RENIER SMITH RETAINS BMW ///M PERFORMANCE PARTS RACE SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD AT RED-HOT RED STAR

Renier Smith became the first BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series driver in just over four months to start and finish a race weekend in the lead of the 2024 championship with a faultless Round 8 campaign at a swelteringly hot Red Star Raceway this past weekend (11-12 October).

Classes A, B & C

Defending series champion Leon Loubser was the sole Class A entrant, so he was assured of a relatively easy outing at the circuit, albeit also with the knowledge that a perfect record would not result in a full house of points due to less than four drivers entered in the slick-shod class. This also proved the situation in Class B at the start of Saturday morning’s qualifying session. With no breakouts in Class B, Smith, defending class champion Nek Makris, and former double series champion Andreas Meier were the only drivers listed in the class.

Loubser took Dunlop Pole Position, with Makris joining him on the front row. Meier beat Smith to third place. The rest of the grid comprised the competitive Class C brigade. Bennie Luyt narrowly beat Gary Martins, who did not compete in any of Friday’s practice sessions, to the top spot. They were followed by Rob Gearing, an impressive showing from Willie Kok, and points leader Reinhard Miller.

Loubser had an easy time of things at the front after pulling away early from the Class B battle to notch up his first win since this year’s previous Red Star Raceway visit. It only took Smith two laps to move into the lead of Class B. Meier dispatched Makris to third just after the halfway mark to also score his first points since the last visit to the circuit while keeping Smith in close contention. Martins’ early pass of Luyt saw him take his first race win since Round 3. Luyt finished as runner-up, while Gearing beat Miller in a good tussle for the final podium spot. Hein van der Merwe finished fifth after holding off Bernard de Gouveia.

While the first race already saw very high ambient temperatures, the heat soared further as the day progressed, leading some of the other series on the Extreme Festival race day to opt for a reduced lap allocation. However, the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series fields held to their original eight-lap allocation. This saw competitors battling each other around the 13-turn, four-kilometre circuit and needing to endure the elements that resulted in extremely high engine temperatures and a lack of grip.

Loubser, not affected by the reverse grid for Race 2, took another race and Class A win. Makris held the Class B lead in the race’s first half before Smith passed him. However, Smith had Makris on his tail until the checkered flag. This saw Smith take his fourth-consecutive race win, and making it four-from-four at Red Star Raceway for the season. Meier finished a distant third, Van der Merwe held the early lead in Class C before Gearing passed him to take his first win since the season opener. The last lap saw Luyt also passing Van der Merwe to make it two runner-up spots for the day. De Gouveia finished fourth. Early leader Miller, who had his fair share of grip issues to contend with, slid to the back of the field before picking off positions to finish fifth. Race 1 winner Martins completed five laps, enough to earn a classification and a valuable two points.

The Round 8 ZF-Aftermarket Overall Results, based on points scored on the day, saw Loubser take Class A, Smith’s double win saw him victorious in Class B with 16 points. Makris and Meier tied on 11 points, with Makris having the superior aggregate race time to end the day as runner-up. It was a 16-point tie at the top of Class C, with Gearing’s aggregate time seeing him victorious over Luyt. Martins’ two points in the second race saw him totalling 12 and taking third place.

Classes D & E

Class D’s Shane Grobler took the ATS Motorsport Pole Position on Saturday, with class points leader Nicholas Herbst for company on the front row. Claudio Jardim headed up Cobus Bohmer on Row 2, with Tihan van Rooyen fifth. Matthew Wadely headed up the Class E grid, alongside debutant Strati Yiannakis. Mike Grobler qualified third, with Mariaan Emmenis fourth. Fifth place went to another female driver, Mariska Smith, a debutant who also graduated from the XPEL South Africa BMW Car Club Gauteng Track Day Series.

