Powerbrake™ Racing News

Powerbrake - 2008 Race Season Review

The 2008 race season has once again proved to be an extremely successful year for Powerbrake. With our standard diameter matched disc/pad kits being used extensively in numerous race series, including: VW Challenge, Silvercup, Historics, Lotus Challenge and National Production Cars. Powerbrake was also selected as the sole brake supplier to the Forza Racing team for their Ferrari 360 challenge cars being campaigned in the Altec Porsche Challenge series. Our top-of-the-line big brake kits were run by Team Afrox (BMW 330i E90 A-Class) and Mazda Motorsport (Mazda 3 MPS T-Class) in the Bridgestone Production Cars race series. Below is a summary of the 2008 season, including pictures of some of our customer's race cars.

National Bridgestone Production Cars

Team Afrox’s Etienne van der Linde (BMW 330i E90), who switched to Powerbrake’s 330 x 32mm big brake kit after testing early in the season, had a very strong year including a number of pole positions and race wins. Etienne finished 6th overall in the ultra-competitive A-Class Production Car category. Etienne ran Hawk DTC70 race pads up front matched to Hawk HT-10 rear pads. Team mate Anthony Taylor also tested the Powerbrake setup during the year and in fact ended up racing the last race of the season using Etienne’s car after his car was seriously damaged in an accident earlier in the day. Anthony’s feedback regarding the brake performance and modulation with the Powerbrake setup under race conditions was very positive and we look forward to working with the team again next year.

Team Mazda Motorsport also chose to run Powerbrake big brake kits on the two Mazda 3 MPS’s that they run in the T-Class Production Car category. The turbo-charged, front wheel drive T-Class cars currently present a serious challenge in terms of braking, with extreme front disc and caliper temperatures being experienced by leading teams in this class. We are proud to say that the Mazda Motorsport team felt that the performance and consistency of the Powerbrake discs and calipers on their cars were one of the strong points for them during the 2008 season. Although the team had some development issues with their new cars early in the season, they finished strongly with Heinz Bose finishing on the podium on the last race day of the season and Etienne Prinsloo leading the final race of the season convincingly before a tyre de-lamination ended his race. Mazda Motorsport ran our 330 x 32mm big brake kits matched to Hawk DTC70 or Carbotech XP12 race pads up front, matched to Carbotech XP10 rear pads.

Altech Porsche Challenge

The Forza Racing team had a very successful 2008 season, with Oscar de Oliveira claiming the B-Class championship and team mates Christo Lideque and Charl Persad taking 2nd and 3rd places respectively. The Forza Team run Powerbrake two piece, floating GT Series discs front and rear, matched to Hawk DTC60 or DTC70 race pads on all their cars. Congratulations to Oscar on his championship win. In a recent interview Oscar had the following to say about the brake performance on their cars: “Brake performance under race conditions has been superb and we can say with confidence that the brake package is one of the strong points of our race cars”.

Goldwagen VW Challenge

Powerbrake supplied discs and pads to more than 20 teams in the highly entertaining VW Challenge series during the 2008 season. Congratulations go out to Jason Finney (VW Golf 1) who won the A-Class championship running Powerbrake Die Hard Series discs and Hawk HT10 Ferro Carbon race pads. Jason faced stiff competition throughout the season from Ray Wilford (VW Polo Classic) who ran our Die Hard Series discs matched to Carbotech XP10 Ceramic race pads. Elna Croeser also put on an excellent driving display in her C-Class car, winning the C-Class championship convincingly, often scrapping with B-Class competitors in the process. Elna ran Powerbrake’s new GT Series discs matched to Carbotech XP8 Ceramic race pads.

Silvercup

Steve Barnard and Rinus Plomp won C & D-Class of the Silvercup series respectively in their Toyota Conquest RSI’s. Both Rinus and Steve ran Powerbrake Die Hard Series discs and Hawk Ferro Carbon race pads. Rinus has been extremely impressed with both the performance and durability of the Powerbrake / Hawk combination. Another worthwhile mention was Braam Muller who only took part in the final round of the season but drove superbly to achieve a race win on the day. Braam also races on Powerbrake Die Hard discs and Hawk pads.

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Automate Historic Touring Cars

Congratulations to Jannie van Rooyen for taking the Historic Touring Car championship running Powerbrake’s new GT Series discs and Hawk HT10 pads in his VW Scirocco. Former champion Clive Densham finished a strong 6th overall in his Alfa Giulietta running on Powerbrake GT Series discs and Hawk DTC60 pads. Other competitors that ran Powerbrake discs/pads in the series included: Sophos & Philip Pentazis, Adrian McCaw and Vasco Barbolini.

HRCR Historic Sports and GT

Clive Densham had a busy season competing in two classes, which often saw him driving in four heats on a single race day. In spite of this, his brakes never let him down once throughout the year. Clive finished 3rd overall in the Historic Sports and GT series. He raced practically the entire season on a single set of Powerbrake rotors and Hawk DTC60 pads. Despite suffering some engine failures during the season, Frank Klinkert showed excellent form in his AC Cobra, including a few race wins. Frank races on custom Powerbrake 330x32mm front and 302x32mm rear big brake kits with Hawk DTC70 pads.

Lotus Challenge

Derek van der Merwe had a strong season in his Lotus 7 replica, finishing 2nd in B-Class and 5th overall in the Lotus Challenge. Derek raced on Powerbrake GT Series discs and Hawk DTC30 pads. Also running Hawk DTC30 pads was Anton Muller, who finished 5th overall in B-Class. To end the season both Derek and Anton took part in the recent Border 100 endurance race, finishing 2nd and 3rd overall in a field of 50 cars. Derek specifically commented on the excellent consistency and modulation of his brakes throughout the endurance event.

Sasol National Rally Series

Breaking away from Powerbrake’s traditional focus on road racing, we supplied race pads to a few teams in the Sasol Rally series for the first time during 2008. Initial testing on Hawk’s DTC pad compounds was very positive and we are looking forward to strong growth into this market segment in 2009.

The Powerbrake products used by the above race teams were not exotic, special-production items. They were off-the-shelf stock, identical to the Powerbrake discs and calipers that we supply to our street, track day and race customers on a daily basis. Powerbrake manufactures a large range of performance brake discs and calipers as well as standard diameter and big brake upgrade kits for applications ranging from fast-road and track-day to off-road 4x4 use. In addition to the products that we manufacture, we stock a large range of high-performance and race brake pads by some of the world's leading manufacturers, including: Hawk, Carbotech, Mintex and Bendix. If you are looking to improve the performance and durability of the brakes on your car then contact us for more information on the Powerbrake upgrade products available for your vehicle.