The fifth round of the Border Modified Saloon Car and Eastern Cape Historic Pre '80 and Pre '90 Coastal Challenge Club Championships,  provided an enthusiastic crowd with a day of action. The event was held at the East London Grand Prix Circuit on Saturday, 27 August.

Bevan Choudree (The Doctor Racing Team VW Polo) has recently had a few disappointing outings but turned that around this weekend, dominating the Border Modifieds category. The Historic category went the way of Mike Forsyth (Backdraft Cobra), but there was some very close action behind him.

Choudree indicated his intention in Saturday morning's qualifying session when he claimed pole position, setting a lap time more than 2 seconds quicker than his closest rival, Blake Hurly, in his Caterham. 

Behind Hurly, Wade Wright led Gareth Hewitt, Kacey Myburgh and Paul Berry, the quartet separated by just six-tenths of a second. Mark Els was next up ahead of Shaun Vallance, who was only a tenth ahead of Mornay Swanepoel. Zillen Harding, Craig Borges and Roy Pape rounded out the grid.

In the opening heat, Choudree dominated proceedings, running away at the front to take a well-deserved win. Behind him, Wright led the chasing pack across the line, with Hewitt not far behind. 

Myburgh, who had a spin in the race's early stages, worked his way back through the field to claim fourth place. Els and Berry were fifth and sixth, with Harding and Swanepoel in seventh and eighth. Gary Marais came home in ninth ahead of Borges with JP Fuller a lap down.

Leader of the chasing pack

Choudree again disappeared up the road in the second heat to take another win, this time in a race that saw serious contact between Els and Swanepoel shortly before half-distance. The pair were eliminated on the spot, and while Swanepoel escaped largely unscathed, Els was taken to hospital to treat a broken arm. 

At the end of the heat, Wright was again the leader of the chasing pack from Hewitt and Berry. Harding came home ahead of Myburgh, whose race was compromised by contact with another competitor on the final lap. Marais, Borges and Fuller rounded out the field.

Choudree made it three-from-three in the final heat, but Myburgh led the chasing pack this time, taking second place from Wright and Harding. Hewitt had to settle for fifth ahead of Berry, with Marais and Broges rounding out the top eight.

Qualifying for the Historic competitors saw Darron Gudmanz head the pack from Johan van der Westhuizen and Gary Schultz. Shane Fantham ended the session in fourth, just ahead of Graham Lessing, with Carl Fantham in sixth. Wayne Botha and Andrew Karshagen both failed to set a time.

An angle grinder allowed 

The first heat was red-flagged when van der Westhuizen and Chris Landman made contact at about 200km/h in Rifle Bend. A bit of work with hammers and an angle grinder allowed van der Westhuizen to line up for the restart, but Landman was not as fortunate, and his race day was over. Gudmanz suffered a water pump failure after the restart, leaving Mike Forsyth to take the win ahead of the Class C battle, which went the way of van der Westhuizen with Graham Lessing in close attendance. The fight between the Fanthams went to Carl from Shane, with Schultz crossing the line in sixth.

Heat 2 also went to Forsyth with van der Westhuizen again leading the chasing pack from Graham Lessing and Carl Fantham. This time, Schultz took fifth from Shane Fantham, with Quinton Lessing and Kyle Rose rounding out the top eight.

It was more of the same in the third heat, with Forsyth comfortably the quickest on track but the action taking place in the Class C battle behind him. Van der Westhuizen again managed to claim Class C and second on the road, this time from Carl Fantham after Graham Lessing broke his gearbox early on in the race. Schultz took fourth ahead of Shane Fantham, with Graham Lessing in sixth.

Buffalo City Steel & Pipes sponsored a 45-minute endurance race to round things off for the day. Gary Marais put his Harper on pole position for the race with a host of BMWs, led by Kaycee Myburgh, just behind him.

In the race, Marais paced himself well to take the win from Myburgh, who shared his car with Shaun Vallance. After dominating the Modifieds in his Polo, Doc Choudree teamed up with RJ Green to pilot his BMW to third place ahead of Wad Wright and Zillen Harding. Paul Berry brought his BMW home in fifth ahead of JP Fuller in his Polo.

Regional racing returns to the East London Grand Prix Circuit on 30 September and 1 October, when the local classes will join the Ford and Friends Race Day. The local Historic racers will join their Cape Town counterparts on the day, while the Border Modifieds will be joined by the Cape Town Clubmans, Sports and GTs, and V8 Masters drivers.

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