Johan Fourie Race Report
November 2008
Johan Fourie wins 8th National Career Championship with Coated Components
The final round of the 2008 Bridgestone Production Car Championship was held at Killarney (Cape Town) this past weekend (15 November), ending in dramatic fashion with Johan Fourie and IndyOil wining the Class A Championship in front of his home crowd.
Johan didnt have an easy road to victory. Although Johan had the championship lead going into the race, six other drivers were still in championship contention. One such driver was Leeroy Poulter, who made his intentions very clear by putting his Nissan on pole position. Johan qualified second, ahead of Marco da Cunha (Nissan 350Z). The first race began with a rolling start and Johan lost a position to Marco da Cunha off the start line. This was of no immediate concern, as Johan focused on the championship victory rather than a race win. Johan held onto third place for six laps. On lap seven, Marco da Cunha and Johan were side by
side going into the corner. Marco ran wide whilst trying to avoid a class B back marker and Johan took the position.
Johan held second position to the line, finishing marginally behind Leeroy Poulter and ahead of Marco da Cunha and Michael Stephen.
The results from the first race meant that the championship would come down to Johan, Leeroy and Michael. Everything was at stake in the second race. Race two started with a partially inverted grid, which left Johan seventh on the grid. The standing start was good for Johan and he was up to fourth place by the end of the first lap. Shaun Watson-Smith led the race from Melvill Priest
and Michael Stephen. With a championship at stake, Melvill did the honourable thing by moving out of the way of the championship contenders, giving up positions to both Michael and Johan. Johan drove hard and hounded the back of Michaels Audi not wanting to leave his championship to chance and knowing that Shaun would likely give up the race win to team-mate Michael. Four corners from the chequered flag, Michael ran wide and Johan blasted through into second place.
Shaun took the race win, but Johan took the championship victory. This was the championship I have been looking for; I have now won the championship of every national category I have participated in. An achievement I am very proud of. It has been a hard fought year and I couldnt have succeeded without the support from my sponsors, crew, fans and family.
We are the champions! shouted a jubilant Johan in front of the crowd that had gathered in front of this IndyOil Audi after parc ferme. For more information, please visit www.johanfourieracing.co.za
