Engen VW Polo Cup a one horse race at Killarney

The Engen Xtreme Polo team arrived in Cape Town with high expectations with both drivers Miguel Pasqualli and Kosie Weyers having cut their teeth early in the careers at Killarney Race Circuit.

In practice on Friday veteran Polo Cup driver, Miguel Pasqualli and rookie, Kosie Weyers both suffered early setbacks, with Miguels team toying with the cars rear suspension geometry settings resulting in the revised and untested set up back firing, causing him to miss a qualifying session. Teammate, Kosie Weyers car, the fuel pump packed up due to the drivers negligence. This resulted in him qualifying low down in the field.

On race, in Heat 1, both drivers were placed low down on the starting grid. Off the line, Kosie quickly manoeuvred himself in a favourable position with teammate Pasqualli not far behind. Gennaro Bonafede stormed to the front, quickly outstripping his nearest rivals. The fight was however further down the field, with the Xtreme drivers jostling for a spot among the top five. This proved allot harder than expected with both Kosie and Miguel finishing in 8th and 9th respectively.

In Heat 2 on the line, the Xtreme Polos were less than favourably placed. In a twist of fate Miguels car refused to start, requiring the blue and yellow branded Xtreme Polo to be pushed off the grid onto the shoulder of the track, delaying the start of Heat 2. The cause of the problem would later be diagnosed to be a loose wire on the ignition. When the race eventually got under way, Gennaro Bonafede again stormed to the front of the field in a car that was evidently streaks ahead in terms of performance of the of the rest of the Polo Cup field. Kosie battling his way through the bunch made no bones about his intention, driving very aggressively, passing his rivals, clawing his way to eventually finish in 9th place.

After a less than successful Killarney meet, Miguel finished 15th and Kosie 8th overall. The team will surely return to the drawing board with the aim of rectifying the setbacks suffered, that has made the championship title chase that much harder. The team will next be in action in East London on 06 June.