The Pesty Racing team made their maiden Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit appearance this past weekend (February 3-5) as part of the Joburg Kyalami 9 Hour build-up roster and impressed with a podium finish in their class.
The postponement of the event, from December to February due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulted in two of the support categories not being able to participate due to logistical issues given the proximity to the start of their 2022 seasons. Subsequently, there was a slot open on the programme that was taken up by the South African Sports Car Series. Initially, this would not include competitors from the Backdraft Production Series, but less than two weeks before the event a decision was made by the organisers to accommodate them.
This saw the team having to expedite their Backdraft Roadster’s preparation, with the opening South African Endurance Series round still two months away. On Wednesday, while conducting their pit set up for the weekend, they also had to conduct electrical repairs to their car ahead of Thursday’s track sessions.
Two practice sessions took place with Barend and Harm Pretorius sharing the driving duties. Following a steering issue in the first session with Barend at the wheel, Harm completed the second session with the team confident with their setup. With the Backdraft Roadsters included in Class A along with the two Ginetta entries, Barend conducted the team’s qualifying duties and set the third-fastest time.
Friday’s first race was halted after 12 minutes of “green flag” racing following an accident. Barend and the rest of the field coasted around the circuit behind the safety car for another 20 minutes before the race was abandoned entirely. Originally planned to be a one-hour race, it was cancelled entirely with Saturday morning’s 30-minute race being extended to one hour. This was made possible due to the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series’ second heats being combined into one race due to broadcasting limitations. The original grid was to be used.
Friday afternoon’s entire halt to the programme brought on by severe rain resulted in a few doubts regarding the support programme, but Saturday morning’s race started at 08:00 with Barend taking up the first stint, his first in wet conditions as well. During his stint, there was also a safety car period where Barend was impeded by an Intercontinental GT Challenge competitor who was allowed to utilize the race as a test session. Teams were not allowed to conduct their compulsory pit stop under the safety-car conditions and shortly afterwards, the Pesty Racing crew called Barend in for their driver change. But a second safety-car period followed soon after and allowed the Wright Motorsport entry to gain an advantage gained an advantage during this. Harm had a spin later in the race, but without any damage and finished second in the class after both Ginettas retired.
It was a steep learning curve for the team due to the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit not featuring on any South African tour, therefore despite the team already competing in circuit racing for almost two years, they had no setup data to work with at all. This was also the first occasion that any Backdraft Roadster formed part of the grid for a race held at the venue. Pesty Racing would like to thank Dr. Mike Verrier, Rico Barlow and all involved with the organizing of the Kyalami 9 Hour support races for a superb weekend at a world-class motorsport facility.
Team Pesty Racing’s next scheduled outing will be the opening round of the 2022 South African Endurance Series at Zwartkops Raceway on April 1-3.
Produced and distributed by Brandsponential on behalf of Pesty Racing