Being the last group to start their opening race on the programme, temperatures were already at their highest point when they started. Shane Grobler held the early lead but had to retire just after the halfway mark, which saw Herbst inheriting the position. He was pursued by Jardim, who retired with a lap to go, dropping him to seventh in the classification. Herbst took his second win of the year with a good tussle for the now runner-up spot further back. Bohmer held off Van Rooyen in the early stages, but the latter was passed by Johan Miller, the former Class E and Series points leader who broke out in the previous round. Miller picked up second place when he passed Bohamer on the final lap, with Van Rooyen fourth and Trevor Long further back in fifth. Class E saw two cat-and-mouse battles at the front. In the first of these, Wadeley held off Mike Grobler to take his third consecutive win, while Yiannakis held off Emmenis for the final podium spot. Justin Brown, in only his second outing, finished fifth.

With still no sign of a decrease in ambient temperatures in sight, the second race saw Long leading off the line, but Herbst soon passed him. The Race 1 winner’s tenure at the was short-lived, though, with Shane Grobler delivering one of the season’s best passes to take the lead. Grobler managed to pull out a slight gap over Herbst, which came in handy in the closing stages, with both drivers struggling for grip. This gave Grobler his second win of the season. Bohmer initially held third place but lost it to Shane Grobler when he made his way to the front. However, with Van Rooyen also struggling, he regained the position just before the halfway mark. Bohmer then had to hold off Jardim, but the latter’s dismal day concluded with another retirement with two laps remaining. This promoted Long to fourth place and Van Rooyen to fifth. Class E also saw a good battle. Brown held the lead in the initial laps but lost it to Yiannakis. Mike Grobler took the lead just after the halfway mark, a position he held onto to take his first win of 2024, and saw the Grobler family take a clean sweep in Race 2, as well as a shared ITOO Driver of the Day award. Yiannakis crossed the line in second place but was found to have jumped the start, which earned him a 30-second penalty and dropped him to fourth place. This promoted Brown to second and Emmenis to third. Smith recorded her first career finish in fifth place.

The ZF-Aftermarket Overall Results saw Herbst, with 18 points, victorious in Class D. Bohmer was second with 12 points, while Shane Grobler’s 10 saw him third. Mike Grobler’s 18 points saw him take the Class E honours, with 12-point Brown second, and Emmenis third, tied on 11 points with Yiannakis, but having accumulated a better aggregate race time.

Championship After Round 8

In Class A, Loubser now holds 95 points and has a 32-point advantage over Bob Neill, Fabio Fedetto and Ryan Naicker, the latter trio separated by only three points. Nian du Toit is 16 points adrift. Renier Smith’s 113 points see him 11 ahead of Makris, while Meier is another 11 points back. Oz Biagioni has 44 points, while Carlo Garbini is on 33. Reinhardt Miller has 82 points and heads up Class C, but his lead over Martins has shrunk to six points. Luyt is eight points adrift and nine ahead of Van der Merwe, who has a seven-point advantage over Jan Eversteyn. While Nicholas Herbst took his tally to 108, the mixbag of results in Class D saw Jardim and Bohmer in second and third. Both drivers are tied on 68 points, but Jardim has two wins to his credit. Johan Miller is just 0.2 of a point adrift. Shane Grobler moved into the top five with a total of 64 points. Wadeley now has 90 points and is 30 clear of Zaheer Seedat. Mike Grobler shot into third place with a total of 47 points. Zeyad Ismail, with 39, and Ernest Page, with 22, complete the top five.

Overall, Renier Smith’s lead over Nicholas Herbst decreased to five points. Behind them, the rest of the top five played musical chairs, with Loubser now third, ahead of Makris and Wadeley. Reinhardt Miller and Meier retained their positions, while Martins gained two places. Jardim and Luyt complete the top 10.

Next Event

The penultimate round of the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series will see the field return to the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit for the second time this season. Their 11^th visit to the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) Grade 2 circuit will form part of the BMW M Festival on 25-27 October.

Issued by Brandsponential on behalf of BMW Car Club Gauteng

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