The Extreme Festival’s regional roster kept Gauteng’s motorsport fans into the evening at Zwartkops Raceway this past weekend (12-13 June) with top-class racing action.
The packed programme for the day started with the DOE Formula Vee Partnered With CIM Lubricants field. Lendl Jansen (Bull Security Rhema 2) held off Vaughn Hills (Mangaza Racing Rhema 2) in a close contest at the front of the field. It was another member of the Hills family, Brandon (Mangaza Racing Rhema 2), who clinched the final podium spot from Jaco Schriks (Cube Coatings Rhema 2).
Race 2 was stopped after seven laps when midfielder Marcel Blignaut (CIM Lubricants Rhema 2) spun across the circuit and into the barrier on the opposite side of Turn 1. What followed was a four-lap sprint to the flag, and although the final results were based on aggregate times, this did not alter the top three, with Vaughn Hills beating Jansen and Peter Hills (Mangaza Racing Rhema 2) this time around.
The BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series had its fair share of action and drama, which already started in the Turbo Cup’s qualifying session. Lee Thompson (Megastar Group BMW E92 M3 GT Turbo) set a blistering lap of 60.820 seconds the morning, the fastest recorded in the Series at Zwartkops Raceway. However, he was forced to start from the back of the Class A field due to a rule infringement during Friday’s practice sessions.
Race 1 saw Thompson rapidly making his way to second place while Anton Pommersheim (Eagle Granite BMW E46 M3 Turbo) held the lead, but the latter ran off the circuit with ABS-related issues. Thompson took the win from Bob Neill (Delmon Mining BMW E92 M3 Turbo). Class B, now also open to competitors running on slick tyres, saw Ethan Coetzee (Ethan Coetzee Motorsport BMW F30 340i Turbo) take the win from Renier Smith (FAST Development BMW E36 330i Turbo) after the latter developed mechanical issues on the final lap. Reinhardt Miller (Mosco Specialised Contractors BMW E36 M3 Turbo) won Class C from Nicky Dicks (Curvent Air Conditioning BMW E36 M3 Turbo). Michael Grobler (Pest Control Specialists BMW E46 330i Turbo) continued his good form in Class D with another win over Eugene Gouws (Master Mowers BMW E36 330i Turbo).
Race 2 was brought to a halt three laps in after the engine of Carlo Garbini’s SavSpeed BMW E46 328i Turbo failed, resulting in a major oil spill that had to be cleaned up. However, Thompson made it two wins for the day, and four in a row, in Class A. This time Pommersheim finished second. In Class B, Smith beat Coetzee, while Miller took another Class C win, with Oz Biagioni (Blue Sky BMW E46 330i Turbo) in second place. Craig Herbst (The Blue Store BMW E92 335i Turbo) was back to winning ways in Class D, ahead of Grobler.
The NA Cup was another hotly contested affair. Race 1 saw Andre van Vuuren (Curvent International BMW E36 320i) take his fifth Class B win on the trot, with Ignus du Plessis (Mosco Specialised Contractors BMW E46 320i) taking second place. Nicholas Herbst (The Blue Store BMW E90 330i) made it three Class C wins in a row, beating Claudio Jardim (Mixbox Automotive BMW E36 330i). Following Reinhardt Miller’s (Hei-Jo Trans BMW E30 325i) early retirement, Philip Mostert JNR (Mosco Specialised Contractors BMW E36 330i) narrowly, and very aggressively, beat Morgan Jacobs (BMW Bryanston BMW E46 330i) in the battle for a maiden Class D win.
Race 2 was red-flagged after eight laps following Ferdi van Staden’s (Duratec Batteries BMW E36 330i) accident that saw him beached on the outside of Turn 1. This saw Oleratu Sekudu (Rampage Racing BMW E36 M3) end second-placed Van Vuuren’s winning streak in Class B. Karabo Malemela (Liqui Moly BMW E36 M3) took his first win of the season in Class C over Mitch Coetzee (BMW E87 130i). Justin Brown (Adlem Automotive BMW E36 M3) beat Mostert JNR in Class D this time around.
With their main event, the ATS Motorsport Zwartkops 200, later in the day, the DigitFMS 111 Sports & Saloons and Superhatch fields had a sprint race earlier.
Melanie Spurr (Origen Oil Volkswagen Golf) held off Charl Weyers (Opel Corsa) in Class A of the DigitFMS 111 Sports & Saloons field, while Tihan van Rooyen (Van Rooyen Vision Centre BMW E82 125i) completed the podium. Ernest Heather (WIX Filters Volkswagen Polo) beat Louis Scholtz (Car Care Clinic Honda Civic) and Piet Potgieter (Nathan’s Motorsport Volkswagen Golf) in Class B. In Class C, Henry van Vledder (Stuffall Volkswagen Golf) took the win, with Rob Clark (Container Force Self Storage Honda Ballade) held off Troy Starr (Volkswagen Polo) for the runner-up spot. Class X was won by JA Freckleton (Volkswagen Golf) from Ashton David (AndSons South Africa Toyota GR Yaris) and Barend Henning (Curvent International BMW E36 325i).
