A sizeable East London Grand Prix Circuit crowd were treated to top-class action this past weekend (22-23 August) with the Extreme Festival Presented By Coca-Cola’s regional roster putting on a spectacular show for their coastal round.
This came a month after the national portion of the tour visited the Eastern Cape city, which saw a challenging event for organisers, officials, and spectators alike, mainly due to a burst water pipe outside the circuit boundaries. However, this time the stars, circumstances, and weather conditions aligned to set the scene for a magnificent weekend of motorsport, enjoyed by all.
A big drawcard for the event was the first Dunlop V8 Supercars visit to East London in seven years, and the drivers did not disappoint. Pole-sitter Terry Wilford (Wellnetix Ford Mustang) took a lights-to-flag win in Saturday’s opening race. Thomas Reib (Café 9 Automotive Chevrolet Lumina) provided an early challenge but retired midway through the race. This opened the door for Warren Lombard (PepBoys Automotive Ford Mustang), who had a disastrous start to the weekend after his engine failed in Thursday’s unofficial practice sessions, to slot into second place, Auke Compaan (Hurricane Auto Ford Mustang) also retired, which saw Alan Ryan (Wellness Group Ford Falcon) take the final podium spot.
Race 2 saw Wilford taking another lights-to-flag win, despite a piece of his undertray coming off with two corners to go. Reib was back and took the runner-up spot, while Lombard held off Ryan for third. The Dunlop V8 Supercars were one of two series to compete in three races. Race 3 saw Lombard finish his weekend in style with a win, while Wilford completed one of his best weekends in more than two years with a second place. Reib completed the podium.
The DOE Formula Vee Partnered With CIM Lubricants series was the other to have three races in its first outing at the circuit since 2022. In Race 1, it was the defending champion and points leader, Lendl Jansen (Bull Security Rhema 2), who took the honours. The podium, covered by just over 0.4 of a second, was completed by Theodore Vermaak (DEO Quality Parts Forza) and Gert van den Berg (DOE Quality Parts Rhema 2).
The second and third races produced two more close contests for the top three positions. In both, it was Vermaak who was the first to take the chequered flag. Jansen and Peter Hills (MXTwo Vee) secured the Race 2 podium, with Jansen finishing his day with another podium in Race 3, this time in third place behind former champion Jaco Schriks (DOE Quality Parts Rhema 2), who made a welcome return to the series.
The third of the familiar series, and next on the programme, was the ATE VW Challenge, which also had the longest gap between East London visits. It has been eight years since their last race at the coastal circuit.
Jayden Goosen (AA Pre-Owned Volkswagen Polo) was the sole Class A competitor and won both races, after Elna Croeser (ATE Brakes Volkswagen Polo) moved to Class B on Friday.
In Class B, the defending champion Stuart Mack (Autozone Volkswagen Polo) won the opening race. Francois Aldrich (Vaporworx Volkswagen Polo) had to take evasive action to avoid an incident in the opening laps. This saw him drop down the field, but he made his way back to finish second, with Croeser third. Race 2 saw Aldrich beat Mack, while Jonathan Konig (Northern Bolt and Tool Volkswagen Polo) held off Croser and Chris Davison (Generator Services Inclusive Volkswagen Polo) for the final podium spot.
In Class C, Bryce Pillay (73 Racing Volkswagen Polo) beat Stuart Konig (Northern Bolt & Tool Volkswagen Polo) in both races. Adriaan de Beer (Ukwazi Engineering Volkswagen Polo) and Andy Gossman (Car Doc Volkswagen Polo) completed the respective podiums in Races 1 and 2.
It was East London’s first look at the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series this weekend.
Leon Loubser (Monaco Motors BMW E92 335i) won Class A in both races, ahead of Bob Neill in a borrowed Delmon Mining BMW E92 M3 Turbo.
Andreas Meier put the issues on his CEC BMW E36 STC behind him with a Class B win in Race 1, ahead of Anton Pommersheim (Eagle Granite BMW E46 M3). Lenard Archer (ACD Welkom BMW E90 335i) was third. Initially, he won Class C but broke out. Archer took the Race 2 win, ahead of the defending champion Renier Smith (Fast Development BMW E36 M3 Turbo) and Nek Makris (BMW E46 335i).
