Red Star Raceway will host the penultimate 2024 championship battles for all but one of the series on the Regional Extreme Festival roster this coming weekend (11-12 October).
The exception here will be the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series, with another round slotted into their calendar before November’s season finale. This is also the only series that will have its eighth championship round, as opposed to this being Round 7 for the rest. The weekend will be the second time the venue outside Delmas will host the premier northern regions circuit tour this year. Unlike in May, battles will be contested around the anti-clockwise layout of the 4.0-kilometre, 13-turn circuit.
Commencing the programme will be the Ferro Energia 111/GT Sports & Saloons, including the SuperHatch field. George Economides (Wealth Avenue Volkswagen Golf Turbo) holds a healthy lead over Dawie Olivier (International Race Supplies BMW E30) in the GT Class, with Phillip Meyer (Pple Group Porsche 924 GTR) third. Economides and Meyer produced some of the best on-track battles on the last visit around the circuit. However, Olivier is the driver currently on form following his victory in the recent Zwartkops 200 endurance race.
Melanie Spurr (Car Care Clinic Volkswagen Golf) heads up the Overall 111 Sports & Saloons points table, seven clear of defending champion Wouter Roos (Car Care Clinic VW Polo), with Rob Clark (Containerforce Self Storage Honda Ballade) a further 17 adrift.
Spurr’s immediate Class A rival will be Wayne Robb (Ford Focus 225 ST), and Lucas Bezuidenhout (Pretoria Noord Toyota Lexus) is third. Michael Grobler (Pest Control Specialsts Volkswagen Golf) heads up Class B from Luigi Ferro (Ferro Energia Volkswagen Polo) and Jonathan Visser (Auto Express Car Service Volkswagen Polo). Roos tops Class C, with Elke van Vledder (ZIP Volkswagen Golf, and Chris Smit (Merx & Toptrans Porsche 924) significantly further back. Clark is well in control of Class D.
This series will again be joined on the circuit by the SuperHatch field.
The DOE Formula Vee Championship partnered with CIM Lubricants sees Lendl Jansen (Bull Security Rhema 2) holding an eight-point lead over Peter Hills (Mangaza Racing Rhema 2), who has a 17-point advantage over Brandon Hills (Mangaza Racing Rhema 2). Jansen is currently the driver with the winning momentum, having taken a double win in Round 6. He also won both the previous races at Red Star Raceway. However, Peter Hills took four wins in the middle part of the season, while Brandon Hills will look to add to his solitary win from June’s fourth round.
The BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series is hotting up at the top of the points table, with Renier Smith (Fast Development BMW E36 M3 Turbo) the new leader, with Nicholas Herbst (CIM Lubricants BMW E90 330i) second, six points adrift, and Nek Makris (BMW E46 335i) a further eight points back.
Defending champion Leon Loubser (Bidwheels BMW E92 335i) heads up Class A from Bob Neill (Delmon Mining BMW E92 M3 Turbo) and Fabio Fedetto (BMW F82 M4). Neill and Loubser shared the class wins last time at Red Star Raceway, with that also being Loubser’s most recent win. Smith and Makris also lead things out in Class B, with Andreas Meier (#CEC BMW E36 STC 320iT) third. Smith took his first two of four 2024 wins at Red Star Raceway, and a repeat performance will aid his cause immensely. Reinhardt Miller (Amtec Racing Fuels BMW E36 328i Turbo) has taken the top spot in Class C, with Gary Martins (Grease Monkey Motor BMW F87 M2 50D) and Jan Eversteyn (BMW E46 M3) second and third, respectively. Miller is currently on solid form with four consecutive wins. Herbst heads Class D from Claudio Jardim (Mixbox Automotive BMW E36 330i) and George Economides (Wealth Avenue BMW E36 330i), the latter having won both races at the circuit last time. After former overall leader Johan Miller (Hei-Jo Transport BMW E36 328i) broke into Class D in the previous round, Matthew Wadeley (BMW Car Club Gauteng BMW E46 330i Touring) moved into the top of Class E with a double win in Round 7. Zaheer Seedat (Saltwater Marketing BMW E36 328i) and Zeyad Ismail (Viper Automotive BMW E36 328i) complete the top three.
It’s even-on-points at the top of the PABAR VW Challenge Championship, with both Stuart Mack (Creation Wealth Volkswagen Polo) and Christopher Tait (Sportex Volkswagen Polo) tied on 97 points. Mack, however, does hold the advantage with a superior win count. Andy Gossman (Goose Motorsport Volkswagen Polo) is third.
Bevin Masters (The CPS Warehouse Volkswagen Polo) heads up the Class A battle from Wayne Masters (Performance Master Volkswagen Polo) and Miguel Dias (Performance Master Volkswagen Polo). Wayne Masters took double wins in the previous Red Star Raceway outing and the recent sixth round. In Class X, Luigi Ferro (Ferro Energia Volkswagen Polo) heads up Bjorn Berthold (Sizanani Plastics Volkswagen Polo). Mack is leading the way in Class B from Mohammed Karodia (Fast 5 Motorsport Volkswagen Polo) and Shiren Rajpaul (Dubcorp Volkswagen Polo), while Tait and Gossman head up Class C from Kyle Petersen (Insurisk Volkswagen Polo).
Julian Fameliaris (Lube-Net Chevrolet Corvette) can potentially wrap up his second successive Mobil 1 V8 Supercars GT title this weekend. He holds a 30-point lead over Thomas Reib (Café 9 Automotive Chevrolet Lumina), with Warren Lombard (PepBoys Automotive Ford Mustang) a further 16 points adrift. Fameliaris took a double win in Round 3, a performance he repeated in the recent seventh round.
It is similar in the GT2 Class, with Auke Compaan (Hurricane Automotive Ford Mustang) 35 points clear of Shaun Holtzhauzen (959 Panelbeaters & Spraypainters Ford Falcon). Defending champion Steve Herbst (PREI Instrumentation Chevrolet Corvette) is third.
No points table has been made available for the newly established GTX Class. However, it is Terry Wilford (Fuchs Lubricants Ford Mustang) who was victorious in the last outing.
Racing starts Saturday morning at 09:45. Spectator tickets will be sold at the Red Star Raceway entrance gate at R100.00 per adult, with children under 12 getting in for tree. The full race programme will be broadcast live on the Extreme Festival website.
Red Star Raceway (Photography by: Willie Pretorius) 
111 GT Sports & Saloons (Photography by: Willie Pretorius) 
DOE Formula Vee partnered with CIM Lubricants (Photography by: James Thomson) 
BMW M Performance Parts Race Series (Photography by: James Thomson) 
PABAR VW Challenge (Photography by: James Thomson) 
Mobil 1 V8 Supercars (Photography by: James Thomson)
Issued by Brandsponential on behalf of Extreme Festival
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