What Extreme Festival presented by Coca-Cola Race Report
Where Zwartkops Raceway, Pretoria
When Saturday 21 June 2025
Community South Africa National
Ensor Smith dominates inaugural Investchem MSA4 races
A new era of South African single seater racing dawned in spectacular style when the all-new Investchem MSA4 series kicked off at Zwartkops Raceway’s Extreme Festival powered by Coca-Cola on Saturday. Racing safer new state of the art South African built chassis powered by advanced turbo-litre Volkswagen engines, MSA4 lived up to great promise with three cracking races on its Pretoria debut. A dominant KC Ensor-Smith took the day with two race wins to reverse grid final race winner Mikel Bezuidenhout’s one.
Final season Investchem Formula 1600 runner-up KC Ensor-Smith was in dominant form as he put his African Heating Investchem MSA4 machine onto pole position by almost a second over surprise second lad Jorden Moodley’s 76 Legacy car. Formula 1600 regulars Shrien Naidoo’s Production X MSA4, KMFT Morita lad Karabo Malemela, Renzo Ribeiro’s Metal Used Spares entry and Mikel Bezuidenhout’s Corsa dei Gemelli car filled the next two rows.
Namibian rookie Adriaan Nel’s Central Cycles entry sat seventh on the grid from Red Dot Vanage racer Liam Polome, late entry Nicholas van Weely’s Investchem CLR car and Ndzalo Khoza’s Ducted Solutions Makasela MSA4 in tenth. Veteran Alex Vos’ DV Building Supplies Investchem, Kian Spies’ Corsa dei Gemelli, Anastasia Gerasis’ Apex Cordset and Simphiwe Mohlahlo’s Investchem CLR machines closed off the colourful fourteen-car grid as it lined up in the bright midwinter Pretoria sunshine.
Ensor-Smith had little trouble in blasting away from the grid and clearing off to a two-and-a-half second win. The action was fraught behind him with close battles all the way down the grid. Old rivals Shrien Naidoo, put a pass on Renzo Ribeiro, to nick second with two laps left to run. Nicholas van Weely and Mikel Bezuidenhout kept a watching brief in fourth and fifth ahead of a most entertaining mid-pack scuffle resolved in Karabo Malemela’s favour from Adriaan Nel, Ndzalo Khoza and Alex Vos. Polome ended tenth from Spies after Moodley slipped back to twelfth from Mohlahlo and Gerasis.
Race 2 was much the same up front as Ensor-Smith scampered off on his own for the win, from Ribeiro and Nel. The dice for fourth came to a head when Naidoo spun to allow the squabbling Polome, Malemela, Bezuidenhout and a resurgent Vos to fight it out for fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh. Khoza was next home from Spies, early spinner van Weely, the recovered Naidoo and Gerasis and Mohlahlo.
The third race grid top six was inverted to see Mikel Bezuidenhout on pole from Karabo Malemela, Liam Polome, Ndzalo Khosa, Adriaan Nel and pace man KC Ensor-Smith. Bezuidenhout made no mistakes to take the win from Malemela, with Polome third from Ensor Smith, who gained two places to minimise his deficit. Renzo Ribeiro fought back to seventh from Nel and Naidoo. Khoza slumped to eighth from van Weely, Moodley, Gerasis, Spies and Mohlahlo after Alex Vos retired.
Two wins and a fourth handed KC Ensor-Smith the overall win and early inaugural Investchem MSA4 title advantage. His rivals voted second overall Renzo Ribeiro, the driver of the day. He stood alongside Karabo Malemela on the final step of the podium as Mikel Bezuidenhout, Adriaan Nel and Liam Polome closed off the top six.
Investchem MSA4 now heads to the spiritual home of South African single seater racing at the epic high speed beachside East London Grand Prix Circuit for the next round of the Extreme Festival powered by Coca-Cola on Saturday 19 July.
Issued on behalf of Investchem MSA4
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