Archer’s breakout promoted Anand Naidu (S.A. Autotech BMW F80 M3) to the top of the Class C podium in Race 1, before he took the outright win in Race 2. Nishal Singh (Autonische BMW F80 M3) and Sheldon Chetty (TMS BMW F82 M4) completed the Race 1 podium. Chetty took the runner-up spot in Race 2, ahead of Reinhardt Miller (Amtec Racing Fuels BMW E36 325i Turbo).
Bernard de Gouveia battled with electrical issues on his De Gouveia Accountants BMW E46 M3 throughout Saturday. Race 1 saw the Class D win go to Nick Naidoo (Wardens Cartage BMW E82 1M), with Andre van Vuuren (Curvent International BMW E36 325i Turbo) second, and East London’s Shaun Gradwell (KWT Motor Engineering BMW E36 328i) third. Van Vuuren and Gradwell topped things in Race 2, with Gerhard du Plessis (Doep’s Civils BMW F22 240i) completing the podium.
In Class E, Karabo Malemela (Liqui Moly BMW E46 330i) took his third successive win in Race 1 from Kent Swartz (Auto Trader BMW E46 330i) and Tihan van Rooyen (Van Rooyen Vision Centre BMW E82 125i). Wessel Mostert (Mosco Motorsport BMW E46 M3) took the honours in Race 2, from Malemela and Eddie Rodrigues (Eddie7Racing BMW E46 330i).
Kyan Boodaya (Wardens Cartage BMW F30 330D) took both Class F wins from Shriyav Naidu (S.A. Autotech BMW E36 M30. Paul Berry (Miles Auto Clinic BMW E36) and Philip Mostert Jnr (Mosco Motorsport BMW E30 330i), respectively, completed the podium in Races 1 and 2.
Lenard Archer and ACD Welkom featured in another series and were one of the most significant talking points of the weekend. Early on Friday morning, ACD Welkom was announced as the new naming rights partner of the 111 & GT Sports & Saloons series.
Archer, in his ACD Welkom BMW E90 335i, was also not quite done with breakouts on the weekend either. While he crossed the line first in both the GT Class races, he did break out of the minimum lap time bracket, which saw him excluded from the results. This saw Jared Rossouw (Volkswagen Polo) beat Wouter Roos (Origen Volkswagen Golf) and Jonathan Visser (Auto Express Volkswagen Polo) in both races.
In Class A, it was also a repeat podium with Wayne Robb (Ford Focus ST) beating Piet Potgieter (Nathan’s Motorsport Volkswagen Golf) and Lindsay Clur (Nathan’s Motorsport Volkswagen Polo).
Class X saw Shaun Gradwell (HX Consulting Services BMW E36) and Paul Berry (BMW E36) at the top in both races, with Kiesha Potgieter (ADZ Racing Audi A3) and Wayne Botha (KWT Motor Engineering Ford Escort) completing the podium in the two respective races.
Jayden Goosen (AA Pre-Owned Volkswagen Polo) took both Class B wins. Mike O’Sullivan (All Things Motoring Honda Ballade) only finished Race 1.
Christopher Tait (Sportex Volkswagen Polo) took both Class C wins. In Race 1, Tyron Pillay (TPAS Volkswagen Golf) beat Rob Clark (Containerforce Honda) to second place. Clark again completed the Race 2 podium, with Keegan Nathan (Nathan’s Motorsport Volkswagen Polo) second.
In the SuperHatch T2 Class, Keithin Meintjies (TRC Renault Sandero) took both wins, while George Aldrich (Aldrich Racing Opel Corsa) only completed Race 2.
The next outing for the Extreme Festival Presented by Coca-Cola’s regional roster will be at Red Star Raceway on 3-4 October. Before that, on 12-13 September, the national roster will make their return trip to Killarney International Raceway.
Published by: Reynard Gelderblom
MSA Publishes media releases from a host of different sources on our website as a service to the sport. It is not practically possible to vet/approve every release that is published. Some news items and articles are written by correspondents and do not necessarily represent MSA’s views.