QVWI Motorsport’s Farhaan Basha clinched his sixth podium of the season and his second runner-up finish at the final round of the 2023 CompCare Polo Cup Championship hosted at Zwartkops Raceway on 14 October.
Basha, who finished fourth overall on race day, had put in a solid day’s practice on Friday but came up just short in the late afternoon’s qualifying, missing out on the SuperPole Shootout by less than two-tenths.
Starting from eighth for Race 1, Basha made up a few positions during a closely contested 10-lap race around the tight-and-twisty Pretoria circuit. Crossing the finish line in sixth, the Johannesburg driver recorded the third-quickest lap of the race, allowing himself a second row start for the final race.
Race 2 would see an initial red flag stoppage following an accident in Turn 1. Once the circuit was cleared, the race restarted in a single file rolling restart. From third, Basha attempted a pass on Nathan Victor into Turn 5 and then Turn 6 before he came under pressure from Charl Visser into Turn 8. Able to fend off the challenge of Visser, Basha opened up a slight gap and set after Victor. As he edged ever closer, he forced a mistake out of Victor on the final lap to finish in an impressive second.
“Other than not winning a race this season, we had a good season considering that we started somewhat on the back foot. As we ironed out some issues, our pace steadily increased over the season, and we were more competitive at every round. We came here this weekend on the back of a triple podium at Killarney hoping to clinch that maiden win. Unfortunately, we were denied that chance today. I want to thank QVWI Motorsport and everyone for the support this season. It has been quite the season and I’m truly grateful to everyone who helped make this happen,” stated Basha.
Published by: Motorsport Fanatix
Picture Caption: Farhaan Basha
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