Summarize

Overall champion Fabio Tafani wrapped up his dominant 2019 V8 Masters championship with an emphatic double victory at Killarney’s spectacular season finale races on Saturday. The Silver class title however went right down to the wire in a dramatic finish as Mike Brooks took a narrow championship from Harry Tayler and Charl van Stittert after Tayler suffered a huge accident on the final lap of the season.

Pretoria’s 2019 V8 Masters champion Tafani took a dominant pole position by over a second ahead of Richard Schreuder (TRS Construction) with Sean Moore third as Silver class pole man Harry Tayler completed the second row. Rob Warrington was next ahead of Silver second man Fanie Theron (Chianti Property Holdings), Rui Campos (Campos Transport) and Brian Evans (Cape Eye Hospital). Silver class men Mike Brooks (Signarama CT), Andrew Strike, Alister Brown, Charl van Sittert, newcomer Jason Ibbotson and Rhoderick Simpson completed the grid.

Fabio Tafani made no mistake as he buzzed off to a lights to flag first race win, but it was upcountry counterpart Rui Campos who put in the drive of the race to come from seventh and challenge Tafani for the win as he displaced Richard Schreuder with two laps left to run. Campos ended up six-tenths off Tafani at the end after early second runner Sean Moore’s race only lasted a lap. 

Harry Tayler, Charl van Sittert and Mike Brooks meanwhile kept the Silver class title fight alive in fourth, fifth and sixth, but only after a dramatic fifth lap that saw the entire midfield flipped around as van Stittert jumped from 11th to fifth and Class A runners Warrington and Evans plummeted down the order to end up ninth and tenth behind Brown and Strike. Gentleman Evans conceded a position to Warrington after their incident as they passed rookie Ibbotson on the final tour, while Fanie Theron stopped amidst all the drama.

The wild second race came to a dramatic close when Harry Tayler had a monumental accident after he took to the grass to avoid a car he was lapping together with Evans, under braking into Turn 5 on the final lap. The sizeable accident brought out the red flag, but it also proved a tribute to the V8 Masters machines designed by the late, great Owen Ashley in how well it stood up to the impact with the barriers after the car snapped sideways and slammed into the barriers, allowing Tayler to emerge shaken but unscathed.

Fabio Tafani had meanwhile once again made off to wrap up his championship year with an 8 second win over race 2 star Sean Moore, who took his turn to come from seventh and dispose Schreuder for second. Silver winner Mike Brooks ended fourth to wrap up the class title ahead of the most impressive veteran Fanie Theron who had stormed through the field, with third Silver man Andrew Strike next up ahead of Brian Evans in seventh and Silver championship second man Harry Tayler on a count-back to the lap before the red flag flew.

Rui Campos had run second early on before a fourth lap spin after contact with Schreuder, but the Jozi transport mogul fought back to ninth ahead of Rob Warrington, who suffered a fourth lap slip, Rhoderick Simpson and Charl van Sittert who slipped back from fifth after a fifth lap off, while rookie Jason Ibbotson stopped after 6 laps and Alister Brown retired on the fifth lap.

So Fabio Tafani took yet another Cape V8 Masters title home to Pretoria over Charl van Stittert and Sean Moore, while Mike Brooks took the Silver championship from Harry Tayler and Charl van Stittert to bring the season to a spectacular close.  V8 Masters, which caters for drivers of 40 years or older racing identical Mustang-like Ford V8-powered race cars will be back for a new season early in the new year.