Engines are fired up for Engen National Race Day

Thursday, 15 April 2010

 As time draws closer to one of the most exciting days on the motorsport calendar, the Engen Xtreme drivers are preparing their cars for the upcoming Engen National Race Day taking place at Aldo Scribante circuit in Port Elizabeth on Saturday 01 May, 2010.

This year the Engen Xtreme team are heating things up as they set their eyes on taking the lead, at their home turf Aldo Scribante, in Port Elizabeth. Gearing up to go, the 2010 driver line-up includes Bridgestone Production Car stalwart Michael Stephen with his trackside partner, Tschops Sipuka as well as VW Cup veteran driver, Miguel Pasqualli and 2009 Engen VW Cup Rookie of the Year, Kosie Weyers.

The Bridgestone Production team has made some interesting adjustments to the Audi production cars, installing new exhaust and air induction systems. All of these adjustments are of course geared towards improving the performance of the cars and giving the drivers a better chance to challenge for honours. The improvements have left Sipuka in a confident mood ahead of the important race date: 'I am very optimistic that the Engen Xtreme Team will do really well, especially since the mechanics have made some important changes. It has been a continuous battle to sort out all the technical problems we have been experiencing. We managed to persevere but I am expecting much more from the Engen Xtreme Team now."

Tschops has raced in two races meetings so far this season, collecting 12 points which has placed him in eighth position in the overall standings. To date, his best finish was in seventh place, but he is confident in giving his best performance at the popular Engen National Race Day.
Production car driver, Michael Stephen has had a great start to the season and is lying in third place in the championships with 51 points.

In the VW Cup category, Miguel Pasqualli is also feeling more confident about his chances in the upcoming challenge at the fast Scribante circuit, after he too experienced numerous problems during his previous race at Killarney. VW Cup driver, Kosie Weyers has had a fantastic season thus far placing second in the VW Cup category with 48 points.

The Engen Xtreme Team were looking forward to the Phakisa race, which was scheduled for the past weekend in Welkom. However, the race was postponed due to some important track repairs and this break now means the drivers are actually ahead of their game with their technical maintenance and race development strategies.

This year, visitors to the Engen National Race Day can once again anticipate an exciting experience with variety of fun and interactive activities in the Xtreme Xperience Tent, with an thrilling line-up of events including, a driver meet and greet signing session, Nintendo Wii games, a live DJ, Xtreme machines on show and the ever popular F1 Simulators.

Furthermore, Engen aims to continue their ongoing contributions towards the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital through its 'Racing for Red' campaign where a generous amount of R130 is donated for every point the drivers score during the race. After the event at Killarney, the team scored 141 points moving this season's 'Racing for Red' campaign up to R18 330. The 'Racing for Red' fundraising initiative forms an integral part of the overarching Engen Red Cross Children's Hospital campaign that aims to raise 'R1 million by 2010' across all of Engen's sport sponsorship portfolios. So far, the overall fundraising campaign has donated ,more than R 700,000 and with the upcoming Engen National Race Day will have another great opportunity to maximize funds to move the fundraising campaign even closer to the target of R1 million.


Bridgestone Productions Volkswagen Cup

1. Michael Stephen -3rd place/ 51 points
2. Tschops Sipuka -8th place/ 12 points
3. Kosie Weyers -2nd place/30 points
4. Miguel Pasqualli -2nd place/ 48 points