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The winds of change are in the air as
Michael Stephen broke his seven race victory dry spell at Kyalami this
past weekend (27 June 2009).
Michael had a fair qualifying
session, setting a time just two tenths of a second off pole position.
The field being extremely close meant that two tenths translated into
fifth place.
“I made a small mistake in qualifying and with the
times being so close, it cost me dearly. I do however believe that we
will have a good race pace,” commented Michael after qualifying.
Although
Michael held his position off the race one start, he began to drop down
the field after his Audi developed a misfire. At this stage in the
championship, every point counts and Michael drove around the
electrical problem to finish in sixth place.
Always looking for the silver lining, Michael was satisfied to begin race two from fifth place with the reversed grid.
Michael
held his position off the start and saw a gap develop when Marco da
Cunha (Nissan 350Z) and Robert Wolk (BMW 330i) had a coming together.
He took the gap and moved up to third position and was looking good for
second when the safety car was deployed after an accident in Class T.
The
safety car returned to the pits a lap later, but had closed up the
field, leaving Michael defending his position from Melvill Priest (Audi
A4). A lap later, Dawie Olivier (Subaru WRX Sti) and Anthony Taylor
(BMW 330i) tangled and Michael snuck through the carnage to steal the
race lead.
Although Michael was in his element at the front, the
race was far from won. He had to defend his position from a charging
Priest and from team-mate Shaun Watson-Smith who had joined the fray.
Nothing
was going to come between Michael and the chequered flag as he took a
well deserved and much needed victory. As an added bonus, Michael
finished first overall for the day.
“This is the turning point
for my 2009 season. Although there still seems to be an electrical
problem in my Audi, I am confident that the team will have the car
running at ten tenths by Zwartkops. This race win is exactly what the
team and I needed and am I ecstatic with the result,” remarked Michael
in parc ferme.
The Zwartkops event will take place on 15 August 2009.
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