Summarize

The weekend’s Cup Finals started perfectly for Giordano Lupini and his Bullion IT Polo. Lupini had caused somewhat of an upset to set the pace throughout practice, but he was baulked in the start of his all-important flying lap to drop him into the depths of the dodgem car mid pack. His first race was just that — dodgem cars as he managed to bring it home where he started, but the final race of the season went far better for the Franschhoek flyer.

“I was really happy with my final race of the season,” Giordano admitted. “I managed to break out of that mid pack madness and kept close enough to the back of the lead pack, knowing they’d get into each other on the last lap. “That’s exactly what happened. “I closed right down on Tate Bishop and Jason Coetzee, gave it everything in turn 3, got next to them in T4 and we headed down the back straight three abreast…

“Tate did not see me there — his mirror was folded due to earlier contact, so I had to take to the grass at 200 km/h to avoid major contact. “I just kept it pinned and had a huge sideways moment, but managed to catch it and I was still able to put a move on Tate in T5 to steal 8th. “Not quite the result we’d hoped for with our practice pace in the Bullion IT Polo, but we were prevented from showing it after that rather peculiar qualifying incident.

“Still, that was a great final race and a good way to close off the year and celebrate 95 years of my family in racing. “That one’s for my great grandfather, my granddad, dad and all my uncles who raced over the years. “Thanks also to my sponsors Bullion IT, Banhoek Chilli Oil and everyone else who helped make this season happen, and to Nian and the team at NDT Racing “Now it's time to regroup — let's see what the new season brings…”