EXTREME FESTIVAL SET TO ENTERTAIN INTO THE EVENING AT ZWARTKOPS

The Extreme Festival tour’s regional roster will return to Zwartkops Raceway this coming weekend (12-13 June) with a line-up that will take the action into the early evening hours.

For the third successive year, the annual 200km showpiece for the DigitFMS 111 Sports & Saloons and SuperHatch brigades will be held at Zwartkops Raceway. Dubbed the ATS Motorsport Zwartkops 200, the race will feature a field of nearly 40 cars.

The DigitFMS GT Sports & Saloons field will not take part in the longer race, but will feature in two sprint races on Saturday. Comprising two classes, the battle at the front of Class GTA will feature Jared Rossouw (Oh My Gifts & Gadgets Volkswagen Polo), Mark du Toit (Trans Africa Racing BMW Z4M), and former superbike rider turned saloon car campaigner, Shaun Vermaak (Gapcon Developments BMW M235i). In Class GTB, Wayne Robb (DigitFMS Ford Focus ST), Jonathan Visser (WIX Filters Volkswagen Polo) and the defending champion, Wouter Roos (Origen Oil Volkswagen Golf), will do battle. Heading into Round 3, Robb heads up Rossouw and Du Toit on the points table.

The DigitFMS 111 & Sports & Saloons field will also have one sprint race earlier in the day, where they will again share the circuit with the SuperHatch field. The top five currently sees Class B’s Piet Potgieter (Nathan’s Motorsport Volkswagen Golf) heading up Class C’s Henry van Vledder (Stuffall Volkswagen Golf). Class A pair Melanie Spurr (Origen Oil Volkswagen Golf) and Tihan van Rooyen (Van Rooyen Vision Centre BMW E82 125i) are also in contention.

The ATS Motorsport Zwartkops 200, as its name indicates, is a 200km race with a compulsory pit stop of at least 5 minutes, during which at least one wheel must be removed and replaced. The race should get underway shortly before 5:00 pm and will continue into the early evening.

Drivers may pair up in this race, with each driver completing at least 33% of the total race laps. Melanie Spurr and Wouter Roos have done just that and will be looking for Class A honours in their Origen Oil VW Golf. They will have to hold off van Rooyen, Craig Priestley (Tactical Fluid VW Polo) and Lindsay Clur (Nathan’s Motorsport VW Golf) if they want to do that. Potgieter is likely to face competition from the Ernest Heather and Jonathan Visser pairing in Heather’s WIX Filters VW Polo and Sebastian Dias (PMD Transport VW Polo), among others, in Class B. Henry van Vledder’s path to the Class C win is going to be tough. First of all, he has to get the better of his wife, Elke (VW Golf), and will face further competition from the Rob Clark/Mike O’Sullivan (Containerforce Self Storage Honda Ballade).

The SuperHatch battle is tough to call. The father-son pair of Mark and Joshua du Toit (Trans Africa Racing Honda Civic) will have to contend with Ishmael Baloyi and Leon Bredenkamp in a similar car. Others who could be in the mix include Keithin Meitjies and Des Bloem (TRC Truck Repair Centre Renault Sandero) and another father-and-son duo, George and Francis Aldrich (Aldrich Racing Peugeot 206 GTI).

The day’s race programme, which will commence at 11:00, will see the DOE Formula Vee, partnered with CIM Lubricants, being the first out onto the circuit. The defending two-time champion, Lendl Jansen (Bull Security Rhema 2), will look to extend his points lead this weekend, with Gert van den Berg DOE Quality Parts Rhema 2) and Brandon Hills (Mangaza Racing Rhema 2) being the other top contenders heading into Round 3.

The only series for which this will not be the third round of the championship is the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series. This will be their fourth championship round and third visit to the Pretoria circuit in 2026, having also been part of the 25^th Passion For Speed roster at the start of the season.

This time around, it will be the Turbo Cup that will be the first to take to the circuit. Anton Pommersheim (Eagle Granite BMW E46 M3 Turbo) heads up the Turbo Cup and Class A points tables, but is a notable omission from the early entry list. Lenard Archer (ACD Welkom BMW E90 335i Turbo) has emerged as one of the top contenders in Class A. Renier Smith (FAST Development BMW E36 M3 Turbo) heads up Class B, which, for this round, will see a second entrant in Carlo Garbini (SavSpeed BMW E46 328i Turbo). In Class C, the honours will be contested between the likes of Bennie Luyt (ITA Security BMW E46 M3 Turbo) and Anand Naidu (SA Auto Tech BMW F80 M3 Turbo). Michael Grobler (Pest Control Specialists BMW E46 330i Turbo) has shot to the top of a closely-contested Class D, with Eugene Gouws (Master Mowers BMW E36 330i Turbo) also one of the top contenders.

In the NA Cup, Class B’s Andre van Vuuren (Curvent International BMW E36 320i) has also slotted to the top of the points table, following a strong run of results and former leader, Ignus du Plessis (Mosco Specialised Contractors BMW E46 M3), breaking out of Class C. The Class C battle will now be contested by the likes of Nicholas Herbst (The Blue Store BMW E90 330i) and Ruan van der Walt (RJ Pack Solutions BMW E36 328i), the latter also being a recent driver to break out. In Class D, it has pretty much been all-Reinhardt Miller (Hei-Jo Trans BMW E30 325i), while the likes of Henry Platt (Mosco Specialised Contractors BMW E36/7 Z3) will look to catch up to the leader.

The ATE VW Challenge will produce some of the best head-to-head battles on the day. Josh Moore (Worx Volkswagen Polo) is on top of things in Class A and the Series, with Anthony Lessing (Ocean Marine Village Volkswagen Polo) as his immediate rival. In Class B, it is Sebastian Boulliart (Applied Heat Volkswagen Polo) who heads up Jonathan Konig (Northern Bolt & Tool Volkswagen Polo). Bryce Pillay (Techtiasa Volkswagen Polo) is currently leading Class C from Stuart Konig (Northern Bolt & Tool Volkswagen Polo).

The thunderous roar of the Dunlop V8 Supercars will also entertain the crowd again. Thomas Reib (Café 9 Automotive Chevrolet Corvette) currently heads up the defending champion Warren Lombard (PepBoys Automotive Ford Mustang). Terry Wilford (JohnSpeed Racing Ford Mustang) has also emerged as one of the contenders for the 2026 crown.

Spectator tickets for Saturday can be purchased at the Zwartkops Raceway entrance gate for R150 per adult and R110 per student, with children under 12 entering free of charge. While the racing is set to start at 11:00, the gates will be open to the public from 06:00, with the weekend’s qualifying sessions starting shortly afterwards. All races will be broadcast live on the Extreme Festival website.

Published by: Reynard Gelderblom

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