A Pair of Fourths for Van Rooyen at Aldo
Michael van Rooyen recorded two fourth-place finishes during Round 5 of the 2026 South African Touring Cars Championship at Aldo Scribante Racetrack on Saturday.
The defending champion began the opening race from the third row on the grid after qualifying sixth during the morning session. With the leading group closely matched, Van Rooyen made up an early position during the 10-lap contest to cross the line fifth in his Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa entry. A post-race penalty to a competitor saw Van Rooyen inherit fourth. Although he narrowly missed the podium, the result placed him ahead of teammate Jason Coetzee and championship leader Robert Wolk.
Van Rooyen lined up on the front row for the second race, starting alongside Coetzee. He couldn't convert the favourable grid position into his first victory of the campaign, losing positions early on. Towards the latter stages of the race, he made up two positions and brought the car home fourth once again.
While the two fourth-place finishes fell short of Van Rooyen’s podium target, they ensured another consistent points-scoring weekend as the team continued developing the Toyota Corolla during the second half of the season.
“We naturally wanted more from the weekend, especially after starting Race 2 from the front row, but we still came away with two solid fourth-place finishes. The field was extremely competitive, and very little separated the cars at the front. Thank you to everyone at Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa for their continued hard work and commitment. We will look closely at everything from the weekend and keep pushing for the breakthrough result we know we are capable of achieving.”
Van Rooyen and the team will now regroup and turn their attention towards the next round, determined to convert their improving pace into a podium and challenge for that elusive first victory of the season. All results remain provisional.
The penultimate round returns to Cape Town’s Killarney International Raceway over 18-19 September.
