Just a month after the Extreme Festival Presented By Coca-Cola’s national roster visited the iconic circuit, the East London Grand Prix Circuit is getting ready to host the regional roster for the first time this coming weekend (223-23 August).
Since the start of the 2023 season, the regional roster has one coastal round added to its annual calendar, with the various coastal circuits being rotated. Initially, this year’s event would’ve seen the tour crossing the border for a visit in Maputo, but due to multiple factors, the calendar was changed with East being brought forward by a year.
While this will be the first time that the East London motorsport fans will see the full regional roster in action, some of the series that make up the programme have competed at the circuit on previous occasions. With a host of drivers having also competed in other series and on different tours, the fastest circuit in South Africa will not be entirely new to them either.
Opening Saturday’s race programme will be the Round 5 of the Dunlop V8 Supercars. While the category has gone through various incarnations since the 1980s, it has spent a great deal of the last four decades as part of the top national tour, with the East London fans being passionate about the V8 series. The last of these visits came in 2018, when the series formed part of the national Extreme Festival roster’s East London programme. A lot has happened in the series in the last seven years, and this weekend will see a mix of familiar and new faces at the circuit.
Thomas Reib (Café 9 Automotive Chevrolet Lumina), the current points leader, will be one of the familiar faces, but this will be the first outing at the circuit for his closest rival, Warren Lombard (PepBoys Automotive Ford Mustang). A challenging weekend for Lombard in Round 4 at Red Star Raceway saw Reib extend his lead to 31 points. This pair have each taken three wins this year. Auke Compaan (Hurricane Auto Ford Mustang) is currently third, with Terry Wilford (Fuchs Lubricants Ford Mustang), who took the other two wins, in close contention.
The DOE Formula Vee Partnered by CIM Lubricants is another familiar series, and in fact, the most recent of those on the regional roster to visit the circuit. Their last outing was in 2022 as part of the national visit. Along with the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series, they are now also one round ahead of the rest of the series, having formed part of the Zwartkopanapolis 500 programme.
Heading into Round 6, defending champion Lendl Jansen (Bull Security Rhema 2) heads up the current points table, 43 points clear of Gert van den Berg (DOE Quality Parts Rhema 2), with Vaughn Hills (MXTwo Rhema 2).
The ATE VW Challenge is another series that will be pretty familiar to the East London motorsport fans, albeit with their last visit being in 2017. This coming weekend will see a relatively diminished field, with various competitors opting not to participate in the fly-away event.
Class A points leader Jayden Goosen (Ferro Energia Volkswagen Polo) will look to extend his lead, with fourth-placed Elna Croeser (ATE Brakes Volkswagen Polo) being his closest rival.
The top three in Class B are all set to continue their battle. Defending series and class champion Stuart Mack (Autozone Volkswagen Polo) will battle it out with Francis Aldrich (Vaporworx Volkswagen Polo) and Chris Davison (Generator Service Inclusive Volkswagen Polo).
Class C will also see the top contenders in action, with Adriaan de Beer (Ukwazi Engineering Volkswagen Polo), Bryce Pillay (73 Racing Volkswagen Polo), and Stuart Konig (Northern Bolt and Tool Volkswagen Polo) all set for the weekend.
De Beer has a four-point lead over Mack in the Series championship, with Pillay third, a further four points adrift.
The BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series will have its maiden outing at the circuit. This will be their sixth round, also one ahead after starting their season as part of the 24th Passion For Speed event. Consisting of six time-based classes, the field will be split into two groups competing separately.
Class A will see Leon Loubser (Monaco Motors BMW E92 335i) battle it out with Bob Neill (Delmon Mining BMW E92 M3 Turbo). Renier Smith (Fast Development BMW E36 M3 Turbo), the defending Series champion, will compete against the likes of Nek Makris (BMW E46 335i). While Class C leader Salvi Gualtieri will not be making the trip, the likes of Nishal Singh (Autonische BMW F80 M3) and Varish Ganpath (Grobler Motorsport BMW E92 335i) will look to make up ground.
Bernard de Gouveia (De Gouveia Accountants BMW E 46 M3) and Andre van Vuuren (Curvent International BMW E36 325i) will continue their battle at the top of Class D. Class E leader, Karabo Malemela (Liqui Moly BMW E46 330i), who also competed in last month’s Investchem MSA4 round a the circuit, heads up Class E from Eddie Rodrigues (Eddie7Racing BMW E46 330i). The highest-ranked Class F driver will be third-placed Kyan Boodaya (Wardens Cartage BMW F30 330D), who will compete against a host of drivers, including recent debutant Henry Platt (Mosco Motorsport BMW E36/7 Z3).
Heading into Round 5 of the Ferro Energia 111 & GT Sports & Saloons Series, Wouter Roos (Origen Volkswagen Golf heads up the GT Class. With his primary rivals, George Economides and Mark du Toit, both not entered, he will look to extend his advantage. Jonathan Visser (Auto Express Volkswagen Polo) will be one of the drivers looking to decrease the deficit.
The top three in Class A of the 111 Sports & Saloons field, Wayne Robb (Ford Focus ST), Piet Potgieter (Nathan’s Motorsport Volkswagen Golf), and Lindsay Clur (Nathan’s Motorsport Volkswagen Polo), will recommence their battle. M O’Sullivan (All Things Motoring Honda Ballade will start the weekend as the sole Class B competitor. Currently, he is third and will look to surpass Wayne Lebotschy and Louis Scholtz. The Class C battle will be spearheaded by frontrunners Keegan Nathan (Nathan’s Motorsport Volkswagen Polo), Sebastian Bouilliart Volkswagen Polo, and Christopher Tait (Sportex Volkswagen Polo).
The SuperHatch battle will be a straight fight between George Aldrich (Aldrich Racing Opel Corsa) and Keithin Meintjies (TRC Renault Sandero.
Spectator tickets will be available from the East London Grand Prix Circuit entrance gate on Saturday at R100 per adult, and children under 12 will get in for free. All of the day’s racing action will also be broadcast live on the Extreme Festival website.