The cream of Gauteng’s motorsport crop delivered fierce battles this past weekend (11-12 April) at an action-packed Extreme Festival Presented By Coca-Cola, held at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit.
The regional roster and the day started with the third round of the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series, the only one on the programme to be a round ahead of the rest due to their opening round forming part of the 24th Passion For Speed.
In Class A, Ryan Naicker (Fast Development BMW E92 M3f) beat Sav Gualtieri (SavSpeed Auto BMW F30 S65 V8 Turbo) and Leon Loubser (Monaco Motors (BMW E92 335i) in both races. Race 2 saw Naicker and Gualtieri deliver a fierce battle all the way to the finish line. Defending champion Renier Smith (Fast Development BMW E36 M3 Turbo) won both Class B races from Anton Pommersheim (Eagle Granite BMW E46 M3 Turbo), with Andreas Meier (CEC BMW E36 STC 320it) third. Hein van der Merwe (SavSpeed Racing BMW E36 328i Turbo) took the first Class C win from Nishal Singh (Autonische BMW F80 M3) and Nick Naidoo (Wardens Cartage BMW F87 M2). In Race 2, it was Naidoo who took his first win of the season ahead of Anand Naidu (SA Autotech BMW F80 M3) and Lenard Archer (ACD Welkom BMW E90 335i).
Andre van Vuuren (Curvent International BMW E36 325i Turbo) took his Class D win in Race 1 from Paolo Cavalieri (NGK Pablo Clark Racing BMW E46 330ci Turbo) and Michael Grobler (Pest Control Specialists BMW E46 328i Turbo). In Race 2, Grobler hounded Bernard de Gouveia (De Gouveia Accountants BMW E46 M3) to the line, the latter taking his third win of the season. Olerato Sekudu (Rampage Racing BMW E36 M3) finished third. Class E saw Eddie Rodrigues (BMW E46 330i) and Wessel Mostert (Mosco Specialised Contractors BMW E46 M3) trading the two top spots in the respective races. In Race 1, Claudio Jardim (Mixbox Automotive BMW E36 330i) finished third, with Karabo Malemela (NGK Pablo Clark Racing BMW E46 330i) closing out the podium in Race 2. Kyan Boodaya (Wardens Cartage BMW F30 330D) took his first Class F win in Race 1, with Zaheer Seedat (Saltwater Marketing BMW E36 328i) second and Gerald Anthony (P&A Fabrications BMW F82 M4). Anthony also notched up his first win in Race 2, followed by Boodaya and Seedat.
George Economides (Wealth Avenue Volkswagen Golf Turbo), the defending GT Sports & Saloons champion, took a double win in the Ferro Energia 111 & GT Sports & Saloons races. In both races, he beat Mark du Toit (Trans Africa Racing BMW 118i) and Philip Meyer (The Swiss Hotel School Porsche 924 GTR).
In the 111 Sports & Saloons field, Wayne Robb (Ford Focus 225 ST) took both Class A wins. Race 1 saw him well ahead of the battle for second between Piet Potgieter (Nathans Motorsport Volkswagen Golf) and Craig Priestly (Tactical-Fluid Volkswagen Polo). Race 2 saw Jonathan Visser (Auto Express Car Service Volkswagen Polo) second, while Lindsay Clur (Nathan’s Motorsport Volkswagen Golf) won the battle for third place. Miguel Dias (Performance Masters Volkswagen Polo) and Wayne Lobotschy (SHIELD Volkswagen Golf) traded the Class B wins, with Maritz Le Roux (111 Plumbers Volkswagen Golf) and Louis Scholtz (Car Care Clinic Honda Ballade) taking the respective third places. Christopher Tait (Sportex Volkswagen Polo) took both Class C wins, with Sebastian Bouilliart (Applied Heat Volkswagen Polo) and Keegan Nathan (Volkswagen Polo) trading the podium spots in the respective races. Piet Visagie (Ferro Energia Volkswagen Polo) beat Johan van Heerden (Orion Group Volkswagen Golf) in both races in Class X. Tyron Pillay (TPAS Volkswagen Golf) won both SuperHatch races.
The first DOE Formula Vee Partnered With CIM Lubricants was nullified and not restated following an early incident. In Race 2, the defending champion Lendl Jansen (Bull Security Rhema 2) won from Kyle Watt (MXTwo Rhema 2) and Peter Hills (MXTwo Rhema 2).
The Dunlop V8 Supercars GT1 wins, and runner-up spots were traded between Warren Lombard (Pepboys Automotive Ford Mustang) and Thomas Reib (Café 9 Automotive Chevrolet Lumina), with Richard Fuller (Potaround Ford Falcon) finishing third on both occasions. Auke Compaan (Hurricane Automotive Ford Mustang) took two GT2 wins from Steve Herbst (Prei Instrumentation Chevrolet Corvette) and Wayne Spicer (Wellness Group Jaguar XKRR). Ben Morgenrood (Morgenrood Ford Mustang) was the sole GTX competitor.
Wayne Masters (Performance Masters Volkswagen Polo), defending champion Stuart Mack (Autozone/ Tour Plan Volkswagen Polo), and Bryce Pillay (Volkswagen Polo) took double wins, respectively, in Classes A, B & C of the ATE VW Challenge.
In Class A, Masters was joined on the podium on both occasions by Jayden Goosen (Ferro Energia Volkswagen Polo) and Ian Walker (Mellow Veio Volkswagen Polo). Francois Aldrich (Vaporworx Volkswagen Polo) took second place in Class B in both races, with Dewald Theron (Mweza Trans Volkswagen Polo) and Nicole Lombard (PSA Africa Volkswagen Polo) trading the final podium spot. Adriaan de Beer (Ukwazi Engineering Volkswagen Polo) finished second in Class C in Race 1, with Michael Zapheriou (Insurisk Volkswagen Polo) completing the podium. The latter was back in a race for the first time since his near-fatal incident at the same circuit a year prior. Zapheriou took the runner-up spot in Race 2, with Stuart Konig (Northern Bolt & Tool Volkswagen Polo) third.
The next outing for the Extreme Festival Presented By Coca-Cola’s regional roster will see them return to Zwartkops Raceway on 16-17 May.