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Michael Stephen has always been quick
around the East London Grand Prix Circuit and this past weekend (6
June) was no different as the Bridgestone Production Car squad took to
the historic circuit for the fourth round of the Championship.
After
a good qualifying performance, Michael took up the third grid slot for
the first race. He maintained this position from the start and bided
his time before challenging for second. He didn’t have to wait long as
Johan Fourie (Audi A4) tried to make a move on race leader Leeroy
Poulter (Nissan 350Z), but landed up running wide. Michael saw the gap
and quickly capitalized on Johan’s mistake, taking second place. He
closed in on Leeroy, but at the same time had to defend his position
from Anthony Taylor (BMW 330i). Two laps from the end, Michael missed a
gear and Anthony pounced. Time ran out and Michael took the flag third.
“It
was a good race, but I am a bit frustrated with myself. The race win
was just one car away when I made a mistake which gave Anthony the
opportunity to get through,” commented Michael animatedly.
The
reversed grid would make Michael’s job more challenging as he had to
start from seventh. He made steady progress through the ultra
competitive field before finishing in a credible fourth position.
“I
made a small change to my Audi’s handling before the race which made
the back end looser than I would have liked. It was however a close,
incident free race and I enjoyed driving the circuit again,” stated
Michael in his usual upbeat manner.
Michael walked away from
East London with a good points haul towards his championship ambitions.
He finished second overall for the day and got to take home some more
silverware for his already impressive collection.
Michael will be back in action at Kyalami on 27 June 2009.
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