The Extreme Festival’s national roster got off to an exciting start at Killarney International Raceway this past weekend (13-14 March), with the race day being marked by the next generation of South African motorsport stars picking up a lot of silverware.
Starting the race day action was the Race 1 for Extreme SuperCars Driven By Dunlop. Charl Arangies (Stradale Motorsport Mercedes AMG GT3 EVO) beat the defending champion, Jonathan du Toit (Trans Africa Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO) for the race and GT3 class honours as the pair recommenced their closely-contested battles at the front. Cape Town’s Charl Visser (Charl Engineering Porsche GT3 4L) completed the race podium, while taking the Class A win. The second race saw Du Toit turn the tables on Arangies, with Gianni Giannoccaro (G&H Transport Audi R8 GT3 LMS) completing the podium and taking the Class A win. However, Race 3 saw Arangies get the win, and enough of a gap to take the honours for the day, again with Class A winner, Gianni Giannoccaro in third.
Ant Blunden (G&H Transport Lamborghini Huracan Trofeo) took the first two Claas B wins, but Roy Obery (Stradale Motorsport Porsche GT3 Cup MR) prevented him from taking a hat trick in the final race. Class C saw a similar trend, with Weylin Volschenk (IMC-SA Porsche 997.1 Cup) starting victoriously before Yanni Hatzi (Nissan S14/Sx200) took the win in the final race. Uli Sanne (G&H Transport BMW Z4M) was the sole Class D competitor, taking all three wins.
This year’s championship also adds the Index of Performance Classification. Arangies, with a score of 99.32%, beat Du Toit (99.00%) and Visser (98.82%).
The Volkswagen Rookie Cup, one of the series featuring a host of future stars all competing in similar Volkswagen Polo Vivo GT cars, saw Sebastian Dias cross the line first. A 10-second penalty for jumping the start relegated him to second place behind Luke Hill, with Jack Moore in third. Dias again jumped the start in Race 2, which relegated him from fourth to seventh place. At the front, Hill made it to wins for the day, this time with Moore just behind him, while Anvill April completed the podium.
The new generation of GR 86 drivers headed up the GR South Africa Cup’s season opener. Kobus Reyneke took both race wins. Connor Weston and Emma Dowling battled for the runner-up spots, with Weston beating Dowling in Race 1, with the order reversed in Race 2. However, Dowling had little time to enjoy the celebrations after her superb circuit racing debut, as she needed to depart for the United Kingdom to start her other new exciting journey in the F1 Academy Discover Your Drive – Champions Of The Future Academy. This competition could lead to her joining the F1 Academy grid in the future.
The Dealership Challenge saw Devon Scott beat Werner Venter and Theo Brits in both races. In the Media Challenge, Nabil Abdool started his title defence with two wins. Race 1 saw him beat Tayedza Mibiri and Craig Nicholson. The latter went one better in Race 2, beating Justin Ford to second place.
The SunBet ZX10 Masters Cup certainly did not disappoint. With riders classed per age group and all competing on Kawasaki ZX10 machines, the two-wheeled brigade provided some of the weekend’s most action-filled moments. Defending two-time consecutive champion Clinton Seller (King Price Xtreme) suffered a pinched nerve, which reduced his ability to control his bike. Despite setting the quickest time in Friday’s qualifying session, Seller withdrew from the event, as he felt the injury could endanger his fellow competitors if he lost control in a tight race. Class B’s Damion Purificati (Amalgum Welding Shop) took the Race 1 win from Class C’s Jayson Lamb (Tyremart EL), with Class A winner, Cape Town’s own Trevor Westman (Project Sixty SA) completing the podium. Westman, who destroyed his race bike in a high-speed crash on Friday afternoon, was racing a largely stock, borrowed bike.
All three riders had fairly decisive wins over their immediate class rivals, with Adriaan van Dalen (UAG Automotive Centre) and Keith Agliotti (TNB Global) completing the Class A podium. In Class B, Purificati was joined by Henk Kruger Zeemans Honda) and Byron Rothquel (MagMagic Repair), while the Class C top-three was completed by James Barson (Nero Spec) and Reginald Seale (HXCS).
