All Power Audi ends 2019 GTC on a positive note
28 October 2019, Delmas. All Power Audi’s title fight of the 2019 Global Touring Cars Africa Championship (GTC) ended in the very first lap for Simon Moss, while taking the lead in the season finale. It was an unfortunate ending for the successful All Power Audi Team’s 2019 campaign at Redstar Raceway in Delmas.
Simon Moss was just two points adrift ahead of the final round of the GTC Championship at Redstar Raceway. With the most wins to his name and leader of the championship for the first six rounds, he was one of the top favourites for the crown. As lady luck would have it, Moss by tack position had just reclaimed the championship lead when a mistake by another competitor resulted in a huge accident – putting paid to any championship hopes.
The preparations before the last round were less than ideal for the All Power Audi Team, besides the fact that Simon Moss and Tschops Sipuka were the only two drivers that had never been to Redstar Raceway. The four-kilometre Delmas Racetrack, which is known for its tight twists and turns, was an extra hurdle to overcome.
Race 1: At the rolling start, Moss was able to put championship leader, Keagan Masters, under pressure and took the second position. “The car felt really good and I knew I was able to push the All Power Audi the way I wanted to,” Moss explained. By turn five, Moss showed a strong pace and piled the pressure onto Wolk, who went off the circuit. Wolk’s attempted recovery resulted in the accident that ended Moss’s championship aspirations. Tschops Sipuka saved the honour for the All Power Audi Team with a fourth position.
Race 2: Tschops Sipuka took an early second position in the race and was en-route to score a final podium of the season. It was a hard fight for Sipuka, to keep his P2 from Keagan Masters and Johan Fourie. In the fourth lap, it was Fourie who pushed Tschops out of the way and off the track. Sipuka recovered to get back on to the circuit and finished his race in 5th position.
“By race day we had achieved a setup that I believe could have easily given Simon a five-second win in Race 1. However, lady luck was not on our side as that huge mistake by Wolk relinquished us from a very possible championship title to 5th place – a bitter pill to swallow. This year has clearly shown us that the reverse grid favours the more conservative competition. Simon won seven of the 16 races and was on pole position in five of the eight rounds and still wasn’t able to take the title home. Most importantly, this year has shown us once again, the great team spirit we have and the magic our team is capable off. We had some really big tasks at hand during the season and our team members dealt with it in a very impressive way. Tschops Sipuka did an amazing job in his first year of the GTC championship. His maiden win after just 6 rounds was a testament to it. We leave this year’s championship on a positive note,” commented Terry Moss, All Power Audi’s team manager.
All Power Audi ends 2019 GTC on a positive note https://t.co/A8B8zv0AGk #ArriveAlive #GTCSeries @Audi pic.twitter.com/Q3WP5cIqOE
— Arrive Alive (@_ArriveAlive) October 28, 2019
