Summarize

The PABAR VW Challenge is locked and loaded for its biggest race weekend of the season at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit’s blockbuster Regional and National Championship Extreme Festival Double header 11-13 April. If that’s not enough, the knives will be out for the big weekend, after Uncle Chris Dale turned Class A on its head last time out.

Some may say that the reason behind the shock is that Challenge officials never quite had their Balance of Performance sums right for the Volkswagen’s GTI turbocharged EA888 engine’s first race alongside the faithful aspirated engines that day. Not that Chris will ever admit it, but the powers that be promise a better balance between the turbo and non-turbo cars for the Kyalami weekend. So anything can, and likely will happen!

All of which means that all eyes will be on Blue Belt Pozidrive’s Mr. Dale and the equally surprising Luigi Ferro’s Eco Simply Solar Polo which ended second, and Mike Barbaglia’s PABAR entry that also flew at Zwartkops last time out. The ever competitive Masters brothers will however be wringing their wrists on the BoP changes, so watch for Wayne’s Performance Masters car, and Bevin’s CPS Warehouse machine.

It will be a busy weekend for Wayne Masters, Ferro and Barbaglia, all of whom will also be otherwise indisposed with Astron Energy Polo Cup Masters class duty. There’s no rest for the wicked, they say! But that’s not all. Norbrake lad Dean Ross will be all out to repeat his late season top class success last year. And MDS Consulting Engineers man Mydi Mfana, Miguel Dias’ Performance Masters Polo and Nicole Lombard’s PSA Africa version are back after missing the first round. 

Former C champion, Mellow Velo man Ian Walker and Shiren Rajpaul’s Dubcorp car shared the B wins last time. Limo driver Mo Karodia’s new Fast 5 Polo sedan however took the day with second in both races. So it’s also all to play for in 16-car Class B too. They are by no means the only ones to watch out for in the middle class. Ethan Coetzee for instance arrives at Kyalami as class champion after a very late MSA hearing decided in the JRT Racing Experience lad ‘s favour. Only after the ’24 season started.

Other Class B frontrunners include Hot 102.7 FM lass Charisse Piazza Musso, Stuart Mack’s  3-pot litre turbo Nathan's Polo, Csol lad Anthony Lessing and AF Fans lass Tyler Robinson. Add Platinum Wheels driver Jacques Hayes, and Jesus Saves’ Francois van Zyl, Ukwazi lad Adriaan de Beer and Eco Simply’s Tinahe Ncube. Plus Superhatch refugee Francis Aldrich’s VaporWorx car, MLP driver Martin de Beer, Ross Campbell and JRT lad Milan Emslie, and we have the recipe for extreme PABAR VW Challenge action.

Insurisk lad Michael Zapheriou certainly ate his Jungle Oats for breakfast last time out and he not only arrives at Kyalami leading the Brat Pack Class C chase, but overall too at this early juncture. He will however have, quick 16-year old Chris Tait’s GoPro Vivo and veteran four Philip Croeser’s ATE car, Andy Gossman’s Goose machine, PABAR driver Charl Andersen and Allan Pereira’s Daisy version all over his back. And never ignore Sizanzi Plastics kid Judd Bertholdt, the rest of the Insurisk gang, Dimitri Zapheriou, Kyle, and Cody Petersen, Rezcom lad Dino Smit, Mitch Coetzee, Pillay, or Vishva Govender.

It's an early start for PABAR VW Challenge on Saturday 13 April with an 8 am opening race on the blockbuster Kyalami Extreme Festival bill, and race 2 at 12h55. Running on Dunlop tyres supported by ATS Motorsport Supplies, oiled by Habot Performance Lubricants, and stopped by ATE Brakes, PABAR VW Challenge also salutes partners, Platinum Wheels, Norbrake, Eco Simply Solar, Insurisk insurance brokers, Van der Linde Developments, MDS Consulting Engineers, FSS Logistics and galetti.co.za property.