Resurgent Team Afrox BMW with Pirtek heads for Zwartkops

Midrand. Team Afrox BMW with Pirtek travels to Zwartkops Raceway west of Pretoria in a bullish mood for round seven of the Bridgestone South African Production Car Championship after an impressive showing in the previous round at Phakisa Freeway in the Free State a month ago.

Etienne van der Linde consolidated his second place in the championship with two wins in his Class A BMW 335i M Performance Parts car and closed the gap to current points leader Michael Stephen to 35 points. Team-mate Johan Fourie made up for earlier disappoinments by finishing second in each of the three races and move up to third in the standings, 23 points behind Van der Linde.

“There’s been no need to make any technical changes since our excellent weekend in the Free State,“ said team principal Donovan van Heerden. “Both drivers are on top form and were again impressive in testing at Zwartkops a week ago.

“The challenge now is to work as a team to achieve the best result in the championship over the last three rounds. We must keep the momentum going. Both Etienne and Johan need to be on top of their game and continue to get the best out of their cars. All the development work we have done on the cars is paying off.“

“The Pirtek network is ecstatic with the performance of the BMW team and both drivers at the last round in Phakisa. Finally the hard work and dedication is starting to bear fruit. We wish the team every success for the next round as they fight for championship positions,“ said Pirtek’s Kieron Goss.

Etienne van der Linde: “Coming off a very successful race weekend at Phakisa, I think it is important to keep the momentum and eat into Michael Stephen’s championship lead. We’ve had a good test session at Zwartkops two weeks ago and should put in a strong performance once again come race weekend . The team is working hard as always and with Johan and I working together I am confident we can pull it off for BMW and our sponsors Afrox and Pirtek.”

Johan Fourie: ”At Phakisa I was just happy finishing all three races for only the second time this year. I think both Etienne and I can really turn this season around if we can carry this momentum foward until the end of the season. The last three rounds will suit the BMWs and after a good test we have a solid starting point with the set-up for the weekend.“

In addition to principal sponsor Afrox, the team enjoys backing from Pirtek, BMW M Performance Parts, EPS Courier Services, Castrol, Akrapovic Exhaust Systems and BrakeQuip.

Ends

For more information on BMW Motorsport, please contact:

Mr. Edward Makwana

Manager: Group Automotive Communications

BMW South Africa (Pty) Ltd

Email: Edward.Makwana@bmw.co.za

Tel: +27-12-522-2227

Follow Team Afrox BMW on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/Team-Afroxand on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TeamAfroxBMW.

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