Back with a bang
After nearly 4 decades of absence the thrilling 9 hour GT racers returned to the home of motor racing in South Africa.
Kyalami was abuzz with the sights and sounds of these global racecar's from early on Tuesday, with practice and qualifying taking up the rest of the week. Friday afternoon saw the qualifying and pole shootout with the manufacturers and drivers championship contenders hustling for the top spot. Once Porsche had taken pole it was time to party as the other aspect of the event took over with a massive music festival in the fan zone.
Saturday would see a few rounds of the Polo Cup take place and then the main event began at 1pm.
Racing continued through the afternoon and into the evening as dark clouds loomed overhead, the ever threatening highveld thunderstorms were in-coming!
Rain began to pelt down during the last 3 hours of the race with the racers stacked up behind the safety car for almost 2 hours.
This is were the racing had definitely become intensely interesting. Both Mercedes Benz AMG and Porsche were inline for both the drivers and manufacturers titles but it would all come down to who finished in first place.
With 15 minutes left on the clock the safety car pulled off track releasing the drivers. Mercedes Benz was leading at that point but a late error on their entry into the mine shaft saw the Porsche and BMW cars speed through and on to victory.
This was the first of what will hopefully become a yearly spot on the GT series calendar and should lead to more race series considering Kyalami for a leg of their events.
