What Dunlop National Champions
Where Durban, South Africa
When Friday 11 October
Community South Africa National
Dunlop’s Champions will be crowned at Zwartkops
Dunlop Tyres South Africa relies heavily on its local motor racing involvement. Not just for the glory of winning, but to also prove its state-of-the-art tyres beyond any reasonable doubt. This time of year is always exciting for the brand too. Its new National racing champions have either been crowned, or will be at Saturday 19 October’s Zwartkops Extreme Festival finale.
“The end of the South African Extreme Festival National Motor Racing season is always a special time for Dunlop, and 2024 is no exception,” Sumitomo Rubber South Africa PR & Events Manager Joanne de Freitas explains. “We have lived every racing moment of the season with all our drivers and teams, and now among them have either just won, or will very soon wrap up their South African championships.
“To be part of all that is just such a thrill, but it’s equally important for us to be entrenched in every driver’s racing season and knowing that Dunlop Motorsport makes such a difference to all of them. Dunlop is the dedicated tyre supplier to the South African Touring Cars and SATC SupaCup, the Extreme Supercars Driven by Dunlop, Astron Energy Polo Cup, VW Rookie Cup and Toyota Gazoo Racing Cup, and we look forward to celebrating with each of those champions after Zwartkops!”
Four South African champions have already been crowned in 2024. Robert Wolk’s BMW clinched the South African Touring Cars title at Killarney last time out, but that Dunlop-shod series second place is still very much up for grabs between Toyota men Michael van Rooyen and rookie Anthony Pretorius, and Julian van der Watt’s Volkswagen. David Franco has also clinched the SATC SupaCup Masters championships, while the three Toyota Gazoo Cup titles have also been claimed by David van der Merwe in the GR86s, Sean Nurse in the GR Corolla Media Cup, and Devon Scott in the GR Yaris Cup. All of the above exclusively on Dunlop rubber, of course!
The rest of the Dunlop-shod South African National racing championships are all very much still up for grabs. Its super-tight at the top of the Extreme Supercars Driven by Dunlop chase. Arnold Neveling’s A+ class Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo A+ holds a slender three point advantage over GT3 leader Jonathan du Toit’s Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO, with Stuart White’s similar A+ car within spitting distance in third. All exclusively on Dunlop slick racing tyres.
Jonathan Mogotsi and Keegan Campos are fighting it out for the Dunlop-shod SATC SupaCup championship, with rookie Charl Visser still in with a shot in third. KZN lad Jason Loosemore arrives at Zwartkops with one hand on the 2024 Astron Energy Polo Cup championship, with title rival Ethan Coetzee hoping for a miracle and third man Mo Karodia looking over his shoulder for rookie leader Kyle Visser. It’s also not quite over in the Astron Energy Polo Masters, where Wayne Masters still has Derick Smalberger close enough behind to be concerned.
“None of us can wait for this weekend,” Joanne de Freitas concludes. “Why not join us at Zwartkops to witness history being made and celebrate all our new Dunlop Racing champions as they are crowned? See you at Zwartkops!”
Issued on behalf of Dunlop Motorsport
Photography by: Abri de Bruyn
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