The 2025 Extreme Festival Presented By Coca-Cola had an action-packed season finale this past weekend (7-8 November) at Zwartkops Raceway as the regional roster crowned its new champions.
Despite a severe late-afternoon Highveld storm on Friday, which necessitated a minor change to Saturday’s programme, the weather had no significant impact on the event. This change saw an early-morning session added for the SuperHatch field, ahead of their first standalone races since the season opener back in March.
In the day’s first race, it was Arthur Thorne (Volkswagen Polo), competing in Class T1, who beat Class A winner Karel Stols (Pretoria Noord Toyota Toyota Etios). Ja Freckleton (Volkswagen Golf), who won the SHA Invitational class, completed the podium. Class T2 went to Hendrik Venter (4Js Auto Opel Corsa), with Keithin Meintjies (TRC Renault Sandero) in second place. Joshua du Toit (Trans Africa Racing Honda Civic) and Kobus Groenewald (Volkswagen Golf) took the respective Class B and Invitational wins.
In Race 2, Freckleton took the win from Thorne and Stols, with the trio also repeating their respective Class SHA Invitational, Class T1, and Class A Invitational wins. It was also double wins for Venter in Class T2, Du Toit in Class B, and Groenewald in the Invitational Class. Meintjies, who again finished as T2 runner-up, took his maiden SuperHatch Championship title.
Rick Loureiro (Combined Racing BMW F30 330i) beat his Class A rival, brother Paulo Loureiro (Combined Racing BMW F30 330i), in the day’s first BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series outing, following a close battle at the front. In Race 2, the battle got even closer, with contact between them while lapping backmarker Dewald Smith, resulting in all three being eliminated, and giving Leon Loubser (Monaco Motors BMW E92 335i) the win. Anton Pommersheim (Granite Eagle BMW E46 M3 Turbo) and Andreas Meier (CEC BMW E36 STC) shared the Class B wins, but the day belonged to Renier Smith (Fast Development BMW E36 M3 Turbo), whose respective second and third place finishes saw him take his second successive BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series title. In Class C, Hein van der Merwe (SavSpeed Racing BMW E36 328i Turbo) took the Race 1 win, with his points rival, Salvi Gualtieri’s (Eataly Foods BMW E36 328i Turbo) retirement in the Turn 4 kitty litter resulting in the early red flag to the first Class A, B & C race. Reinhardt Miller (Amtec Racing Fuels BMW E36 328i) won Class C in the second race.
Bernard de Gouveia (De Gouveia Accountants (BMW E46 M3) had a relatively easy road to the Class D title, after his rival Andre van Vuuren (Curvent International BMW E36 325i) broke into Class C in the morning’s qualifying session. De Gouveia won the first race, while Eugene Gouws (Master Mowers BMW E36 328i Turbo) took the Race 2 honours. In Class E, Claudio Jardim (Mixbox Automotive BMW E36 330i) made it two wins on the day, while Henry Platt (Mosco Specialised Contractors BMW E36/7 Z3 did the same in Class F.
Wouter Roos (Origen Oil Volkswagen Golf) secured the ACD Welkom 111 & GT Sports & Saloons GT Class title at the penultimate round, so he could afford to take it easy. Honours on the day belonged to Dylan Pragji (Styling Auto Volkswagen Polo), who took a double win. Both wins came after some good battles at the front, where he first beat Jared Rossouw (OMG Gifts and Gagets Volkswagen Polo), and then Mark du Toit (Trans Africa Racing BMW Z4).
Wayne Robb’s (Ford Focus ST) double Class A win saw him take the 111 Sports & Saloons title. Lindsay Clur (Nathan’s Motorsport Volkswagen Polo) and Francois Henning (Volkswagen Polo) traded the runner-up spots in the two races. Wayne Lebotschy (SHIELD Volkswagen Golf) beat Mike O’Sullivan (All Things Motoring International Honda Ballade) and Melanie Spurr (Origen Oil Volkswagen Polo twice in Class B. It was also a set of repeat results in Class C, with Keegan Nathan (Nathan’s Motorsport Volkswagen Polo) beating Christopher Tait (Executive Auto Spray Volkswagen Polo) and Rob Clark (Containerforce Self Storage Honda Ballade).
However, one of the highlights of the day came in Class X, where South Africa’s Ultimate Fighting Championship winner Dricus du Plessis made his debut and finished his weekend with a win in Race 2.
Lendl Jansen secured his second consecutive DOE Formula Vee Partnered With CIM Lubricants title in the penultimate round and missed the season finale. With the runner-up spots still undecided, the series delivered another action-packed pair of races, both won by Theodore Vermaak (DOE Quality Parts Forza). On both occasions, these wins came following good tussles with Gert van der Berg (DOE Quality Parts Rhema 2). MD Bester (MXTwo Rhema 2) and Brandon Hills (MXTwo Rhema 2) completed the respective podiums.
Warren Lombard (Pepboys Automotive Ford Mustang) took his maiden Dunlop V8 Supercars title, along with the Race 1 win, where he beat Thomas Reib (Café 9 Automotive Chevrolet Corvette) and Larry Wilford (Fuchs Lubricants Holden Monaco). It was another Wilford on top of the podium in Race 2. Terry Wilford (Fuchs Lubricants Ford Mustang) beat Lombard this time around, with Sam Dahl (Arcprotech Ford Falcon) third.
Jayden Goosen (AA Certišed Pre-Owned Volkswagen Polo) took both ATE VW Challenge Class A wins, with Anthony Lessing (PABAR Volkswagen Polo) second on both occasions. Ian Walker (Mellow Velo Volkswagen Polo) completed the Race 1 podium, with Mydi Mfana (Clean Renewables Volkswagen Polo) doing the same in Race 2.
In Class B, it was a repeat podium with Stuart Mack (Autozone Volkswagen Polo) beating Nicole Lombard (PSA Volkswagen Polo) and Mauro da Luz (Nathan’s Motorsport Volkswagen Polo).
Adriaan de Beer’s (Ukwazi Engineering Volkswagen Polo) double win in Class C saw him take the ATE VW Challenge title for the year. In Race 1, Bryce Pillay (73 Racing Volkswagen Polo), who was also a contender for the title, beat Stuart Konig to the runner-up spot. Dimitri Zapheriou (Insurisk Volkswagen Polo) and Kyle Petersen (Insurisk Volkswagen Polo completed the Race 2 podium.
The final flag of the day not only signalled the end of the 2025 season, but also the career of the veteran flag marshal Hennie de Beer, the man who waved the checkered flag at all the Extreme Festival season finales since the tour’s inception. However, this will not be the last that the Extreme Festival will see of De Beer, who will now pursue his other passion, motorsport photography, at the events.
The 2026 Extreme Festival calendar will be announced on the Extreme Festival website in due course.
The 2025 Extreme Festival Presented By Coca-Cola calendar concluded at Zwartkops Raceway 
Keithin Meintjies took the SuperHatch title 
Renier Smith took his second BMW M Performance Parts Race Series crown 
Dylan Pragji won both GT races in the ACD Welkom 111 & GT Sports & Saloons 
Wayne Robb is the new ACD Welkom 111 & GT Sports & Saloons champion 
Dricus du Plessis made a victorious cameo appearance 
Theodore Vermaak took both DOE Formula Vee Partnered With CIM Lubricants wins 
Warren Lombard is the new Dunlop V8 Supercars champion 
Adriaan de Beer took the ATE VW Challenge title 
Hennie de Beer waves the checkered flag on an Extreme Festival season for the final time
Published by: Reynard Gelderblom
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