The action in the Oettinger Polo Cup at Red Star Raceway at the weekend was intense with Matt Shorter managing to claim overall victory for the day by a mere 0,666 seconds.
Pole position however, went to Natalian driver Clinton Bezuidenhout who set a time of 2:10,633 around the four kilometres of tarmac that make up the Red Star Raceway.
When the flag dropped, Bezuidenhout managed to keep his nose out front to claim a flag to flag victory with a full field of Polo drivers in hot pursuit. The man on a mission was Matt Shorter who fought his way up into second after starting down in fourth. Dario Busi did his title aspirations no harm by finishing third, just ahead of Leyton Fourie who dropped a few spots down into fourth.
Race two provided vintage Oettinger Polo Cup action with equally matched Polos all fighting to occupy the same stretch of tarmac. And while this was all happening, Matt Shorter got the break he needed and disappeared off into the distance to take an emphatic win.
Bezuidenhout emerged from the pack in second position, just ahead of Busi who recorded another podium finish, collecting valuable championship points in the process. Bezuidenhout managed to make it two from three by claiming the final race win on a very busy day, again with Busi piling up the points, this time with a second place finish.
In the Oettinger Polo Cup, the overall winner on the day is decided by adding the times it took to complete all three races. Shorter’s dominant victory in the second race meant he took the overall win by a mere 0,666 seconds over Bezuidenhout with Busi in third. Fourie completed an impressive weekend with a fine fourth position ahead of Arnold Neveling, Chris Shorter and the first master in the form of JP van der Walt.
“The Oettinger Polo Cup once again proved why it is so popular and successful,” commented Mike Rowe, head of Volkswagen Motorsport. “We have a bunch of young guys with great talent in identical cars going bumper to bumper. It’s what motorsport is all about.”
Rowe was impressed by the performance of a number of drivers; “Clinton had a great weekend with two race wins that are very hard to come by. Dario drove very maturely to manage his position at the top of the championship points table, and youngster Leyton certainly made his mark as a star of the future. I can’t wait to see how this series is going to pan out at the last round,” he concluded.
The last round of the shortened 2020 Oettinger Polo Cup championship is scheduled to take place at Port Elizabeth’s Aldo Scribante racetrack on 30 and 31 October.
