The ninth and penultimate round of the 2024 BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series, held at the packed Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit as part of the biennial BMW M Fest this past weekend (25-27 October), saw points leader Renier Smith maintain his advantage.
Friday
The weekend followed a different programme than this year’s other championship rounds, with qualifying on Friday afternoon following only one early morning practice session. First on track was the Class A, B & C field. However, their session was abruptly halted after the BMW E46 328i Turbo of JP Nortje suffered a terminal engine failure. A subsequent severe oil spill also meant insufficient time for the session to be restarted.
Ryan Naicker took the Dunlop Pole Position to head up the Class A field from Sav Gualtieri. Defending champion and class points leader Leon Loubser headed up the second row from Bob Neill, the driver who took a double win last time at the circuit. Carlo Garbini, another double-winner from that weekend, headed up Class B. Nortje set the second-fastest time, but his halted weekend promoted Salvi Gualtieri to second on the grid, ahead of defending class champion Nek Makris. Renier Smith was next, while Mansoor Parker did not set a time. Rob Gearing topped Class C from Anand Naidu. Nishal Singh qualified third, with Jan Eversteyn and Varish Ganpath in fourth and fifth. Two big losers in the session were points leader Reinhardt Miller, who qualified ninth, and rival Gary Martins, down in 16th.
Shaun Dodd had a strong run in this year’s earlier rounds and started his weekend by taking the ATS Motorsport Pole Position for the Class D & E race. He was joined at the front of the Class D grid by points leader Nicholas Herbst. Shane Grobler, Cobus Bohmer, and Eddie Rodrigues completed the top five. Zaheer Seedat headed up the Class E grid from Michael Grobler. Farouk Dangor, driving his BMW E30 M3 Touring Car that competed in 1993’s inaugural SATCAR season, qualified third, ahead of debutant Gerald Anthony and recent newcomer Strati Yiannakis. Points leader Matthew Wadeley qualified eighth.
Saturday
Due to an incident in their practice session, track time for the Class A, B & C field was again limited on Saturday morning. Their first race started only three hours later but was neutralised before the first sector of the lap could be completed due to an incident that saw Naidu crash into the barrier at Turn 5. After the car was moved to a safe position, the race resumed.
Sav Gualtieri was dominant at the front while keeping Naicker at bay. Gualtieri went on to take his first Class A win of the season. Neill completed the podium, while Loubser took fourth place, albeit mixed up with the Class C pack. Class B winner Garbini built an advantage over Smith, who was occupied by keeping Makris behind him. Salvi Gualtieri finished fourth, while Parker took fifth place. Gearing notched up his second-successive Class C win. Martins made up places but also broke into the Class B time bracket, He was also found to have passed under Safety Car Conditions, resulting in a 30-second penalty. Singh took second place, with Nick Naidoo completing the podium. Reinhardt Miller took fourth place, with Eversteyn completing the top five.
The first race for Classes D & E also saw an incident, this time requiring the race to be aborted, which brought Craig Herbst’s weekend to a close. Claudio Jardim, Bilal Ahmed, Yiannakis, Mohammed Jacob, and Gregory Anthony were also missing from the grid for the five-lap restart.
Shane Grobler took the lead and fended off Dodd for the Class D win, with Nicholas Herbst in tow, completing the podium. Rodrigues held off Bohmer to complete the top five. Dangor crossed the line as the first Class E starter but broke into Class D in the closing stages. This saw Michael Grobler take the win, with Seedat second. Newcomer Jakes Campher completed the podium, with Farhaad Ebrahim and Wadeley fourth and fifth, respectively.
Sunday
Sunday’s carbon copy programme started with two practice sessions again. Nick Naidoo, however, broke into Class B in the session. Cristiano Verolini, who debuted in the season opener, was an addition to the grid and drove the new Pablo Clark Racing-prepared BMW G82 M2.
