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Two finalists, Talha Moosajee and Raais Asmal, have emerged as they have cruised their way to the last stage of the 2017 Volkswagen Driver Search honours at the Zwartkops Raceway in Pretoria.
They emerged victorious after four gruelling days of physical tests, psychological evaluations, media lectures and naturally a string of stringent driving tests, as the judges gave them the nod to move to the finals after pushing out original field of fourteen hopefuls that started the race .
The organisers are quite happy with the way the competition is going.
“We are very pleased with the way the 2017 event has gone so far,” head of Volkswagen Motorsport, Mike Rowe, said. “Volkswagen has always been about being a responsible investor in our country and developing our country’s most precious resource, it’s people, but at the same time we are also passionate about motorsport. With the Driver Search programme, we are able to combine both these objectives and reach our goals.”
The competiton on the tarmac of the Zwartkops Raceway was fierce at times with the final four candidates finding the limits of their near-standard Volkswagen Polos as well as the limits of the circuit. Times were very close but in the end it was the names of Talha Moosajee and Raais Asmal who topped the scoresheets. Moosajee hails from an off-road racing background while Asmal has done some karting, so it was a big step-up and steep learning curve to climb into a Polo and drive it around a racing circuit.
The lucky finalists are also excited at the turn of event.
“I don’t know what to say. Words can’t really describe how I feel right now,” said a delighted Asmal after being awarded a place in the final two.
Moosajee is equally pleased.
“I now have a lot of work to do and will do everything I can to be ready for the 3-hour race,” he said.
The two finalists will share a car, alongside 2016 Volkswagen Driver Search winner and Engen Volkswagen Cup regular Jonathan Mogotsi in the Port Elizabeth 3-Hour Endurance Race scheduled for November 18. The overall winner will be announced at Zwartkops a week later at the last race meeting of the year.
“We wish them both the best of luck. They both impressed us over the last few days and both have come a long way in a short time, but now it gets serious. We are looking forward to finding out who the next Driver Search winner is going to be,” Rowe said.
