Just two weeks after the Extreme Festival Presented By Coca-Cola tour crowned 2025’s national champions, Zwartkops Raceway is gearing up for another spectacular race day as those competing for regional titles take centre stage.
Saturday’s race day programme will commence with a standalone SuperHatch race. The Class T2 leaders, Keithin Meintjies (TRC Renault Sandero) and Leon Bredenkamp (Honda Civic), are also the main protagonists for this year’s Series title, with George Aldrich (Aldrich Racing Opel Corsa), also in Class T2, currently occupying third place.
Class A is headed up by Ishmael Baloyi (Trans Africa Racing Honda Civic) from Mark du Toit (Trans Africa Racing BMW 118i). Joshua du Toit (Trans Africa Racing Honda Civic) will have a Class B rival this time around, with Deiyan Moodley (Kris Freight Honda Ballade) joining the field. In Class T1, it’s Tyron Pillay (TPAS Volkswagen Golf) who leads with Arthur Thorne (Volkswagen Polo) set to make his first outing for the season.
The second SuperHatch race will see the field sharing the circuit with the ACD Welkom 111 & GT Sports & Saloons brigade.
Wouter Roos (Origen Oil Volkswagen Golf), who won the 2024 111 Sports & Saloons championship, has already wrapped up this year’s GT Sports & Saloons title. Jonathan Visser (Auto Express Car Service Volkswagen Golf) will look to take the runner-up spot, but will face a challenge from George Economides (Wealth Avenue Volkswagen Golf). Economides, who last competed in Round 3, also at Zwartkops Raceway, won five of the first six heats of the year and is only three points behind Visser in the standings.
In the 111 Sports & Saloons championship, Wayne Robb (Ford Focus) will look to clinch the title vacated by Roos. He does have an unassailable lead, but given the time-based nature of the Series, a breakout could throw a spanner in the works.
Robb’s competition in Class A will include Piet Potgieter (Nathan’s Motorsport Volkswagen Polo). In Class B, it’s honours even between Wayne Lebotschy (SHIELD Volkswagen Golf) and Mike O’Sullivan (All Things Motoring International Honda Ballade) heading into the season finale. Class C sees Keegan Nathan (Nathan’s Motorsport Volkswagen Polo) leading the newly-crowned Volkswagen Rookie Cup champion, Christopher Tait (Sportex Volkswagen Polo). Wessel Mostert (Mosco Specialised Contractors BMW E46 M3) is the sole Class D entrant.
The BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series has a complex system of eligibility adjustments and drop rounds, but Class B’s Renier Smith (Fast Development BMW E36 M3 Turbo) will look to become the first driver in the Series to take two consecutive titles. Leon Loubser (Monaco Motors BMW E92 335i), competing in Class A, will also look to become only the second driver to have won the title twice. Class D’s Bernard de Gouveia (De Gouveia Accountants BMW E46 M3) and Class E’s Eddie Rodrigues (Eddie7Racing BMW E46 330i) both have an outside, but mathematically possible chance of taking the crown as well.
Loubser has already wrapped up the Class A honours and will compete against Rick Loureiro (Combined Racing BMW F30 335i), who dominated Round 7 at Red Star Raceway. Smith will need to contend with the likes of Lenard Archer (ACD Welkom BMW E90 335i). In Class C, it will be a battle between Salvi Gualtieri (Eataly Foods BMW E36 328i Turbo) and Hein van der Merwe (SavSpeed Racing BMW E36 328i Turbo).
De Gouveia will have a battle on his hands against Andre van Vuuren (Curvent International BMW E90 335i), while Rodrigues has an easier time of it, with a sizeable margin over his nearest Class E rival, Wessel Mostert (Mosco Specialised Contractors BMW E46 M3). The Class F battle is also set to be a close contest between Caren Nienaber (V-Tek Motorsport BMW E30 328i) and Henry Platt (Mosco Specialised Contractors BMW E36/7 Z3).
Like with the ACD 111 & GT Sports & GT time-based classes, breakouts could also still play a role here.
In the DOE Formula Vee Partnered With CIM Lubricants series, Lendl Jansen (Bull Security Rhema 2) has claimed his second consecutive title, while Gert van den Berg (DOE Quality Parts Rhema 2) is on the verge of securing this year’s runner-up spot. However, the latter will not have an easy time of it as Theodore Vermaak (DOE Quality Parts Forza) will look to make his current winning momentum count in his favour.
The Dunlop V8 Supercars will see a new champion in 2025, with the battle between Warren Lombard (Pepboys Automotive Ford Mustang) and Thomas Reib (Café 9 Automotive Chevrolet Corvette) set to go down to the wire. While the title is out of his grasp, Terry Wilford (Fuchs lubricants Ford Mustang) should not be discounted as someone who could create a few upsets.
In the ATE VW Challenge, the points leader, Class C’s Adriaan de Beur (Ukwazi Engineering Volkswagen Polo), and the defending champion, Class B’s Stuart Mack (AutoZone Volkswagen Polo), are the top contenders. However, De Beer’s Class C rival, Bryce Pillay (73Racing Volkswagen Polo), is also still very much in contention.
Jayden Goosen (AA Certified Pre-Owned Volkswagen Polo) and Wayne Masters (Performance Masters Volkswagen Polo) will battle it out for the Class A honours, while Mack has already wrapped up Class B.
Tickets for Saturday’s action-packed race day can be purchased from the Zwartkops Raceway entrance gate, at R140 per adult, R100 per student, and with children under 12 entering for free. All of the day’s races will be broadcast live on the Extreme Festival website from 10:30. For easy access to all relevant information, including ticket sales, the full event timetable, digital programme, and more, visit the Extreme Festival Links page.
Published by: Reynard Gelderblom
Motorsport South Africa (MSA) publishes media releases from a variety of sources on its website as a service to the sport. Due to the volume of content, it is not feasible to review or approve every release prior to publication. Some news items and articles are written by independent correspondents and may not necessarily reflect the official views or positions of MSA.