The penultimate round of the 2024 Regional Extreme Festival took place at an exceptionally hot Red Star Raceway in Delmas on 11 & 12 October 2024. With temperatures over 35° C in the middle of the day, the heat took its toll on both drivers and machinery.
Race action for the day kicked off with the Ferro Energia 111/GT Sports and Saloons, including SuperHatch. Mechanical problems sidelined Dawie Olivier’s competition in the GT category before the first race got underway, with both pole-sitter Phillip Meyer (Pple Group Porsche 924 GTR) and Lenard Archer (ACD Welkom Hyundai Getz) forced to withdraw after qualifying. Olivier was left alone as he took his International Race Supplies BMW E30 to two race wins and eliminated the gap to championship leader George Economides, leaving it all to play for in the final round.
In Class A, Wayne Robb (Ford Focus 225 ST) got the better of Melanie Spurr (Car Care Clinic Volkswagen Golf) in qualifying, with Craig Priestley (Tactical Fluid VW Polo) and Piet Potgieter (Nathan’s Motorsport VW Golf) not far behind. In the opening race, Robb had an untroubled run to a comfortable win, with Priestley getting the better of Spurr to take second. Further back, Jonathan Visser (Auto Express Car Service Volkswagen Polo) took Class B from Miguel Dias (PMD Transport / Performance Masters VW Polo) and Mydi Mfana. Defending champion Wouter Roos (Care Care Clinic VW Polo) did his quest to retain his title a world of good by taking the Class C victory from Elke van Vledder (VW Golf) with Keegan Nathan (Nathan’s Motorsport VW Polo) in third. Rob Clark (Containerforce Self Storage Honda Ballade) claimed Class D with George Aldrich (Opel Corsa) at the top of the SuperHatch category.
The second race was almost a carbon copy of the first out front, with Robb taking Class A from Priestley and Spurr. Visser was the leading Class B contender, just getting the better of Dias, with Michael Grobler (Pest Control Specialists VW Golf) in third. Class C went to Roos after an early battle with van Vledder, who eventually had to settle for second. Mike O’Sullivan brought his Honda Ballade home in third. Clark took Class D, and SuperHatch went to Aldrich.
The DOE Formula Vee Championship partnered with CIM Lubricants saw championship leader Lendl Jansen (Bull Security Rhema 2) take another step towards the 2024 title with two dominant wins from pole position. In both heats, his closest championship rival, Peter Hills (Mangaza Racing Rhema 2), occupied the runners-up spot, with Kyle Watt in third place in another Mangaza Racing Rhema 2.
Leon Loubser (Bidwheels BMW E92 335i) had a lonely run at the front of the first BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series heat as he was unchallenged on his way to the Class A victory. Behind him, Class B honours went to Renier Smith (Fast Development BMW E36 M3 Turbo), who had Andreas Meier (#CEC BMW E36 STC 320iT) just over half a second behind him. The heat affected the early leader, the BMW E46 335i piloted by Nek Makris, and he had to settle for third. In Class C, Gary Martins (Grease Monkey Motor BMW F87 M2 50D) grabbed the lead from pole man Bennie Luyt (ITA Security BMW E46 M3) and was never seriously challenged on his way to a comfortable win. Luyt had to settle for second ahead of Rob Gearing (BMW E30 335iS).
Classes D and E had their own race, which took place after the quicker classes had completed their heat. Shane Grobler (Grobler Motorsport BMW E30 330i) looked to be heading for a comfortable win when fueling problems, possibly caused by the extreme heat, saw him coast to a halt, handing the lead to Nicholas Herbst (CIM Lubricants BMW E90 330i). Herbst held on for the win, but the drama wasn’t over yet. Claudio Jardim (Mixbox Automotive BMW E36 330i) looked to have second place in the bag when his car also cried enough with just a lap to go. This gave second place on the road to Cobus Bohmer (Peppe Shield BMW E90 330i) but Johan Miller (Hei-Jo Transport BMW E36 328i) had other ideas. A last-lap move saw Miller grab second and demoted Bohmer to third. Matthew Wadeley (BMW Car Club Gauteng BMW E46 330i Touring) took Class E from Mike Grobler (Grobler Motorsport BMW Z3) and Strati Yiannakis (BMW 135i).
In the second heat, Loubser again had a comfortable run to the Class A victory. Smith took Class B from Makris, with Meier bringing his ailing car home in third. Gearing had a comfortable win in Class C from Luyt and Hein van der Merwe (SavSpeed Racing BMW E36 328i Turbo).
With the problems that denied him a first-heat win sorted out, Shane Grobler charged through from the back of the field to take Class D from Herbst and Bohmer. The normally bullet-proof track taxi didn’t like the heat, leaving Mike Grobler to take the win after getting the better of Justin Brown (Rampage Racing BMW E36 328i) and Mariaan Emmenis (#teamemmenisracing BMW E30 328i).
A poor start by both Wayne Masters (Performance Master Polo) and Bevin Masters (The CPS Warehouse Polo) from the front row of the opening PABAR VW Challenge heat allowed Dean Ross (Norbrake Distributors Polo) to grab the early lead in Class A. It wasn’t long, however, before the Masters brothers worked their way back to the front of the field, where they put on a spectacular display of side-by-side racing. Eventually, Bevin was in front when it counted, taking the win from Wayne by just over two-tenths of a second. Ross came home in third. Class B went the way of Mohammed Karodia (Fast 5 Motorsport Polo) from Shiren Rajpaul (Dubcorp Polo), with Anthony Lessing (C-SOL Polo) in third. Youngster Kyle Petersen (Insurisk Polo) got the better of his older rivals, Adriaan de Beer (Ukwazi Engineering Polo) and Andy Gossman (Goose Motorsport Polo), to take Class C.
Ross was again out front in the early stages of the second heat until the Masters brothers worked their way back to the front. This time, the win went to Wayne, with Ross again settling for third. Rajpaul and Karodia resumed their battle of Class B honours, and Rajpaul came out on top this time. Lessing claimed another third place. Gossman led Micth Coetzee (Slayer Energy Polo) and Petersen home in Class C.
Defending Mobil 1 V8 Supercars champion Julian Fameliaris (Lube-Net Chevrolet Corvette) looked to have things under control at the front of the first heat when clutch problems slowed him down, allowing Warren Lombard (PepBoys Automotive Ford Mustang) through to take the win from Thomas Reib (Café 9 Automotive Chevrolet Lumina) and GT2 winner Auke Compaan (Hurricane Automotive Ford Mustang). Fameliaris limped over the line in fourth place shepherded by teammate Franco di Matteo (Di Matteo Racing /GWR Racing Jaguar XKR), which gave him third in the GT category. Steve Herbst (PREI Instrumentation Chevrolet Corvette) was sixth on the road and took second place in the GT2 class.
In the second heat, a mistake by Reib allowed Fameliaris to move up to second behind di Matteo. A lap later, Fameliaris took the lead and won comfortably. Lombard spent much of the race trying to find a way past di Matteo but had to drop back to allow his car to cool down. A final corner attempt at a pass didn’t come off, and Lombard had to settle for third behind di Matteo. Compaan took GT2 from Herbst.
The year’s final Regional Extreme Festival event takes place at Zwartkops Raceway on 15 & 16 November 2024.
Issued by Brandsponential on behalf of Extreme Festival
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