Keith Meintjies (TRC Truck Repair Centre Renault Sondero) was the sole SuperHatch Class T1 competitor. Leon Bredenkamp (Honda Civic) beat George Aldrich (Aldrich Racing Peugeot 206) and Quintin Koster (Audi A3) in Class T2. Ishmael Baloyi (Honda Civic) beat Joshua du Toit (Trans Africa Racing Honda Civic) and Deiyan Moodley (Intellergy Renault Clio) in Class A.
Christopher Tait (King Price Xtreme Volkswagen Polo) took a narrow Class A win over Antony Lessing (Ocean Marine Village Volkswagen Polo in the first ATE VW Challenge race, while Josh Moore (Worx Volkswagen Polo) completed the podium. Keyaan Dwomoh (Adhive Volkswagen Polo) beat Keegan Nathan (Nathan’s Motorsport Volkswagen Polo) and Sebastian Boulliart (Applied Heat Volkswagen Polo) in Class B. Stuart Konig (Northern Bolt & Tool Volkswagen Polo) won Class C from Elna Croeser (ATE Volkswagen Polo) and Dimitri Zapheriou (Volkswagen Polo).
Lessing took the Race 2 Class A win, while Moore also moved up a spot. This time, it was Ian Walker (Mellow Vello) who completed the podium. Nathan and Dwomoh swapped the top spots in Class B, with Boulliart again taking third place. Konig made it two Class C wins on the day, with Bryce Pillay (Techtisa Volkswagen Polo) finishing ahead of Croeser.
As they were not part of the ATS Motorsport Zwartkops 200 field, the DigitFMS GT Sports & Saloons brigade competed in two sprint races. In Race 1, Jarred Rossouw (Oh My Gifts & Gadgets Volkswagen Polo) jostled with Ismail Peck (National Motorsport Mzanzi BMW 330i) for the Class GTA win. Wayne Robb (DigitFMS Ford Focus ST) followed them over the line. Peck and Rossouw continued their battle in Race 2, this time for the runner-up spots, as Mohammed Karodia (Fast 5 Motorsport Volkswagen Polo) won the race further ahead.
In Class GTB, Victor Dias (Throttle Mafia Racing Honda Ballade) beat JP Nortje (N4 Autocraft Volkswagen Golf) to the Race 1 win, while Richard Beningfield (General Energy Systems TVR Chimaera) completed the podium. The latter two repeated their results in Race 2, but this time Jonathan Visser (WIX Filters Volkswagen Polo) took the win.
The battle for this year’s Dunlop V8 Supercars title hotted up, with Warren Lombard (PepBoys Automotive Ford Mustang) taking the Race 1. Franco di Matteo (Di Matteo Racing Jaguar XKR) and Thomas Reib (Café 9 Automotive Chevrolet Corvette) completed the podium.
In Race 2, Terry Wilford (Johnspeed Cobra Ford Mustang), who retired early in Race 1, took the win, with Di Matteo and Reib again completing the podium.
The ATS Zwartkops 200 got underway as the sun was setting, and Melanie Spurr soon opened up a comfortable lead at the head of the 36-car field. Pole-sitter, Tihan van Rooyen, was next up, with Louis Scholtz in his Class B Honda Ballade not far behind in third. The status quo continued until the 21st lap when Mimi le Roux crashed the Wellnetix VW Polo she was sharing with Wayne Spicer. A lengthy safety car period, during which the marshals removed the car and cleaned up the spilt fluid, saw Scholtz head to the pits for his compulsory pit stop. He rejoined the race in 16th place and slowly worked his way back through the field. By the time the safety car reappeared on lap 40, Scholtz was up into fourth place. Spurr took advantage of the safety car to pit and hand her VW Golf over to Wouter Roos for the final stint. Most of the drivers who had not pitted at that stage opted to make their stops, although Van Rooyen chose not to and inherited the lead. Scholtz was in second, with Roos in third. When van Rooyen pitted a few laps later, Scholtz took the lead, which he held until the flag. Behind him, there was drama for the Spurr/Roos car, which had to make another pit stop to fit a rear light because its taillights were not working. This dropped them to fourth place, allowing van Rooyen to regain second place. The Lindsay Clur/Mauro da Luz VW Golf, which had been slowly working its way up the field, claimed the final podium spot.
In the class standings, van Rooyen took Class A, while Scholtz was the comfortable Class B winner. Hendrik Venter and Charl Weyers crossed the line as the Class C leaders, but a post-race sanction dropped them out of contention and handed the win to the VW Polo piloted by Troy Starr and Jarrend Rossouw. Willie Kok and Barend Henning brought their Curvent International BMW home at the head of Class X. In the SuperHatch field, Joshua and Mark du Toit won Class A, while another father and son pairing, George and Francis Aldrich, won Class T2.
The next stop for the Extreme Festival will see the national roster head to Gqeberha on 26-27 June, where they will compete at the Aldo Scribante Racetrack. This circuit will also host the regional roster’s coastal round for 2026, the next outing on 7-8 August.
Published by: Reynard Gelderblom
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