Summarize

Gauteng race fans are in for a significant treat Saturday 20 when South Africa’s trio of premier circuit racing championships will be decided at Zwartkops’ Extreme Festival finale — especially considering that all three titles are set to go right down to the wire on a blockbuster weekend. And there’s more too — the Sasol Global Touring Car, Engen Polo Cup and Investchem Formula 1600 championships will be supported by the G&H Transport Extreme Supercars, V8 Supercars, Red Square Kawasaki ZX10 Masters Cup, MotorMart VW Challenge and Lotus Challenge as well as the Bridgestone SUB10 Superbikes and Thunderbikes on a day to remember.

Audi duo Michael Stephen and Simon Moss lead the Sasol Global Touring Car title chase with BMW lad Gennaro Bonafede in with an outside chance to sneak the title in third, but never ignore BMW drivers Johan Fourie and Robert Wolk or Volkswagen lads, reverse grid specialist Daniel Rowe and Mathew Hodges, or that just 9 points split Audi and BMW in the makers title, so it’s clearly all to do. 

Saturday will also see the Sasol GTC2 title decided, but Keagan Masters simply needs to cruise his VW Motorsport GTi home to clinch a back-to-back championship. It is however never over until that fat lady sings and with Mini man, Polo Cup champion Devin Robertson still in with a mathematical chance and there’s a cool spat for third between Bradley Liebenberg in the other Mini and VW duo Trevor Bland, Adrian Wood, and Charl Smalberger, while Dayne Angel’s Honda, Robert Neill’s Focus and Paul Hill’s Golf add variety — don’t miss that 20 October decider! 

Talking Volkswagens, the Engen Polo Cup is very much up for grabs with Jeffrey Kruger and Masters champion Tasmin Pepper separated by just ten points in that overall championship dice, while Jonathan Mogotsi sits third and with 36 points on the table, all three are title contenders. Mogotsi still has a shot at the Junior title but he also has top rookie Keegan Campos to contend with in that overall race, while Jason Campos needs to fight Juan Gerber off for second in Masters and with the likes of Clinton Bezuidenhout, Justin and Darren Oates, Delon Thompson and Daniel Duminy all busy fighting there own battles, anything can happen…

Stuart White should cruise to the Investchem Formula 1600 championship’s Road to Indy prize, but that should have happened at the last race already and Nick van Weely is still in there with a shout, so there’s another case of that fat lady still needing to sing. There’s a tussle for third too as Scott Temple also has to keep Alex Gillespie in check if he wants that championship third. Also keep an eye on Andrew Schofield, young guns Tiago Rebelo, Liam Pienaar Andrew Rackstraw, Siyabonga Mankonkwana and Joshua Dolinschek in this wings and slicks single seater battle, while Ian Schofield and David Jermy should continue their Class B spat right down to the line…

The G&H Transport Extreme Supercar championship is pretty much set in stone following Charl Arangies romping off into the distance in a dominant season so far in his Aston Martin, but the likes of Mark du Toit’s Ferrari 430 and Marcel Angel’s Ferrari 458 have had solid runs, so one would expect spectacular action between them and their various McLaren, Lamborghini, Porsche, Lotus, BMW, Alfa Romeo and other rivals. 

The spectacular V8 Supercars should be among the quickest cars at Zwartkops on Saturday, where a star-studded field will see Mackie Adlem, Benjamin Morgenrood and Franco di Matteo continue their three-way title fight with Terry and Larry Wilford, Auke and Schalk Copmaan and Thomas Reib keeping a watching brief.

Another championship certainly not done and dusted is the Sven Grune and Graeme Van Breda  Red Square Kawasaki ZX10 Masters Cup show, with the two of them still flat out up front. Expect a significant spat as usual behind them as Jaco Gous, Gareth Bezuidenhout and Pieter De Vos fight for third, while Jonty Collard, Terence John Brooke, Johan Le Roux, Michael Smit and dirtbike exponents Brian Bontekoning and Jade Gutzeit fight it out.

Also on two wheels, veteran Lance Isaacs is in command of the Bridgestone Thunderbike championship, but the rest of the top ten is by no means resolved as Wayne Spicer has Damian Purificati, Dirk Stols, Pierre and Nicolas Grobler, Shaun Vermaak and Keith and Jordan Agliotti among others in with a chance of stealing that second slot of his. Harry Timmerman meanwhile leads the Bridgestone Sub 10 Superbike title race where Wayne Spicer and Johan Nortje will be the focus of a fight for second. 

The four-wheeled regional support act should prove equally entertaining as they deliver their penultimate round action, with Jacques Smith and Rory Atkinson tied in the overall MotorMart VW Challenge lead, but the real fight there is between Atkinson and his class A rival Stiaan Kriel, while Class B man Smith needs to keep an eye on Deon Holliday Junior and Chris Dale. Polo star Jeffrey Kruger also leads the Lotus Challenge title spat from V8 leader Mackie Adlem, Andre Human and scribe Thomas Falkiner.

Zwartkops’ 20 October Extreme Festival finale promises a cracking day’s racing not to be missed. Tickets will be available at the gate or you can book online at itickets.co.za with adult entry at R120, students R90 and kids under 12 for free. Find Zwartkops Raceway on the R55 just south of Laudium, west of Pretoria and keep posted on pre-race news at www.zwartkops.co.za.