Thrilling is certainly what it will be when the Global Touring Cars roll into town this week. It’s Andrew Rackstraw’s 3rd ever GTC race weekend on home soil and he will be out to give the Cape crowds something to shout for.
Ask any racing driver and they will all tell you, there’s nothing quite like racing at your home track. In 2022, the Extreme Festival travelled to the Killarney International Raceway on two occasions. In his first attempt Rackstraw was able to get a podium finish but this year he will be looking to go one step further and aim to be on the top step, something he is yet to do in GTC. With the Volkswagen Golf 8 GTI looking very promising at the first round, it will be all systems go for the Lee Thompson racing team as they look to cause an upset to the Gazoo Racing Toyota’s.
SATURDAY WILL BE ACTION PACKED
Looking back at the first round in Kyalami, there was plenty of action and on-track battles to keep us wanting more. With Round 2 now knocking on the door one thing is for sure, come expectant for bumper-to-bumper racing at Killarney, a circuit that always delivers top-quality racing. The 3.2km circuit has 2 very long straights that always invite spectacular dive bombs. The wind also makes the racing more compact as it allows the slipstream effect to be that much more powerful. There’s also the reverse grid race 2 where the top 6 finishers from race 1 get reversed. This is always a thrilling one that provides plenty of entertainment. Looking at the weekend schedule, there will be 3 practice sessions on Friday, which should indicate what’s to come on Saturday.
Talking about Friday practice, this has always been the Achilles Heel for Rackstraw who seems to always suffer reliability issues which hamper him from perfecting the setup for qualifying and the races. Race cars are funny like that, if they sit too long, issues tend to rear their head. Nevertheless, the LTR outfit has been working hard to deliver a car that is ready to compete for race wins. It has been the main mission as Rackstraw has had very limited time with the team. Even though the limited time together puts them on the back foot, the whole team atmosphere is positive and lots of hard work has been done to prep the car. Hopefully, all goes to plan and they hit the ground running.
Rackstraw does know Killarney like the back of his hand and will hope that with a competitive car, he can ruffle some feathers. He found himself deep in the mix at Round 1 before that unfortunate incident in Race 2 which saw him tumble down the order. With the home track knowledge who knows what is possible and with the home crowd cheering him on, that always gives a driver that extra mental boost. Points are the name of the game and with it only being an 8 Round championship, every single point is important.
ANDREW’S THOUGHTS
“I am so excited to bring the best to my home race this weekend.
Lee Thomson racing has put in a massive effort to fix all the little problems that we had at Kyalami, best believe we will be even more competitive at my home race.
I am excited to see how the weekend unravels, and rest assured we are going to fight for our first GTC win this weekend and close down the championship points!
Let’s do this! A huge thanks has to go to all my sponsors Sparco, RDSA, Ravenol, SimGrid, Investchem and Impitech.
Another massive thanks has to go to Lee Thompson Racing for all the hard work and preparation.
Hope to see the Cape Town crowd out there in full force.
Let’s get this weekend started!”
Race week is always a highlight on the calendar for us petrol heads. So if you are planning to come to spectate, definitely visit the RDSA driver. The Golf 8 GTI is a beauty up close and Rackstraw is always keen to meet the fans and take some photos. The atmosphere should be electric and the weather should look good enough for a lekker braai.
Buckle up for an action-packed weekend of racing, here we go!
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