Positive Weekend at Z for the First Lady

Pretoria – The weekend saw Clare Vale compete in the V8 Supercar series as part of the WesBank Super Series. After a frustrating weekend at the previous race in Port Elizabeth, Clare was looking to bounce back and that she did. She showed good pace in qualifying putting herself 7th on the grid for race 1. Unfortunately an incident while overtaking resulted in in some body damage to the Gatorback RAM Mustang and a forced pit stop. Although Clare returned to the race, she was already three laps down on the rest of the field.

Race 2 saw Clare start 8th on the grid. After some rubbing under yellows pushed her on to the dirt at the start, she managed to get a good race under her belt, finishing a solid 7th. Overall 7th was an excellent result on only her second V8 Supercar race this season. The team was awarded the Rose Foundation Team Spirit of the Day award, wonderful credit to a team that never stops working.

Clare Vale on her race weekend: “The team was looking forward to the Zwartkops event, as we always have great support from our sponsors who turn out in force to cheer us on. We’ve battled with an understeering car for several seasons, and decided to try a completely new set up for this race. Although it doesn’t really show in the results, the Gatorback RAM Mustang handled so much better this weekend and we are now really positive about the next race at Phakisa in August. It’s a shame, though, that the V8 Supercars have been excluded from the Durban Street Race during the Top Gear live show. This means that our class will lose out on a round of the Championship this year and the KZN petrolheads will miss seeing the flame spitting V8s in action.”