What had promised to be a rewarding outing on one of his favourite circuits in the seventh round of the Bridgestone Production Car Championship turned out to be a frustrating day at the office for SAM Racing’s Marco da Cunha at Killarney in Cape Town on Saturday.
Driving on one of his favourite circuits where he scored his maiden production car win in round two of the championship in March, Da Cunha qualified fifth in the Tubular/Exa Motor Group Nissan 350Z, half a second off the pole-setting pace of current championship leader Anthony Taylor (BMW 335i) and only two tenths of a second slower than the second-placed driver.
“We could have gone faster, but were slowed by a slight power steering issue,” said the 28-year-old Witbank Nissan dealer. “The car was strong and we were particularly looking forward to the extended 90-minute feature race on Saturday afternoon, following the traditional back-to-back sprint races. We felt confident that we had the right mixture of pace and handling to survive 50 or 60 laps of the Killarney circuit, where consistency and preserving the car and the tyres would be key.
The team hit trouble almost immediately, with the Nissan experiencing gearbox problems on the opening lap and retiring on lap two. With no time or opportunity for repairs between races, the former national Formula GTi Challenge champion was forced to sit out the second sprint race.
The team fitted a new gearbox in time for the feature race and Da Cunha took his place on the second row of the grid hoping for a decent result to make up for the earlier disappointment. However, some days it’s best just to stay in bed, and this was to prove to be one of those.
Da Cunha had hardly settled down after the start when the clutch failed on the opening lap and he was forced to drive with just fourth and fifth gears. “We decided to soldier on and as I got used to the clutchless gearchanges we managed to settle into a good pace, just a second a lap off the leading cars,” he said. After 22 laps the Tubular/Exa Motor Group Nissan was lying an excellent third and, following the first of the two mandatory six-minute pit stops on lap 25, Da Cunha was moving up through the field from ninth when the gearbox let go on lap 36 while he was in sixth place.
“I guess the strain of changing gear without the clutch was too much. It was hugely disappointing. The car was strong and going really well and I felt very comfortable. Our tyre wear was phenomenal and we were looking at a podium finish at the very least, if not an outright win.
The penultimate round of the championship is at East London’s historic grand prix circuit on October 30. “We’re looking forward to this. We have the car to do well there,” said Da Cunha.
His younger brother Paulo, who has been campaigning the team’s second Tubular/Exa Motor Group Nissan 350Z in the Altech GT Challenge, which forms part of the Pro Tour, will join the team from the East London round for the remainder of the season.
STORY COURTESY OF PETER BURROUGHES COMMUNICATIONS
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