The Audi S4 quattro competitors charge into battle at the second-last round of the season at Zwartkops Raceway with two cars at the front of the field. While the leading pair are not yet unassailable in the series, they have a strong footing from which to fend off their rivals.

Johan Fourie (A14 – IndyOil) and his Audi S4 quattro are the championship leaders and the aim at Zwartkops will be to earn as many points as possible to make the final round a mere formality. Breathing down his neck, Michael Stephen (A3 – Engen Xtreme) will be driving his Audi S4 quattro as hard as possible to close the 16 point gap and wrest the championship lead away from Fourie.

It is going to be a challenge for both drivers to concentrate on their respective championship desires while also keeping an eye on the rearview mirror to ensure they do not let their opposition quietly sneak by – even though they have made good use of their Audi S4 quattro performance to gain a 26 point advantage in the dying stages of the championship.

For sixth-placed Tschops Sipuka (A4 – Engen Xtreme) the Zwartkops outing will provide an opportunity to gather some valuable points that could see him rise one or even two more championship places by the end of the season. Doing this is going to mean some clever tactics from Sipuka – and a display of some exemplary driving skills.

The short and tight nature of the Zwartkops circuit means that advantages are available in qualifying and overtaking manoeuvres must be capitalised on by late braking and looking for the gaps. While the theory is sound, this is not an easy thing to accomplish as every driver in the series knows this. The racers will have to extract every ounce of power from their Audi S4 quattro race machines and will be relying heavily on the handling and road-hugging characteristics of the quattro drive system to achieve the best possible result on the day.

The Audi S4 quattro has proved itself a formidable opponent in the 2011 championship and, if the trend continues through the final two rounds, it could mean another Bridgestone Production Car Championship title for the thoroughbred Audi stable.