Killarney, Saturday, November 15 - Two incident-packed races at Killarney in Cape Town marked the final round of the 2008 Bridgestone Production Car Championship and the swan song of the factory Sasol Nissan 350Z team of Leeroy Poulter and Tschops Sipuka.
It was announced during the week that Nissan Motorsport would be concentrating on national championship off road racing in 2009 and so the appearance of the blue and yellow Sasol-backed Nissans in class A at Killarney took on special significance. It was at this same circuit that the national touring car championship came to an end in 2000, with Nissan's Giniel de Villiers winning the penultimate race and team-mate Duncan Vos taking the final chequered flag in their Nissan Primeras. De Villiers was the overall champion that year, as he had been in each of the three previous years.
Poulter, champion in 2006, won race one from pole position and was fourth in the reverse-grid race two, finishing the season in second place overall.
Poulter controlled the race one from the front and duly took the chequered flag for his second win of the season. On race 2, Poulter had moved up to fifth by lap two from his eighth position on the grid. Despite being slowed by his Nissan's bodywork rubbing against a wheel and affecting the car's handling, following contact with Taylor's BMW early in the race, he went on to take fourth place at the chequered flag and earn enough points to secure the runner-up position in the class A championship.
Sipuka had a tough day at the office, failing to finish either race after incidents. He lost control of his Sasol Nissan 350Z under braking for turn one in the first race, sliding sideways off the circuit and taking Anthony Taylor (BMW 330i) with him. Some consolation was a bonus point for quickest lap of the race, a new Killarney lap record. He and Marco da Cunha (Nissan Dealer Team 350Z) clashed in turn two in race two, both ending up off the circuit and out of the race.
"The team did a fantastic job in the closing stages to climb from 5th to 2nd in the championship. I'm proud of Leeroy for keeping his focus and delivering outstanding performances in the final round. We have been in the running to win for three years on the trot and that's something the team can take into the future," said Nissan Motorsport general manager Glyn Hall .
Nissan was second in its debut championship with the 350Z with Gary Formato in 2005, first in 2006, third in 2007 (by five points) and now second in 2008.
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