The Zwartkops Raceway crowd were treated to top-class action this past Saturday (16 November) as the 2024 Regional Extreme Festival champions were crowned.

The race day programme started with the DOE Formula Vee Partnered with CIM Lubricants championship. This, the eighth round of the season, saw the 2023 champion Jaco Jaco Schriks (Cubed Coatings Rhema 2) return to the grid. Schriks won both the day’s races. The first race was red-flagged on Lap 7 due to an incident involving Shaun van der Linde (Truck City Boksburg Rhema 2). The race was restarted for a two-lap sprint. Lendl Jansen’s (Bull Security Rhema 2) second place was enough for him to secure his maiden title, while MD Bester (Mangaza Racing Rhema 2) completed the podium.

The afternoon’s second race saw action throughout the field, including a fierce battle for the top three spots. This time, Bester finished second after a stellar performance in which he held off a persistent Kyle Watt (Mangaza Racing Rhema 2)

It was Round 10 for the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series, the only series on the roster that was out of sync with the number of rounds compared to the rest.

The Class D & E Group for this series started their programme. Shane Grobler (Grobler Motorsport BMW E30 330i) and Nicholas Herbst (CIM Lubricants BMW E90 330i) traded the Class D race wins, with Bilal Ahmed taking the final podium spot on both occasions. It was a similar situation in Class E, where Matthew Wadeley (BMW Car Club Gauteng BMW E46 330i Touring) and Zaheer Seedat (Saltwater Marketing BMW E36 328i) traded the wins, and Mike Grobler (Grobler Motorsport BMW E36/7 Z3) took third place in both races.

In the Class A, B & C races, Lee Thompson (Lee Thompson Racing BMW F30 335i) could not cash in on his pole position, with two DNFs on the day. This saw Ryan Naicker (Fast Development BMW E36 M3 Turbo) win the first race from Leon Loubser (Monaco Motors BMW E92 335i) and Bob Neill (Delmon Mining BMW E92 M3 Turbo). Andreas Meier (#CEC BMW E36 STC 320iT) took his first Class B win since March, with Renier Smith (Fast Development BMW E36 M3 Turbo) second and Nek Makris (BMW E46 335i) in third place. Nishal Singh (Autonische BMW F80 M3) won Class C from Hein Van der Merwe (SavSpeed Racing BMW E36 328i Turbo) and Varish Ganpath (Grobler Motorsport BMW E46 330ci Turbo).

In the second race, Neill beat Loubser in Class A following a fierce battle at the front of the field. Naicker finished third. Makris beat Smith and Nick Naidoo (Wardens Cartage BMW E82 1M) in Class B, with Nicky Dicks (Curvent International BMW E36 M3) winning Class C on debut in the series from Van der Merwe and Singh.

This saw Smith take the 2024 title, his maiden overall Series title.

The PABAR VW Challenge also did not disappoint. In Race 1, Bevin Masters (The CPS Warehouse Volkswagen Polo) beat Wayne Masters (Performance Master Volkswagen Polo) in a close Class A contest. Dean Ross (Norbrake Distributors Volkswagen Polo) finished third. Jayden Goosen (Ferro Energia Volkswagen Polo) won Class X in the first race, with Mike Baraglia (PABAR Volkswagen Polo) second and Elna Croeser (ATE Brakes Volkswagen Polo) third. Mohammed Karodia (Fast 5 Motorsport Volkswagen Polo) took the day’s first Class B win, with Ian Walker (Mellow Veio Volkswagen Polo) beating Stuart Mack (Creation Wealth Volkswagen Polo) in a good tussle for the runner-up spot. Judd Bertholdt (Sizanani Plastics Volkswagen Polo) beat Christopher Tait (Sportex Volkswagen Polo) and Andy Gossman (Car Doc Service Centres Volkswagen Polo) in Class C.

Their second race was the only one affected by the short but significant spell of afternoon rainfall. Following Karodia beaching his car in the Turn 6 kitty litter, the race saw a lengthy safety car period.

