SECOND EAST LONDON STOP ADDED TO 2025 EXTREME FESTIVAL PRESENTED BY COCA-COLA AS MAPUTO DROPS FROM CALENDAR

The East London Grand Prix Circuit is set to make a second appearance on the 2025 Extreme Festival Presented By Coca-Cola calendar. The venue has been announced to replace the Autódromo Internacional de Maputo as the coastal stop for the regional roster.

The race weekend, scheduled for 22-23 August, would have seen the Mozambique circuit become the first host of an Extreme Festival Presented By Coca-Cola event outside the borders of South Africa. With the announcement of the 2023 calendar, a coastal round was added to the regional roster’s calendar. Thus far, Gqeberha and Cape Town have hosted such events.

However, despite much anticipation, various factors have influenced the decision to change the venue. These factors relate primarily to the socio-political circumstances within South Africa’s northeastern neighbouring state.

“The decision to change the venue was not taken lightly, but given the preparations needed, we needed to make a final decision sooner rather than later,” says Tanya Human, Chief Executive Officer of Zwartkops International World Of Motoring, the tour’s promoter.

“Make no mistake, all categories involved, their drivers and commercial partners were all looking forward to visiting the Maputo circuit this year. However, the current political situation and subsequent question marks over the safety of all travelling to the venue were also discussed in recent months. In the end, we needed to decide on the path forward before any unnecessary costs were incurred by those involved. We know that our events partners in Mozambique and the country’s motorsport fans were looking forward to our visit, and they can be sure that we will continue to monitor the situation as we plan our calendar for the coming years.”

The East London Grand Prix Circuit, already a regular stop on the national roster’s calendar, will have its first opportunity to host a Regional Extreme Festival Presented By Coca-Cola. This event will take place just over a month after the national roster’s visit.

Some series have previously visited the East London circuit. The most recent was DOE Formula Vee Partnered With CIM Lubricants in 2022 as part of the National Extreme Festival Programme. The Dunlop V8 Supercars paid a visit to the Eastern Cape circuit in 2018, as did the ATE VW Challenge in 2017. The 2025 coastal round will mark the first occasion that East London’s motorsport fans will see the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series, Ferro Energia 111 & GT Sports & Saloons, and SuperHatch series.

The calendar change may result in a knock-on benefit for motorsport in East London as Human continues. “The past two coastal visits for our regional roster saw an influx of local competitors from the Eastern and Western Cape. Therefore, our East London visit will be a viable option for competitors from the coastal regions to join us again.”

With the first two legs of the seven-event Regional Extreme Festival Presented By Coca-Cola calendar completed, the remainder of the 2025 season will see visits to:

Zwartkops Raceway – 16-17 May
Red Star Raceway – 27-28 June
East London Grand Prix Circuit – 22-23 August
Red Star Raceway – 3-4 October
Zwartkops Raceway – 7-8 November

Extreme Festival Presented By Coca-Cola wants to thank the Border Motorsport Club, the operators of the East London Grand Prix Circuit, for facilitating the change of venue.

Published by: Reynard Gelderblom

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