Richard van Heerde dominated this past weekend’s (April 19-20) INEX Legends second round at Zwartkops Raceway to emerge as joint points leader with Jayden Goosen.
Tyler Robinson, who dominated the season opener, was also favoured by fortune after drawing pole position for Saturday’s first race, with Van Heerde joining her on the front row. Debutant Gavin Botha shared the second row with Goosen, while Neels Jooste and Schaun Kleynhans completed the top six. Anton Repsold, Christian Padayachee, Cyril Jacobs Jnr, Torben Roos, Berlin Robinson and Rico Raker were the next to line up.
Tyler Robinson’s advantage increased her advantage over the rest of the field in Race 1, where she took a lights-to-flag victory, her fourth for the year from four starts. Goosen made up places early to slot into an early second place. The sizeable crowd’s attention soon shifted to the battle for third place. Roos made up a host of places to trail Botha and Van Heerde. It did not take Roos long to pass van Heerde, and three laps later, he moved into the final podium spot by passing Botha. One lap later, Van Heerde dispatched Botha to fifth place. Meanwhile, Padayachee kept a watchful eye on the battle en route to sixth place.
Repsold held off Jacobs Jnr for seventh place, while Raker and Jooste completed the list of drivers who went the full race distance. Berlin Robinson moved to ninth place before retiring, while Kleynhans retired just after the half-distance mark. Both the latter drivers failed to complete the minimum distance to earn a result classification.
Padayachee drew pole position for the second race, with Repsold for company. Kleynhans lined up third with Jooste, Goosen, Botha, Van Heerde, Tyler Robinson, Berlin Robinson, Roos, Jocabs Jnr, and Raker completed the rest of the line-up.
However, the race soon got neutralised following incidents that sidelined Tyler Robinson, Botha and Kleynhans, and a subsequent Safety Car followed by a red flag. Following a restarted three-lap sprint, Van Heerde beat Jacobs Jnr to the flag. However, with the race consisting of two portions, the final classification was based on the aggregate times for both parts of the race.
This saw Jacobs Jnr winning his maiden race, with Van Heerde in second place. Padayachee took third after trading positions with Roos. Repsold and Berlin Robinson completed the top six as they finished, while Goosen and Raker also traded places. Jooste completed the classification.
Tyler Robinson’s DNF in Race 2 came to her aid for the Race 3 starting grid, which was determined by inverting the points sheet for the day. She lined up alongside pole starter Botha. Jooste withdrew from the final race, with the rest of the grid comprising Repsold, Padayachee, Goosen, Van Heerde, Berlin Robinson, Jacobs Jnr, Roos, Raker, and Kleynhans.
While Botha dropped to the back, Robinson took the early lead en route to her fifth win of the season. Goosen hounded her to the flag but without success. Jacobs Jnr occupied third place in the early stages before Van Heerde traded places with him. Padayachee finished in tow, while Berlin Robinson completed the race in a lonely sixth place. Botha made his way back up to seventh, ahead of Roos and Raker, the last of the drivers to go the full race distance. Kleynhans finished a lap adrift, while Repsold was an early retirement.
Van Heerde’s consistency throughout paid off, with him taking the Round 2 victory by 20 points from Goosen. Jacobs Jnr completed the podium for the event. Van Heerde also took the Masters Class win from Repsold and Jooste. Goosen won the Professional Class ahead of Tyler Robinson and Botha. Padayachee beat Raker to the Semi-Professional Class win, while Jacobs Jnr took the Young Lions honours from Roos and Berlin Robison.
Van Heerde and Goosen are now tied on 1020 points at the top of the overall points table, with Tyler Robinson just 20 adrift. The various class winners from Round 2 now also occupy the top spots in their respective class points tables.
Round 3 of this year’s INEX Legends Championship will take place at Red Star Raceway on 15 June.
Issued by Brandsponential on behalf of INEX Legends South Africa
Photography by: Willie Pretorius
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