What Regional Extreme Festival Round 5 Report
Where Aldo Scribante Racetrack, Gqeberha EP
When Saturday 2 September 2023
Community Gauteng Regional
Cape interlopers find success as Gauteng Festival travels to Aldo
There were several cases of interference as multiple Cape drivers took the opportunity to travel up to Gqeberha to take on the Gauteng Regional Festival regulars at their away races at Aldo Scribante Racetrack over the weekend. The Gauteng-based Pabar VW Challenge, BMW M Performance Race Series, Lotus Challenge, DOE Formula Vees and Car Care Clinic 111 Sports & GTs all travelled to the Nelson Mandela Bay for the annual Northern Regions Away Festival. The trouble started when local and Cape entries were allowed to join the fun…
Cape Town GTi Challenge outfit Summit Racing made the trip north to join the Pabar VW regulars and Summit GTi frontrunner Nathan Victor wasted no time to put it on pole position for the first VW race. Pabar man Rory Atkinson got the hop at the start, but Victor was soon ahead as Atkinson took the spiritual win in second from Wayne Masters, Charl Smalberger, Bevin Masters, and local hope Jeandre Marais. Behind them, Bjorn Bertholdt finally put one over Yotti Nousias with Philip Croeser third in Class C.
It was chaos in the opening VW Challenge Class B race as Mohammed Karodia overcame a dramatic start and took advantage of lady rival Charisse Piazza Musso slipping on oil to beat her and title rivals Ethan Coetzee and a delayed Hannes Scheepers for the win. Those results remain provisional after a dodgy start line procedure. Victor made it a Cape double in race 2 from Atkinson, Smalberger, Masters and Marais, as Bertholdt pipped Nousias and Croeser in Class C. Scheepers then held Karodia off as Piazza-Musso did the same to Coetzee for third in the second B race.
There was more Cape interference in the BMW M Performance Parts Race Series, although Gauteng regulars, Leon Loubser beat Renier Smith to the opening win, but only after Class A rival Bob Neill ran out of fuel while leading on the final lap! Nek Makris held Lyle Ramsay, Cape interloper Mansoor Parker, Nicholas van Zyl and Oz Biagioni off in Class B. Cape duo Anwar Levy and Marco Retter however sandwiched Jozi regular Nicholas Fischer in Class C.
Neill made no mistakes to take race 2 from Loubser, but Cape man Parker took his turn to put one over Jozi regulars Makris, Smith and Ramsay in Class B. And Retter and Levy made it a Cape 1-2 overs Fischer in Class C. Neil Reynolds beat Reinhardt Miller and Andre Diedericks to the first, separate D and E race, as Claudio Jardim took Class E from Arri van Heerden. Diedericks beat Miller and Shaun Vallance in race 2 as Jardim did the E double over Dewald Smith.
There was also abundant drama in the Lotus Challenge races. Mackie Adlem sped to opening race win over Jean-Pierre Nortje, Andrew Kynaston and Locost class winner Andrew Fulton, Nick Hodgson and Locost runners Juan du Toit, Davide Favo and Tinus Botha. But it was a race of attrition that saw and Locost frontrunners including Sean Hepburn eliminated in an early crash for which Miles Downard was excluded, and Andre Human and Rudi Barnard retired after frontrunner Thomas Falkiner was already out after Friday practice. The top four was the same in race 2 ahead of Locost trio Botha, Favo, and Downard.
There were three races for both the DOE Formula Vees and Car Care Clinic 111 GTs Sports and Saloons. Pole man Jaco Schriks trotted off to an easy first Vee win from Lendl Jansen, Peter Hills, MD Bester, Brandon Hills, and Eric Booyens. Jansen reversed the order with a one second win over Schriks in race 2, with Peter and Brandon Hills next from Booyens and Theodore Vermaak. Winner for the day Schriks was back just 0.2 seconds ahead of Jansen, Vermaak, Shaun van der Linde, MD Bester, Kyle Watt, and Marcel Blignaut in the final.
Phillip Meyer was on form in the entertaining Car Care Clinic 111 GT Sports & Saloons races with a triple win aboard his Porsche 944. He beat BMW man Dawie Olivier, Louis Scholtz, and Jandre Bezuidenhout in dad’s Polo SupaCup to the opening race win. Class A top two Wouter Roos and Piet Potgieter were next up from Class X runners Wayne Masters and Luigi Ferro. Meyer then beat Bezuidenhout, Olivier, Scholtz, Roos in the second and third heats, while Chris Smit took Class C and Rob Clark D in all three races.
The Northern Regions Extreme Festival returns for its penultimate championship rounds at Red Star Raceway near Delmas on Saturday 21 October.
Issued on behalf of Extreme Festival
Photography by: Willie Pretorius
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