The 2022 South African National Championship Motor Racing Extreme Festival may be done and dusted, but there are always a number of interesting statistics to look back on. Not least Dunlop’s Sport Maxx Pole Position Awards through the season, and who won biggest.
On the face of it, the top pole position dogs played out according to championship status. Champions, Robert Wolk and his Chemical Logistics Toyota Corolla topped the Global Touring Car qualifying pops, Leyton Fourie’s Universal Polo took the most SupaCup poles, and Clinton Bezuidenhout was the top Comp Care Polo Cup pole man in his Stu Davidson car.
Digging deeper reveals a few fascinating anomalies. Wolk took three GTC poles, Bradley Liebenberg was on pole twice in his Hype Energy Drink Golf GTI. Toyota Gazoo Corolla duo, Saood Variawa and Michael van Rooyen took one GTC pole position apiece. Wolk won five GTC races, Liebenberg and Michael van Rooyen three each, Julian van der Watt’s Chemical Logistics Ford Focus took two wins and Variawa one. Wolk took the title from Variawa, van Rooyen, Liebenberg, van der Watt and Investchem RDSA Audi driver Andrew Rackstraw.
Moving on to SupaCup, only three drivers qualified on pole position to cash their Dunlop cheques in 2022. Fourie took four of those, vice-champion Jeffrey Kruger took two poles in his Team Red Supa Polo and Perfect Circle racer Keagan Masters one. Fourie won six races, Kruger four, Masters two and brothers Keegan and Jason Campos one each. Fourie took the SupaCup title from Kruger, Keegan Campos, Arnold Neveling, Masters, and Jason Campos.
CompCare champion Bezuidenhout was one of four Polo Cup drivers to put it on pole position in 2022 with three Superpole successes. Bullion IT Racing lad Giordano Lupini took two more and Universal drivers Charl Visser and Dawie van der Merwe were on pole once each. Bezuidenhout won five races, Bullion IT driver Jurie Swart and van der Merwe three apiece, Angri Racing lad Tate Bishop two and Visser and Lupini one win each. Bezuidenhout was champion over Visser, Swart, van der Merwe, Bishop, and Lupini.
Overall, Leyton Fourie benefited most from Dunlop’s Sport Maxx Pole Position Awards. He took R10,000 home through the season. Robert Wolk and Clinton Bezuidenhout each pocketed R7,500 through the year, and Bradley Liebenberg, Jeffrey Kruger and Giordano Lupini respectively raked R5,000 in. Saood Variawa, Michael van Rooyen, Keagan Masters, Charl Visser and Dawie van der Merwe all won R2,500 worth of Dunlop pole position money through the year.
“Dunlop is delighted to have won every race in South African National Global Touring Cars, SupaCup and CompCare Polo Cup in 2022,” Dunlop Sumitomo Rubber SA CEO Lubin Ozoux smiled. “We supply and support competitors in the country’s top national circuit racing formulae and will long continue to prove Dunlop’s performance tyre advantage through South African racing. “Congratulations to all our pole men, race winners and champions.”
