Summarize

The Regional Extreme Festival presented by Coca-Cola is ready to rock Gauteng race fans with more great racing throughout an action packed day at Zwartkops on Saturday 17 May. In a slightly different line-up to the norm, the star-studded program includes the regular Northern Regions highlights in the Dunlop V8 Supercars, ATE Brakes VW Challenge, BMW M Performance Parts Series and DOE Formula Vees. They will however be joined by the Liqui Moly Super Vees while the ATS Zwartkops 200 endurance race is Ferro Energia 111s and SuperHatch on the day.

It’s a two horse race in Dunlop V8 Supercars, where Warren Lombard’s Mustang and Thomas Reib’s Lumina have each won and come second in two races apiece. But Lombard’s two bonus points see him slightly ahead in the chase. Racing in the experimental GTX class, Ben Morgenrood’s Falcon does not score points but expect him to be right in there, while Mustang man Terry Wilford and Franco di Matteo’s Jaguar will be keen to hit back following tough seasons so far. Don’t ignore Sam Dahl’s Mustang Auke Compaan and veteran Steve Herbst’s Corvettes in this chase.

The battle of the ages meantime continues in the ATE Brakes VW Challenge, where old man Wayne Masters and young gun Jayden Goosen have likewise shared out double victories and second paces while sharing out the bonus points at the Zwartkops and Kyalami opening rounds. They have the full attentions of Ian Walker, Elna Croeser, Dean Ross and Mike Barbaglia in the overall chase, while Stuart Mack continues unbeaten in Class B from Francis Aldrich and Nicole Lombard. Adriaan de Beer leads Class C Brat Pack despite not winning a race yet this season, where Bryce Pillay and Mitch Coetzee have, and the returning Michael Zapheriou has it all to do, too.

Stalwarts Leon Loubser and Bob Neill lead the BMW M Performance Parts Class A title race to Zwartkops three races into the Series, where Ryan Naicker has it all to prove. Renier Smith is in charge in Class B ahead of Andreas Meier, Nek Makris and Anton Pommersheim and its close in Class C where Hein van der Merwe leads Salvi Gualtieri, Varish Ganpath, Oz Biagioni and Rob Gearing to Zwartkops. Racing on their own as usual, watch for Bernard de Gouveia, Michael Grobler and Paolo Cavalieri battling in D, Andre van Vuuren, Eddie Rodrigues, Wessel Mostert and Karabo Malemela in class E and Shaun Dodd, Justin Brown, and Zaheer Seedat in F.

Lendl Jansen is the man to beat in the DOE Formula Vees partnered with CIM Lubricants, which will be itching to race after losing out on a scratched Kyalami heat last time out. Jansen’s biggest threat appears to come from Gert van den Berg, son Vaughn and father Peter Hills, Kyle Watt, MD Bester, Theodore Vermaak and Shaun van der Linde. Talking Formula Vee, which celebrates 60 years in South Africa this year, Liqui Moly Super Vee has taken a little longer to come to light, and that class joins the Extreme Festival for the first time on Saturday. Watch for early leader Lushen Ramchander to fight Albertyn Pienaar, Grant Will, Kosie van der Merwe, Phillip Belingan, Neville van der Berg and others off in the quicker, more powerful winged new Vee class.

Last but not least, and plausibly the highlight of the day, the ATS Zwartkops 200 sees the 111 Sports GTs and Saloons and Superhatch entries enjoying their annual endurance outing. Expect George Economides to be looking for extra reliability out of his turbo Golf on Saturday as he fights Mark du Toit sharing his BMW with son Joshua, Marnus du Plessis and Phillip Meyer’s Porsche off for GT honours. Wouter Roos has Piet Visagie alongside him in his Golf to fight off A leader Piet Potgieter’s similar car, and Golf duo Wayne Lebotschy and Maritz Le Roux fight it out in Class B. Young Christiopher Tait, Sebastian Bouilliart and Keegan Nathan sharing with Mauro da Luz, will dice in Class C. 

It’s more than just about racing at this Saturday’s Regional Extreme Festival presented by Coca-Cola. There’s something extra for everyone at Zwartkops, with kids’ entertainment, food and drink stalls, off-track entertainment and more. Fans can examine the racecars close-up and catch up with the teams and drivers in the pits too. Entry is R110 per adult, R90 for students, and kids under 12 are free. Contact 012 384 2299 or log on to www.zwartkops.co.za for more details.