Killarney International Raceway hosted the Extreme Festival and Round 2 of the CompCare Polo Cup Championship on 18 March, where QVWI Motorsport driver Farhaan Basha finished seventh overall.
Spending the best part of Friday’s three practice sessions trying to find the best setup ahead of the afternoon’s qualifying session, the Johannesburg driver would narrowly miss out on the Super Pole Shootout for the top six qualifiers with a seventh position.
Confident of improving his position in race conditions, Basha made a strong start to his race and was soon up into seventh, leading the charge to catch the six ahead. Slowly making ground onto the group ahead, some drivers started tripping over one another in the fight for position, Basha took advantage of their blunder and moved up a position before being pushed wide at the next turn. This caused minor damage to the car and subsequently cost him time. Using his experience, he carefully managed his pace to cross the finish line in eighth.
Starting from sixth for Race 2, Basha returned to the grid following some repairs to his car. Another strong start would see Basha become part of a six-car train opening up a slight lead over the chasing pack. After only a few laps, the safety car was deployed following an incident at Turn 3, which saw Basha inherit another position. Starting in fifth for the safety-car restart, Basha would soon be in the fight for fourth, where he battled with Dawie van der Merwe. Making the pass, he was able to fend off any further challenges to finish fourth in a tough final race.
“We, unfortunately, did not hit the ground running as we had hoped,” said Basha. “With a few niggles and setup challenges hindering us. Our race pace was, however, good, and we could compete with the top six. Unfortunately, we suffered damage in Race 1, which set us back slightly after battling with setup initially. We had a much better Race 2 competing near the front, and I’m hoping to take that momentum back home to a more familiar circuit. Thank you to everyone for the support and my QVWI Motorsport family.”
Round 3 of the championship resumes at Zwartkops Raceway on 19-20 May 2023.
Published by: Motorsport Fanatix – Raymond Cornwell
Picture Caption: Farhaan Basha
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