Yes! Mackie Adlem claims his fifth Mobil 1 V8 Supercars crown

The Covid-19 delayed final round of the 2021 Mobil 1 V8 Supercars championship took place at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit from 3 to 5 February 2022. Mackie Adlem nursed his ailing Jaguar XKR home in fifth place to add another title to the four he claimed in previous years.

In Thursday's practice sessions, Aldem and stablemate Jeffrey Kruger were the ones to beat, with Kruger quickest in the opening session ahead of Adlem, who turned the tables in the next. The only two drivers who could prevent Adlem from claiming a fifth successive championship, Franco di Matteo and Thomas Reib, were in the top six throughout the day.

Friday's qualifying session took place on a damp but drying circuit, and it was the challengers who came out on top, Di Matteo claiming pole position with Reib alongside him on the front row. Kruger set the third quickest time but, as a newcomer to the series in the final round of the championship, he was moved down to ninth place on the grid ahead of Antonie Marx, Steve Herbst and Andre de Lange, who all failed to set a representative lap time in the session.

Back at the other end of the grid, Richard Fuller headed the second row alongside Warren Lombard, with Adlem settling for fifth next to Terry Wilford. Julian Familiaris and Finn Sam Dahl filled the fourth row of the grid.

A slow-moving Highveld thunderstorm dumped its load of rain over the Midrand circuit on Friday afternoon, leaving large parts of the track underwater. This forced the race officials to abandon the scheduled first heat, and the decision was made to extend Saturday's heat to 10 laps, counting for double championship points. The rain continued overnight but stopped around 09h00, which allowed the circuit, other than a few damp patches,