Wayne Masters beat Bevin Masters in Class A, with Madodana Mfana (Clean Renewables Volkswagen Polo) third. In Class X, Bjorn Bertholdt (Sizanani Plastics Volkswagen Polo) beat Goosen and Barbaglia. Stelio Nousias (Fourbuy Wholesale & Chasing Cars Volkswagen Polo) took the Class B win from Shiren Rajpaul (Dubcorp Service Centre Volkswagen Polo and Walker. Judd Bertholdt won Class C from Yotti Nousias (We Fix Cars Volkswagen Polo) and Gossman.

Mack took the 2024 PABAR VW Challenge championship honours.

In the opening Mobil 1 V8 Supercars heat, Warren Lombard (PepBoys Automotive Ford Mustang) won the GT Class from Thomas Reib (Mobil 1 Chevrolet Lumina) and Julian Fameliaris (Lube-Net Chevrolet Corvette). His third place was enough to give Fameliaris his second-consecutive GT Class title. Auke Compaan (Hurricane Automotive Ford Mustang) switched to the GTX Class before qualifying, knowing that his maiden GT2 Class title had already been wrapped up. Steve Herbst (PREI Instrumentation Chevrolet Corvette) won the GT2 Class in Race 1, with Ben Morgenrood (Morgenrood Ford Mustang) taking the GTX honours.

In Race 2, Fameliaris took the GT Class win from Lombard, and Franco di Matteo (Jaguar XKR) Herbst retired shortly into Race 2, while Shaun Holtzhausen (959 Panelbeaters & Spraypainters Ford Falcon) retired after three laps, resulting in no classified GT2 Class finishers. Morgenrood again won the GTX Class.

The Ferro Energia 111 & GT Sports & Saloons field completed the year’s programme with the weekend’s two closest championship battles. This field also included the SuperHatch group.

In the GT Sports & Saloons field, George Economides (Wealth Avenue Volkswagen Monster) won both races from Phillip Meyer (The Swiss Hotel School Porsche 924 GTR) and Dawie Olivier (International Race Supplies BMW E30). This saw Economides first retake the points lead from Olivier and wrap up the title.

Melanie Spurr (Car Care Clinic Volkswagen Golf) won 111 Sport & Saloons Class A in Race 1 from Wayne Robb (Ford Focus 225 ST and Lindsay Clur (Nathan’s Motorsport Volkswagen Golf). Miguel Dias (PMD Transport Volkswagen Polo) took Class B from Georg Eysselein (Tax and Risk Management Volkswagen Golf). Chris Smit (Merx Porsche 944) took a narrow victory over Wouter Roos (Car Care Clinic Volkswagen Polo) in Class C, with Karel Stols (Pretoria Noord Toyota Etios) third. Rob Clark (Containerforce Self Storage Honda Ballade) won Class D from Christopher Gerber (Executive Autospray Volkswagen Polo Vivo). In Class X, it was Jonathan du Toit (Trans Africa Racing Porsche Boxster) who won from Jayden Goosen (Ferro Energia Volkswagen Polo) and Shaun Vermaak (Hands-On Properties BMW).

In Race 2, Robb beat Spurr in Class A, with Francois Henning (Die Kantoor Volkswagen Polo) third. Dias made it two Class B wins, with Jonathan Visser (Auto Express Car Service Volkswagen Polo) second and Eysselein third. This time, Roos beat Smit in Class C, with Stols completing the podium. Clark again beat Gerber in Class D. Goosen won Class X this time, with Giulio Airaga (Desco Electronics Recycles Volkswagen Polo) finishing second and Lenard Archer (ACD Welkom Hyundai Getz) in third.

Roos started the day with a one-point lead over Spurr, with the latter taking a one-point lead in the championship after the first race. In the end, the championship battle came down to a one-point win for Roos, who successfully defended his championship.

In the SuperHatch field, Francis Aldrich (VaporWorx Volkswagen Polo) won the T1 class from Quintus Viljoen (Volkswagen Polo) in both races. George Aldrich (Aldrich Racing Opel Corsa) won the T2 class from Freddy Watkins (My Wallet Volkswagen Polo Playa) and Hendrik Venter (4J’s Auto Opel Corsa) on both occasions. Suman Moodley (Renault Clio) and Ishmael Baloyi (Trans Africa Racing Honda Civic) traded the Class A wins.

The 2025 Regional Extreme Festival will begin at Zwartkops Raceway on 28 February and 1 March. The full 2025 National & Regional Extreme Festival roster calendars were announced this past Thursday.