Bonafede survives to take third place
Gennaro Bonafede is only in his second year of racing in the Bridgestone Production Car yet he ended each season in the top three.
In 2010, he stunned seasoned campaigners by finishing as runner-up to multiple champion Graeme Nathan. Compared to this year, it was a fairly easy season as everything ran according to plan. 2011 was somewhat different and he says it was harder to get third place than it was to take the runner-up slot.
The Ferodo liveried Volkswagen Golf 5 GTI was starting to show its age and a new Golf 6 was built during the mid-season break. As with the best plans in motorsport things didn’t quite go according to schedule and with some components of the old car being used in the new, there was no option but to find a car at short notice that wasn’t being used.
The interim car, to put it mildly, wasn’t up to the task of finishing in the top three and for three races results were rather thin. The new car showed a vast improvement, but as race engineer Vic Maharaj pointed out, “it needed more development and there simply wasn’t time.”
At the final round last Saturday Bonafede’s Golf suffered a rare engine failure in the opening race and it looked as though further racing, and third place, were over. Then Nathan’s teammate Reghard Roets was precluded from racing the last two races of the day so the car was offered to Bonafede. Naturally he grabbed the opportunity with both hands.
Despite never have driven the car before, and not quite getting the seating position right, the Monster Energy athlete drove two superb races to finish third each time. That was enough to keep third place in the championship. “Not a bad ending to the day, considering I was in a borrowed car and started each race from the back of the grid. Even though the year ended badly, we’re still third in the Championship.”
The racing might be over for a few months, but Bonafede has plans to keep his reactions sharp. “I’m going to chill … and see what happens!”
Article by Steve Wicks
Gennaro Bonafede going for glory at final round!
Bridgestone Production Cars – Round 9 Zwartkops – 26 November
Monster Energy athlete Gennaro Bonafede will be going into the final round of the Bridgestone Production Car championship with a clear head.
With the new Ferodo backed Volkswagen Golf 6 race ready and on the pace the 21-year old Industrial Engineering student has written his last exams for the year. “It has been a tough year and its such a relief to be able to devote my days to racing again.,” said the Tukkies student who was looking forward to doing some driver coaching with Jonathan Shenkman in a Ferrari 430. “It’s a beautiful car to drive,” he enthused.
Heading into the final round Bonafede is lying third in the class T championship table. Gary Formato leads the championship 20-points ahead of Graeme Nathan with Bonafede holding third but unable to get to Formato’s total. The Volkswagen drivers had their season’s disrupted by building new cars. “It hurt us as we used an older, less developed car while the Golf 6 was being built and some of the parts from my regular car were used in the new car,” explained Bonafede as he pointed out that his technical knowledge and understanding of the car had grown tenfold.
“Forty six points are available on the day so second place is a possibility, albeit a remote one! I’ll need a lot of luck for that. The races will be the usual intriguing two sets of back to back sprint races where tactics are important because we can’t do any work to the cars between the back-to-back races,” remarked Bonafede who went into the final round of last season in a similar position and went home with the runner-up trophy.
The new car, looked after by Vic Maharaj’s team at VMP Motorsport, made its debut at Zwartkops where Bonafede pronounced himself happy with its ‘out the box’ feel. “It did everything we expected and felt very good. We had a few small adjustments to make, but it was the car’s first competitive outing so I think the future is looking good. The team is very methodical and Vic analyses every available byte of data.”
For the final round the Golfs and Fords will have the same size restrictors which means there performance will be more equal than they were at the previous round at the same circuit three weeks ago.”
Solid Results for Bonafede
Bridgestone Production Cars – Zwartkops – 05 November
Gennaro Bonafede put in another credible performance at round eight of the Bridgestone Production Car championship at Zwartkops on Saturday.
Driving the new Ferodo backed Volkswagen Golf 6 in anger for the first time, the Pretoria University student was delighted to be fastest in one of the Friday afternoon practice sessions. Saturday’s qualifying saw him fourth fastest, but not unhappy. “I’m not where I wanted to be, but the car feels good and I’m looking forward to the sprint races,” he said.
A workmanlike performance in the opening race saw him finish third, only a car length behind Ford driver Shaun Duminy. Needless to say that Vic Maharaj and the VMP were delighted that he’d give the new car a podium on its debut.
Race two was another snappy eight lap affair, but after being in a position to win there was no fairytale result. A fuse worked loose and he rolled gently to a halt at the top of the hill. After explaining the problem to his crew chief Brandon More he was given instruction on how to replace it and after a pretty good effort at impersonating a mechanic he was on his way, albeit at the tail of the field.
The much anticipated two-hour endurance race saw him and co-driver Lee Thompson adopt a cautious approach rather than going ten 10ths from the outset. “Being tight, this track is hard on a car. Brakes, tyres and temperatures need to be monitored carefully,” explained Maharaj.
An unscheduled stop to change a chunking tyre proved costly as they felt second place would have been a certain result as they were less than 90 seconds behind the similar car piloted by Graeme Nathan and Reghard Roets.
The team returns to the likeable Zwartkops circuit on 26th November for the final round of the 2011 Bridgestone Production Car championship.
Article and Pic by Steve Wicks
Bonafede fired up for new car debut
Bridgestone Production Cars – Round 8 Zwartkops – 05 November 2011
Ferodo’s Gennaro Bonafede will go into the 2-hour Bridgestone Production Car race at Zwartkops on 05 November with a new car and a different focus.
After three races in a stop-gap car while the new Ferodo backed Golf 6 was being built, the 21-year old is looking forward to finally racing the new car. “Not only does it look fast parked in the pits, it also feels fast on the track,” he commented after a brief shakedown test and systems check at Zwartkops.
Having been on the wrong end of officialdom in East London, and some say wrongly penalised, his hopes of ending the season as runner-up in the Class T championship have faded. So much so that he has almost resigned himself to the bronze medal. “To get second place I need a whole lot of good fortune while Gary Formato and Graeme Nathan need a bit of bad luck. That’s motorsport for you and I have to do my best. On the bright side, I don’t have any pressure so hopefully it will be a fairly relaxing weekend that ends with a good result.”
With the Production Car race confirmed as 2-hour race Bonafede will share the Ferodo backed Volkswagen Golf 6 with Ferodo’s Engen VW Cup driver Lee Thompson. “Lee is one of the best drivers around and a fantastic development driver so putting him in the car for its first outing makes a lot of sense. He has won Production Car races and the Engen VW championship, but not only can he drive, he is also one of the top race car builders in the country.”
The race will also offer new challenges to competitors as it is scheduled to only start at 6pm which means a the bulk of the race will be run in darkness. “That is going to be interesting, especially on a short track like Zwartkops.”
As a third year Industrial engineering student at Pretoria University, he is in the middle of a rather hectic period. After the race he has a day of studying before exams on Monday. “It will be a major switch from racing to studying!” exclaimed the Monster Energy athlete.
Article and Photo by Steve Wicks
