What Regional Extreme Festival Round 7 Report
Where Red Star Raceway, Delmas
When Saturday 12 October 2024
Community Gauteng Regional
Championship leaders suffer a day to forget at Red Star
If ever there was a whodunnit script for a motor racing weekend, then Saturday’s PABAR VW Challenge has to have its hands up as one of the best. Heading into the weekend, it seemed as if the championship was game set and match a straight fight between Class B and C leaders, Stuart Mack and Christopher Tait for the overall title.
But two quick races at Red Star Raceway sorted all that pronto as the championship was turned on its head with double winners in each class, and none of them were the erstwhile title contenders, at the penultimate Regional Extreme Festival. Class A rivals Wayne and Bevin Masters shared those wins, Mike Barbaglia took Class X, Mo Karodia and Shrien Rajpaul shared out Class B, and Kyle Petersen each took a Class C heat in a hot and sweaty day of high drama in the mielie fields.
Performance Master Wayne started the weekend on top with pole position in his normally aspirated Class A Polo. He pipped brother Bevin in The CPS Warehouse Polo, Norbrake lad Dean Ross and Clean Renewables man Mydi Mfana. Mike Barbaglia slotted in between Ross and Mfana in his turbocharged class X PABAR Polo.
The front of the class B pack however had a rather different look to it. Durban Dubcorp driver Shiren Rajpaul put one over his upcountry rivals with pole position ahead of motorcycle racing convert Anthony Lessing’s C-SOL version and Mohammed Karodia’s Fast 5 Motorsport Polo sedan.
Championship leader Stuart Mack could only muster fourth in his Creation Wealth turbo litre Polo ahead of Ethan Coetzee’s regular Slayer Energy LTR Polo hatch. He lined up alongside Tinahe Ncube’s Eco Simply Solar car in fifth, Dewald Theron, VaporWorx man Francis Aldrich, Nicole Lombard, Jacques Hayes’ Platinum Wheels entry, and Chris Davison’s Himonisa Polo.
There was another surprise when Kyle Petersen’s Insurisk Vivo popped up on pole in Class C ahead of Class B refugee Adriaan de Beer and Andy Gossman’s Goose car. Another Insurisk lad, Dimitri Zapheriou lined up fourth from Dino Smit’s Rezcom entry, Cody Petersen in a third Insurisk car and Mitch Coetzee’s Slayer Energy LTR Vivo.
The opening race was a nail-biter all the way from lights out to the final turn and the chequered flag. Mike Barbaglia mugged Wayne and Bevin Masters down the back straight on the opening lap, but the brothers fought back to the front and went on to swap the lead several times a lap. Wayne led two corners out, but Bevin was back ahead by the time they crossed the line. Dean Ross was third from X man Barbaglia, Miguel Dias who missed qualifying, and Mfana.
In class B, Shiren Rajpaul held the class B sway early on, only for Mo Karodia to overhaul him in his uber. Anthony Lessing ended an encouraging third, but Stuart Mack would have been a little less encouraged with only fourth. Even if his points did his title aspirations very well indeed. Ethan Coetzee came home fifth from Ncube, Theron, Hayes, Davison Lombard and Aldrich.
Kyle Petersen overcame huge pressure from Adriaan de Beer to take a delighted maiden Class C win on the day that his Insurisk teammate Michael Zapheriou made his first visit to the racetrack after frightful his Kyalami accident. Andy Gossman ended third from Dimitri Zapheriou, Coetzee, Smit and Cody Petersen. Poor Chris Tate’s day went from bad to worse. He spluttered around for a few laps before parking the car.
Mike Barbaglia snatching the race 2 lead as the lights went out. Before Dean Ross emerged ahead a lap later. It took a bit for Wayne Masters to hit the front and restore the status quo. Bevin found it tougher to pass Ross and indulged in a bit of farming. But it was back to a Masters 1-2 as Wayne took the win from Bevin, Ross, Mfana and Barbaglia.
Class B delivered another fantastic race. Mo Karodia took his turn to streak off into the lead, before Shiren Rajpaul hunted him down, took the lead and opened up enough of a gap to add a maiden overall win to his heat success. Mo was second from Lessing, Mack, who did enough to clinch the Class B title, Coetzee, Theron, Ncube, Hayes, Davison Lombard and Aldrich.
Andy Gossman bounced back to take a dominant second heat Class C victory from an equally rejuvenated Mitch Coetzee and Kyle Petersen. Dimitri Zapheriou followed from Dino Smit and Cody Petersen after de Beer hit trouble and class championship leader Tait did not start.
Overall, Wayne beat Bevin Masters and Dean Ross in Class A, Barbaglia won Class X and Rajpaul pipped Karodia and Lessing in Class B. Gossman took the Brat Pack C win from Petersen and Coetzee. All of which provisionally leaves Stuart Mack leading overall and Class B with 107 points from C leader Chris Tait, who now only has a handful of points advantage over class rival Gossman.
Rajpaul’s bonus points see him into a single point advantage over Karodia for third and fourth overall, and second and third in Class B, with Bevin Masters breathing down their necks in the Class A lead. He only has a short lead over brother Wayne, tied on points with C lad Kyle Petersen.
So, with 23 points on the table at Zwartkops, only Stuart Mack is Class B champion. The rest must wait for the Zwartkops finale on Saturday 16 November, where some pretty close battles will now after all, determine the overall and Class A and C PABAR VW Challenge champions for 2024.
*Running on Dunlop tyres supported by ATS Motorsport Supplies, oiled by Habot Performance Lubricants, and stopped by ATE Brakes, PABAR VW Challenge also salutes partners, Platinum Wheels, Norbrake, Eco Simply Solar, Insurisk insurance brokers, van der Linde Developments, MDS Consulting Engineers, FSS Logistics and galetti.co.za property.
Issued on behalf of PABAR VW Challenge
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