once more on lap 51 when the Audi pitted for fuel. Neveling did a double stint but was forced to retire from the lead on lap 126 with alternator failure, ending a thrilling cat-and-mouse three-way battle.
The Nova was back in the lead with the Into Africa Lamborghini moving into second position, which was sufficient for Letlaka and White to win the championship if they brought the car home. With the Audi’s demise, White took the lead and held it through their next pit stop cycle, when Letlaka took over the driving duties.
Thomas jumped into the Nova and rapidly reeled in the green Into Africa car, setting a new Kyalami lap record in the process and finally took the lead on lap 164. Visser drove the final stint, keeping the Nova in front. With ten minutes remaining, the Proton safety car was called out once more and while driving slowly in convoy. Visser took off a glove to wipe his eyes, an incident that drew the race officials’ attention from the on-board camera and although crossing the line in first place, a 20-second penalty was issued for the infringement, and the Nova was classified second overall.
Taking third overall was the BBR Porsche 911 Cup team of Hein and Henk Lategan, Verissimo Tavares and Keagan Masters. The ultra-reliable Porsche developed a misfire and pitted just before 8pm where the team lost seven minutes while the spark plugs were changed; the BBR team had a sufficient cushion to remain in the final podium step which earned Hein Lategan and Tavares the overall championship runner-up position.
Fourth overall and winning class B was the Samlin Racing Trinity Lamborghini Gallardo Super Trofeo of Sam and Damien Hammond and Wayne Roach. The trio had an on-board jack issue which meant the car wouldn’t lift to change tyres during pit stops in the fourth hour of the race which cost them six laps as the technicians successfully worked to resolve the problem.
With 25 minutes remaining the Trinity Lamborghini made a splash-and-dash pit stop and had to be push-started as the car developed a starter motor issue.
Fifth overall and the class C win went to Samlin Racing’s MKT Tactical Volkswagen Polo SupaCup which ran like clockwork except for a mid-race fuel pressure issue which was traced to a malfunctioning fuel tank breather, which meant the car was short fuelled.
