With the early 2025 title challenges already laid down, the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series returns to Zwartkops Raceway this coming weekend (28 February – 1 March) for the second round of the championship season.
Defending Class A champion Leon Loubser, with 16 points, holds a two-point lead over Bob Neill. The pair shared the wins in the season opener, while Fabio Fedetto, with 10 points, in third, having recorded the same position in both races. This trio will again be contesting for the Class A honours in Round 2. With only entrants thus far, the Class A field will again not be contesting for full points, with those only available once a fourth entrant is added.
It is a similar scenario in Class B, which will be contested by the defending series and class champion Renier Smith, Nek Makris, and Andreas Meier. Smith’s double victory in Round 1 sees him with 16 points collected and four ahead of Makris, who will look to improve on his pair of runner-up finishes. While Meier only recorded one finish, he recorded both the fastest laps, resulting in seven points to his name.
Class C sees the top three separated by two points heading into Round 2. Rob Gearing’s pair of second places see him on top with 16 points, while the two race winners, Hein van der Merwe and Oz Biagioni, have 15 and 14, respectively. Salvi Gualtieri is four points adrift, with Anand Naidu in fifth place with nine, but he will miss the second round due to family commitments. Defending class champion Reinhardt Miller will have his sights set on a better outing, so too Gary Martins. Bennie Luyt’s entry is pending the repairs to his BMW E46 M3, while Andre van Vuuren, who was also involved in the same incident, will be missing out this weekend. Alan Hilligenn, Lenard Archer, Nicky Dicks, and Nishal Singh will also be in contention.
The Class D points leader, Bilal Ahmed, will not build on his tally of 16 points. This is due to significant modifications to his BMW F30 330D that are still in progress. Bernard De Gouveia, who took 15 points and won the other class in Round 1, will head up the contingent of drivers looking to finish Round 2 as the class leader. This group will include Dawie Olivier, Varish Ganpath, and Troy Cochran, with 14, 13, and 10 points, respectively. Trevor Long will form part of the onslaught.
Class E leader Roland Hopkins has 17 points and holds a one-point lead over Eddie Rodrigues, with the pair having shared the Round 1 wins. Johan Miller is tied on 16 points with Rodrigues. Karabo Malemela, whose debut outing saw him slotting into fifth place with 8 points, and will also look to continue his good form. Claudio Jardim, Dave Rehse, George Economides, Gerhard du Plessis, Michael Grobler, Stefano Cavalieri, Tihan van Rooyen, and Wessel Mostert will also look to build on their performances. Reigning Class D champion Nicholas Herbst missed the season opener but will return to upset the status quo in his new class.
In Class F, 19-point Shaun Dodd shared the wins with 15-point Shriyav Naidu. The latter, Anand Naidu’s son, will also miss Round 2 due to family commitments. This will see the likes of Zaheer Seedat, with 14 points, Ferdi van Staden, with 10 points, and Justin Brown, with eight points, looking to capitalise. Arri van Heerden, Caren Nienaber, Ignus du Plessis, Mario Hattingh, and Mike Grobler will also be in the mix.
Round 2 will see a few new car/driver combinations, with the first officially timed sessions used to determine the classes these drivers will start from. Paolo Cavalieri will have a second-consecutive outing. However, this time, the ex-Tony Viana car will remain in the Pablo Clark Racing workshop, with Cavalieri piloting the BMW E46 330ci Turbo driven by Shane Grobler in Round 1. In turn, Grobler will be behind the wheel of the BMW Car Club Gauteng Track Taxi this time. Anton Pommersheim’s last outing was in the 2024 season opener, an event that saw him launched into the barrier at Turn 4. This weekend, he will be back in action in a new BMW E46 M3 Turbo.
Although still early in the season, Dodd holds the Series Championship lead from Hopkins, Ahmed, Smith, and Gearing.
A change that was tested in Round 1 saw the number of laps for the second reverse-grid races increase. This will again be done this coming weekend, with Saturday’s race start times and lap counts scheduled for:
11:15: Race 1 Classes A, B & C – 10 Laps
13:40: Race 1 Classes D, E & F – 10 Laps
14:40: Race 2 Classes A, B & C – 12 Laps
16:20: Race 2 Classes D, E & F – 12 Laps
Spectator tickets for Saturday’s Extreme Festival Presented By Coca-Cola can be purchased at the Zwartkops Raceway entrance gate. The full race day will also be broadcast live on the Extreme Festival website.
Published by: Reynard Gelderblom
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