What Regional Extreme Festival 2026 Preview
Where Zwartkops Raceway, Pretoria
When Saturday 7 March 2026
Community Gauteng Regional
A whole new season of Northern Regions racing is ready to rock
Zwartkops Raceway is all set to kick off a whole new season of Extreme Festival racing with a cracking lineup of Northern Regions classes ready for action on Saturday 7 March. Featuring the thundering Dunlop V8 Supercars, thrilling ATE VW Challenge and two monster grids of BMW M Performance Parts Race Series racers, there’s also DOE Formula Vee Partnered with CIM Lubricants, the Digit FMS III GT Sports & Saloons and SuperHatch to keep you on the edge of your seat.
Heading into its 30th season as a V8-only series, the rolling thunder Dunlop Extreme Supercars will also be the quickest cars on track on Saturday as the usual suspects prepare for action. Warren Lombard’s Mustang and Thomas Reib’s Corvette will have the extra pressure of Franco Di Matteo in another Mustang in the GT1 ranks, where Richard Fuller and Sam Dahl’s Falcons also come into play. Steve Herbst and Wayne Spicer’s Corvettes do battle with Alan Ryan in a Falcon in GT2 and Auke Compaan has a GT3 Mustang for 2026.
The ATE VW Challenge is another series with a deep history right back into the 1980s and 2026 promises another spectacular season. Expect more entertainment up front where Class A has bounced back from a relatively small 2025 grid. Big news there is multiple Class B champion Stuart Mack stepping up alongside young guns Josh Moore and Christopher Tait. Francis Aldrich is another to step up, while newcomer Drikus du Plessis joins old hands Anthony Lessing, lan Walker, and Dewald Theron. Chris Davison, sophomore Jonathan Konig and newcomers Sebastian Bouilliart and Martin de Beer will fight in Class B and its business as usual between champion Adriaan de Beer, rival Bryce Pillay, Philip Croeser, Stuart Konig and Dimitri Zapheriou in Brat Pack C.
The BMW M Performance Parts Series has split into two turbo and naturally aspirated races as it enters its second round after kicking off at Zwartkops’ January Passion for Speed. Kashen Naicker and Anton Pommersheim shared those wins with Leon Loubser, Nishal Singh, and Bob Neill in chase. Renier Smith won Class B and Oz Biagioni and Anand Naidu are on top in Class C, while Alan Hilligenn and Gerald Anthony are the men to beat in D. The atmo classes have attracted over 30 entries. Andre van Vuuren, Bernard de Gouveia, Olerato Sekudu, Richard Gerntholtz, Troy Cochran and Dawie Olivier are the top B men. Ignus du Plessis is the Class C man to beat and Henry Platt and Reinhardt Miller look good in Class D.
The DOE Formula Vees partnered with CIM Lubricants are always worth watching with close open wheel to wheel action between a colourful grid of vastly experienced men and a few talented newcomers. Watch for Jaco Schriks, Gert van der Berg, Theodore Vermaak and MD Bester to set the pace, with the likes of Kyle Watt, Mile Stewart, Jannie Geyser, and Raynard van der Linde in chase. Formula Vee’s history actually stretches back to the 1960s, by the way.
The 111 GT Sports & Saloons will celebrate new sponsor Digit FMS with a stunning 35 car entry. Headed by GTA entries, Lenard Archer’s BMW 335i, Wayne Robb’s Focus ST and Jared Rossouw’s Polo, expect action in GTB too. Where champion Wouter Roos and
JP Nortje’s Golf face off an eclectic field. They include Mark du Toit’s BMW Z4M, Honda men Shaun Holtzhausen’s CRX, Dirk Lawrence’s Ballade and Tony Szabo’s Civic and Polo trio Kobus Brits, Marius Truter, and Jonathan Visser Polo.
Digit FMS Saloon action sees Lucas Bezuidenhout’s Lexus taking on a swarm of Polos and Golfs in Class A while veteran Mike O’Sullivan’s Ballade has a similar challenge in Class B. Class C includes a few Hondas and VWs dicing Porsche 944s. Sixteen 111 newcomers looking for classes include Richard Beningfield’s TVR Chimaera, Charles Fowlds’ Subaru Impreza WRX, Tihan van Rooyen in a BMW 125i and Dean Parker’s Alfa Romeo Giulietta. And the Superhatches are back with an eclectic mix of Honda Civics, BMWs, Hondas, Toyotas, an Audi, a Peugeot a Renault and all the VWs among them.
There’s of course far more than just racing at Zwartkops’ opening Regional Extreme Festival. Gas braais, gazebos, camping chairs and cooler boxes are welcome and you’ll find food and drink, merchandise and display stalls and kiddies entertainment at the ready. Add drift car passenger rides on the skidpan, live music and a DJ and much more off-track entertainment too.
Tickets are available at the gate at R150 per adult and R110 for students and kids under 12 are free. Find out more at www.zwartkops.co.za or contact 012 384 2299. See you at Zwartkops, Saturday 7 March!
Issued on behalf of Extreme Festival
Photography by: Colin Windell
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