East London – prepare for high-speed action

The final round of the Sasol GTC Africa championship takes place in East London on Saturday, December 3. This event is just a week after the Zwartkops round which saw Daniel Rowe claim the GTC Production title in his Volkswagen Golf GTI.

With Rowe the first racer to claim a GTC title in South Africa, the task now falls to his teammate Mandla Mdakane to produce the performance that will guarantee him second place in GTC Production for the season, while Mathew Hodges’ focus will lie on claiming third place overall in the GTC championship.

“The Volkswagen Motorsport team has worked hard this season to overcome the challenges of starting in a brand new championship, full of unknowns,” says Mike Rowe, head of Volkswagen Motorsport. “Results have been mixed at times, but overall the performance has been good, we’ve clinched one championship title and there’s is strong reason to believe we will achieve again in East London, likely showing Volkswagen Motorsport the most successful team overall in the first series.”

Hodges and his teammate Graeme Nathan will put their Volkswagen Jetta GTC entries through their paces for the final time this season, on one of the fastest circuits in South Africa. The long run down the main straight, through Potter’s Pass and then down to Rifle Bend is all about going as fast as possible and this will definitely test the drivers’ taste for pace.

Rowe and Mdakane will mix pace and the Volkswagen GTI’s legendary handling to show their rivals a clean pair of heels as they race for the finish line – and the last points of the 2016 season. With a potential one-two for the season, the pair will be hard to beat as they concentrate on getting to the finish line.

A high-speed finish to the season will bring to a fitting conclusion the first Sasol GTC Africa championship which will mark Volkswagen Motorsport as one of the big players in this new championship. With entries in both the GTC and GTC Production categories, Volkswagen Motorsport has definitely created an impression in this new series.