Sav Gualtieri slotted into the early lead again in the Class A, B & C race, but in the closing stages, his BMW F30 V8 Turbo developed issues, which saw him relinquish the lead to Naicker. Naicker took the Class A win from Gualtieri, with Loubser third. Neill completed the Class A results. Makris took his third Class B win of the season, ahead of Renier Smith, with Garbini third. The two new additions to the class, Martins and Naidoo, finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Verolini, who started at the back of the grid, powered his way to the front of Class C and won, while Reinhardt Miller finished second. Andre van Vuuren completed the podium, Hein van der Merwe finished fourth, and Anwar Levy fifth.
It would not be a characteristic race weekend at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit without the threat of rain. Despite a few scattered drops before the Class D & E race started, there was no significant impact on proceedings.
Nicholas Herbst took the Class D win, with Shane Grobler as runner-up and Rodrigues completing the podium. Dangor took fourth place, with Bohmer fifth. Michael Grobler made it two Class E wins, which also saw him take the weekend’s ITOO Driver of the Day award. Campher, Seedat, Wadeley, and Ebrahim completed the top five.
Weekend Overall Results
The Round 9 ZF-Aftermarket Overall Results saw Naicker and Sav Gualtieri tied on 18 points in Class A, but Naicker had the better aggregate race time to give him the win. It was a similar situation for third place, taken by Neill, who tied on 11 points with Loubser. Makris beat Renier Smith and Garbini in Class B similarly, with all three drivers having accumulated 16 points. Reinhardt Miller’s 14 points saw him clear at the top of Class C, while Van Vuuren and Gearing completed the podium, with both drivers and Verolini on 10 points. Shane Grobler’s 18 points saw him two clear of Nicholas Herbst, who was five clear of Rodrigues in Class D. Michael Grobler took a perfect score of 20 points to win Class E, while Campher’s better aggregate time broke the 14-point tie in his favour over Seedat in Class E.
Championship After Round 9
Loubser now has 106 points and a 27-point lead in Class A. Barring Renier Smith or Nicholas Herbst breaking into the class, and with dropped rounds taken into account, he has all but wrapped up his second-successive class title. Naicker is 27 points adrift, with Neill trailing him by five points.
Renier Smith has 129 points at the top of Class B, with Makris 21 points behind. Andreas Meier did not compete this weekend but instead performed Safety Car duties. He trails Makris by 27 points.
Reinhardt Miller has 96 points at the top of Class C. Martins’ breakout promoted Bennie Luyt, 26 points adrift, to second, while Van der Merwe is third, five points behind.
Nicholas Herbst heads Class D with 125 points and a 42-point lead over Shane Grobler. Bohmer trails him by seven points in third place.
Wadeley has 99 points and is 25 points clear of Seedat in Class E, with Mike Grobler 23 points further back in third.
Overall, it is Renier Smith who heads Herbst, Makris, Loubser, and Wadeley.
Factors that will play a part in the final points calculation will be establishing the eligibility of competitors to score in the championship. This will exclude all drivers who competed in less than three 2024 events from the final calculation. Subsequently, results will be reclassified with only eligible drivers earning points. Each eligible driver’s two lowest-scoring rounds will be removed from the final calculation. This will be done at the start of the season finale.
Next Event
The final round of the 2024 BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series will be held at Zwartkops Raceway as part of the Regional Extreme Festival season finale on 15-16 November.
1 BMW M Performance Parts Race Series at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit – Photography by:Willie Pretorius 
2 Ryan Naicker – Photography by: James Thomson 
3 Nek Makris – Photography by: Willie Pretorius 
4 Reinhardt Miller – Photography by: David Waschefort 
5 Nicholas Herbst – Photography by: Willie Pretorius 
6 Michael Grobler – Photography by: Willie Pretorius 
7 Christiano Verolini – Photography by David Waschefort 
8 Renier Smith – Photography by: Willie Pretorius
Issued by Brandsponential on behalf of BMW Car Club Gauteng
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