Race 2 was shaping up nicely until Van Dalen crashed out in the latter stages, which brought out the red flag, with Purificati leading Lamb at the time. However, with a portion of the race already completed, the final result would be determined on aggregate. What followed was a fierce four-lap battle between the pair, and an audacious move from Lamb to take the race win by 0.7 of a second. With the two portions combined, Lamb took the honours by a slender 0.006 of a second. Westman completed the podium.
Agliotti again completed the Class A podium, with Hein McMahon (K9 Law Enforcement) in second place. In Class B, Lubabalo Ntisana (LB Auto) took second place, while Rothquel also returned for a second podium. Class C saw the Race 1 podium order repeated, with Barson and Seale.
There is always some well-deserved excitement around the start of the Astron Energy Polo Cup season. 2026 marks the 30th anniversary of the series, which now utilises Volkswagen Polo GTI cars, and it remains one of the most competitive championships on the national roster. Hannes Scheepers (Dainfern Dental Studio) opened his title quest with a double win over Roshaan Goodman (Upward Spiral 1471), while Shiren Rajpaul (Goldwagen Springfield Park) and Pierluigi Muzzulini (FSS International) completed the respective race podiums.
In the Masters’ class, it was the defending two-time champion Wayne Masters (Performance Masters) who took the first win of the day from Derick Smalberger (Sabertek), with John Kruger third. The latter again completed the Race 2 podium, while the battle for the top spot saw Smalberger beat Masters this time around.
The first 10 years of the South African Touring Cars, formerly Global Touring Cars, have seen it become the grand stage showdown of three progression routes in South African motorsport. Volkswagen, Toyota and Investchem all have pathways into the series for young drivers, starting with the respective Volkswagen Rookie Cup, GR 86 Cup, and MSA4. The 2026 season opener was an action-packed display of the success of all these products.
KC Ensor-Smith (African Heating Volkswagen Golf 8 GTI), the reigning Investchem MSA4 champion, became the first driver since Michael Stephen back in 2016’s inaugural race to take a win on his debut start. For most of the race, he was hounded by Julian van der Watt (Chemical Logistics Volkswagen Golf 8 GTI), but a mistake by the latter on the final lap resulted in Ensor-Smith’s fellow debutant and reigning GR 86 champion Jason Coetzee (Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota Corolla) taking the runner-up spot. Andrew Schofield (FlySafair BMW 128ti), completed the podium. Van der Watt had the upper hand from the reverse grid in Race 2, adding another hometown win ahead of Coetzee and Ensor-Smith.
The SATC SupaCup also forms part of the aforementioned progression channel. Race 1 saw 2024’s Astron Energy Polo Cup champion Jason Loosemore (Nathan’s Motorsport Volkswagen Polo SupaCup) beat his successor to the crown in 2025, Rory Atkinson (Easy Drive Vehicle Plans Volkswagen Polo SupaCup), in a fierce battle. The pair continued their rivalry in Race 2, with Loosemore making it two wins for the day, while Atkinson finished his superb debut with two second places. Nicholas Vostanis (Campos Transport Volkswagen Polo SupaCup) completed the Race 1 podium, while the former Volkswagen Rookie Cup champion, Judd Bertholdt (Union Power Energy Volkswagen Polo SupaCup), finished his debut weekend on the podium in Race 2.
Ensor-Smith’s Investchem MSA4 departure opened the door to his 2025 rivals to battle for championship honours. Mikel Bezuidenhout (Corsa Dei Gemeli) started his campaign with a double-win over debutant Aqil Alibhai (Robyn Oelofse). Renzo Ribeiro (Metal Used Spares) and Karabo Malemela (KMFT Morita) completed the two respective podiums.
Behind them, the Investchem Formula Ford Kent brigade saw Ian Schofield (Investchem Mygale SJ) beat Nicholas van Wheely (Magnificent Paints & Hardware Van Diemen RF06) and Alex Vos (DV Building Supplies Van Diemen RF04).
This year’s second outing for the Extreme Festival’s national roster will be at Red Star Raceway on 17-18 April. This will mark the first time since 2022 that the circuit outside Delmas will host a full leg of the national tour. In 2025, the Investchem MSA4 and Formula Ford Kent fields had their penultimate round at the circuit, while the SunBet ZX10 Masters Cup also features at the circuit regularly.