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Pole, two fastest laps, a race win and the overall victory

Cape Town privateer Jurie Swart got his Volkswagen Polo Cup championship aspirations back on track with overall victory at the series' fourth round at a gale force East London Grand Prix circuit over the weekend. Swart took the opening race win before ending a close second in race 2 and then fighting back to fifth in the finale in his Alpine Autohaus Polo GTI Cup. That sees him up a position to a close second in the title chase with three rounds left to race.

“We had a great weekend at East London,” Jurie admitted. “I had a solid car under me from the get go and we set the pace right through practice. “Qualifying proved a bit of a challenge in the changeable conditions, which caught us out. “We had fuelled for six laps and the track was drying and getting quicker, but I had to pit because we never had enough fuel on board to carry on and still be on weight. “Then when I came in to weigh, they sent me straight to the Superpole holding area, but job done - I was in Superpole.

“Superpole lap was perfect in my opinion and race one went as planned and I took a welcome victory. “I had to fight for it though — Keegan Campos was feisty and found his way through at a point, but I fought back for the race win. “I got ahead again in the second race, but I missed a gear and then ended up a rock in a hard place behind Arnold Neveling and ahead of Keegan so it was a bit difficult to strategise with a huge slipstream in that mad wind.

“I still managed to get alongside Arnold into the last corner, Beacon on the last lap and almost pulled it off, but he had a spare push to pass to fend me off, so it was second. “The final race was frustrating — I started well back in ninth after that qualifying mix-up and then there was a long safety car. "That made it difficult as everyone had all their push to passes left to use after all those laps under full caution, so it was difficult to pass. “Still, I managed to get back to sixth and then fifth in the end to take the day overall.

"Huge thanks to the team — Andrew Goslett, Kyle Wlltshire and my dad once again — the car was perfect. All we did was throw in fuel, change tyres and check pressures throughout the weekend. “These cars are so easy to race once they are sorted. “It was an epic weekend though. Shows you that privateers can do it! "We now need to decide if we go up to the next round at Red Star or not — we had not planned to but we are close in the championship. “If we do race there, that will be on 25 September.” 

ENDS

Issued on behalf of Jurie 'Umpie' Swart

What:Volkswagen Polo Cup Round 4 Report
Where:East London Grand Prix Circuit
When:Saturday 28 August 2021
Community:South Africa National

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