Action-till-late as Extreme Festival Presented by Coca-Cola returns to Zwartkops Raceway
Pretoria’s motorsport fans are in for an action-packed Extreme Festival Presented by Coca-Cola this coming weekend (16-17 May), with the racing set to continue until after the sun sets on Zwartkops Raceway.
The action will continue until after dark because this event, featuring the Tour’s regional roster, will be headlined by the annual ATS Motorsport Zwartkops 200 endurance race, which will run into the early evening. Before that, however, the Ferro Energia 111 & GT Sports & Saloons, including SuperHatch competitors, will kick Saturday’s racing action off with an 8-lap sprint race.
Headed to Zwartkops, Wayne Robb (Ford Focus 225 ST) heads the overall and Class A 111 championship standings, just two points ahead of Christopher Tait (Sportex VW Polo), who leads the Class C championship. Class B is led by Wayne Lebotschy (Shield VW Golf), who is in third place in the overall standings, five points behind Tait. Class C contenders Sebastian Bouilliart (Applied Heat VW Polo) and Keegan Nathan (Nathan’s Motorsport VW Polo) are tied for fourth in the overall standings, just a point ahead of defending champion Wouter Roos (Origen Oil VW Golf).
This could change dramatically after the weekend as three sets of points are on offer. The sprint race offers one set of points, while there are two sets of points available in the Zwartkops 200 race: one for positions on the road and the other for Index of Performance, where those competitors who manage to remain closest to their fastest lap time throughout the race will walk away with the spoils.
Some of the drivers have elected to pair up in the endurance race, with Roos enlisting the help of Peet Visagie in piloting the Origen Oil VW Golf. The husband and wife pairing of Elke and Henry van Vledder will be in their VW Golf, while Marius Malherbe and Keegan Ward will team up in the M Kruger Auditing Porsche 924. Driver swaps will happen during the compulsory pit stop, which every car in the race must make. Drivers who don’t have a co-driver still have to make the pit stop, during which at least one wheel must be removed from the car and refitted.
The SuperHatch competitors will run with the 111 cars. There, the Class A contenders include Jonathan du Toit and Ishmael Baloyi in their Trans Africa Racing Honda Civics and Suman Moodley (Intellergy Renauly ClioRS3), with Mark and Joshua du Toit (Trans Africa Racing BMW) also likely to be in the mix. Class T2 should provide some interesting action. Father-and-son duo (George and Francis Aldrich (Aldrich Racing Opel Corsa) will be up against a similar 4Js Auto-supported Corsa in the hands of Hendrik Venter and Shane Forget, with Keithin Meintjies and Desmond Bloem (TRC Truck Repair Centre Renault Sandero) also looking to get in on the action.
The 200-kilometre race will not be the only change to the regular roster. The weekend will also see the Liqui Moly Super Vee series making its first appearance on the Extreme Festival Presented By Coca-Cola roster. The series, founded in 2023, has already featured on a host of other tour programmes before. Consisting of cars originating from Formula Vee specification, this wings-and-slicks series has become one of the cheapest forms of single-seater racing to compete in.
Some drivers to watch out for in the series will be Lushen Ramchander (Liqui Moly SuperVee Forza) and Jeandre le Roux (Liqui Moly SuperVee Stealth). However, one of the best-known names to compete is Afrikaans rapper Early B (Liqui Moly SuperVee Forza).
The weekend’s races will also feature the rest of the regional roster regulars, such as the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series. Leon Loubser (Monaco Motors BMW BMW E92 335i) has a 12-point advantage over Bob Neill (Delmon Mining BMW E92 M3 Turbo) in Class A, with this duo set to continue their 2025 rivalry. In Class B, Renier Smith (BMW E36 M3 Turbo), who also took the lead in the series in Round 3, has a 19-point advantage over Andreas Meier (CEC BMW E36 STC 320iT). Hein van der Merwe (SavSpeed Racing BMW E36 328i Turbo) has a seven-point lead over the man who dominated the previous Zwartkops Raceway outing, Salvi Gualtieri (SavSpeed Auto BMW E36 328i Turbo) in Class C,
Bernard De Gouveia (De Gouveia Accountants BMW E46 M3) has a 12-point advantage in Class D over Michael Grobler, while Paolo Cavalieri is third. However, neither of the latter two drivers entered Round 4, which could see the likes of Dawie Olivier (International Race Supplies BMW E30 330i) looking to close in. Class E leader Eddie Rodrigues is another notable absentee on the entry list, which could aid Wessel Mostert (Mosco Specialised Contractors BMW E46 M3) in clearing the 12-point deficit. Class F leader Shaun Dodd (BMW E36 328i) will also look for a strong result after not adding any points in Round 3. He holds a one-point lead over Justin Brown (Adlem Automotive BMW E36 328i).
The Dunlop V8 Supercars sees Warren Lombard (PepBoys Automotive Ford Mustang) with a two-point lead over Thomas Reib (Café 9 Automotive Chevrolet Lumina). Third-placed Sam Dahl has not entered, so Wayne Spicer (Wellness Group Jaguar XKRS) will be looking to make up ground.
Wayne Masters (Performance Masters Volkswagen Polo) heads up Class A in the ATE VW Challenge. The seasoned campaigner has a four-point lead over series young gun Jayden Goosen (Ferro Energia Volkswagen Polo) heading into the weekend. Defending Series and Class B champion Stuart Mack (AutoZone Volkswagen Polo) has moved to the top of both points tables. In Class B, he finds himself 13 points clear of Francis Aldrich (VaporWorx Volkswagen Polo). Adriaan de Beer (Ukwazi Engineering Volkswagen Polo) heads up Class C with a three-point advantage over Mitch Coetzee (Volkswagen Polo).
Defending DOE Formula Vee Partnered with CIM Lubricants champion Lendl Jansen (Bull Security Rhema 2), has moved to the top of the 2025 points table. His closest rival, Gert Van den Berg (DOE Quality Parts Rhema 2), is 13 points adrift. Vaughn Hills (MXTwo Rhema 2) will also be in contention.
The full event programme will be available on the Extreme Festival Presented By Coca-Cola website closer to the weekend’s start. All relevant spectator information can also be accessed via the Extreme Festival Links page.
Spectator tickets will be available from the Zwartkops Raceway entrance gate at R140 per adult, R100 per student, and children under 12 will get in for free. Saturday’s full race day will be broadcast live on the Extreme Festival website.
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