Aldo Scribante Racetrack will see the Mobil 1 V8 Supercars brigade cross the midway mark of the 2023 championship, with Round 4 this coming weekend (16-17 June).
This marks the first visit to the Gqeberha circuit for the series since the 2019 season. As the coastal round of the 2023 Mobil 1 V8 Supercars championship, it will see a double points payout.
Points leader Julian Fameliaris (Lube-Net / Di Matteo Racing / Gavin Wilkins Racing) holds a 45-point advantage heading into the weekend. Thus far in 2023, he has finished every race on the podium and won three of them. 2019 was Fameliaris’ debut year, and he celebrated with a podium finish at the circuit. Fameliaris has come a long way since then, and he knows that a double victory will aid his quest to take his maiden Mobil 1 V8 Supercars title.
Thomas Reib (Mobil 1 / Café 9 Automotive Chevrolet Lumina) held onto second place on the points table in Round 3, despite a challenging weekend that sees him now within striking distance of his familiar rivals in the previous couple of seasons. Unlike them, Reib missed the 2019 outing but is eager to record an excellent result to chase down Fameliaris while keeping Mackie Adlem (Adlem Auto Jaguar XKR) and Franco di Matteo (Deltec Batteries / NHR Jaguar XKR) at bay.
Unlike Reib, Adlem and Di Matteo have recorded wins in 2023. Defending six time consecutive champion Adlem got himself in contention to move up a spot and will channel his form from his victorious 2022 South African Endurance Series outing at the circuit. Di Matteo won one of the races in 2019 and is eager to add wins to his tally of Phakisa Freeway. Only 16 points separate this trio heading into the weekend.
Warren Lombard (PepBoys Automotive / Bumper to Bumper Ford Falcon) is 23 points adrift of Di Matteo. While 2023 has seen a host of inspiring performances from him, he has missed out on a few good points-paying finishes. However, Lombard is one of the drivers who know how much of a make-or-break occasion a double points round can be. In 2022’s Cape Town visit, this was the weekend that effectively took him out of the running for the runner-up spot, and he will be eager for coastal redemption on his first visit to the circuit. Terry Wilford (Fuchs Lubricants / Schick Ford Mustang) trails him by 14 points and will aim to make up ground at the circuit that has always seen him do very well.
A surprise can be on the cards from Larry Wilford (Aurora Bearings / JET Chevrolet Corvette). The 2019 round catapulted him into fourth place on the points table, with a solid victory to start the day. Currently, Larry Wilford has 25 points from two starts.
The GT2 Championship, announced earlier this week, will commence at Aldo Scribante Racetrack. The weekend will see the Eastern Cape’s Bevan Schwarz (Chevrolet Corvette) returning from retirement. Schwarz’s last outing in the series came in 2021’s season opener, but he has also kept himself competitive in the Border Motorsport Club Modified Saloons championship after that. Steve Herbst (PREI Instrumentation / PPG Coatings / QI System Chevrolet Corvette will also migrate to the new class. Herbts occupies seventh place on the Mobil 1 V8 Supercars points table with 52 points.
Nicole Jooste, Marketing Manager for African Group Lubricants, looks forward to the first Eastern Cape Round of the Mobil 1 V8 Supercars championship in four years. “It will be excellent to have both African Group Lubricants and the Mobil 1 V8 Supercars back in Gqeberha for the first time since the year in which our journey started. The series has grown a lot since then, and we know that the motorsport supporters in the Eastern Cape have been looking forward to this for quite some time. Seeing the GT2 class debuting at the Aldo Scribatne Raceway is equally exciting. Round 4 will be a big occasion for all involved and in attendance.”
Both Saturday’s races will be contested over 12 laps, starting at 11:00 and 15:00. Spectator tickets will be available at the entrance gate. The full race day programme will be broadcasted live on the Mobil 1 V8 Supercars Facebook page and 2WheelsTV YouTube channel.
Issued by Brandsponential on behalf of African Group Lubricants
Photography by Jason Hanslo
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