Extreme national showdown heads to Zwartkops

Zwartkops Raceway in Pretoria will see the next instalment of the Extreme Festival Presented By Coca-Cola’s national championship battles this coming weekend (20-21 June).

With all series on the national roster being in action, this event will see the bulk of competitors either cross or reach the mid-season mark. It will also be the first of two national roster outings at the circuit in 2025, with the second being October’s season finale.

For the Volkswagen Rookie Cup, it will be the latter of the two, with this weekend marking their third of six championship rounds and first non-coastal visit. Uzair Khan (TSS), now competing in his second season of the all-Volkswagen Polo Vivo GT series, took the points lead at the Aldo Scribante Raceway outing and holds a five-point advantage over season debutant Christopher Tait (Sportex). The latter took his first win in the series in the most recent start, while third-placed Josh Moore (BPW) won the other race in Round 2.

While no updated points tables have yet been released through Motorsport South Africa for the SunBet ZX10 Masters Cup at the time of writing, the weekend will mark their third of 10 championship rounds. The top contenders in the all-Kawasaki ZX10 series will include defending champion Clinton Seller (King Price Xtreme), Graeme van Breda (Stefanutti Stocks), and Jayson Lamb (Tyremart East London). This trio will also be the top contenders in their respective classes.

Seller’s Class A rivals will include David Enticott (Ravenol SA) and Damion Purificati (Amalgum Welding Shop). In Class B, Van Breda will battle against the likes of Dieter Huysamen (Adventure Xtreme), while Sfiso Themba (Wakahina), who missed Round 2 due to an accident in Friday Qualifying, will also be back in contention. Lamb’s Class C rivals will include Johan Le Roux (Avidan) and Brian Bontekoning (Jaguar Air Products).

Following the anticipated debut of the Investchem MSA4 championship at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, which was aborted, the weekend will see the new premier South African single-seater season kick into full swing.

As with all new series, teething problems are expected, which is why the stakeholders involved rightfully chose to launch the new campaign only after resolving all issues, thereby also ensuring maximum entertainment for South Africa’s motorsport fans. The weekend will also see Investchem MSA4 being one of two series to have three races on the programme.

Drivers to watch out for will include the 2024 Investchem Formula 1600 runner-up, KC Ensor-Smith (African Heating), the last race winner in that series, Karabo Malemela (KMFT Morita), who has since also moved into saloon car racing, and Shrien Naidoo (Production X), another regular 2024 frontrunner in that series.

The second series with three races on Saturday, is the Astron Energy Polo Cup. The all-Volkswagen Polo GTI brigade will cross the mid-season mark, with their 2025 races having delivered some of the best action on the tour.

Mohammed Karodia (Fast 5 Motorsport) heads up the points table with a 23-point advantage over Ethan Coetzee (Ethan Coetzee Motorsport). Karodia has won four of this year’s seven races, and he goes into the weekend on a three-race winning streak. Coetzee, however, won the season opener and has been bagging regular points since then. Rory Atkinson (Industry Petroleum), another winner from the season opener, is third. A lot of eyes will also be on fourth-placed Tyler Robinson (AF Fans), the other race-winner, who will be back in action after also starting her 2025 European racing campaign.

Behind the main field, the Masters Class will also produce excitement. Defending champion Wayne Masters (Performance Masters) has won five races thus far and holds a 16-point lead over the only other 2025 race winner, John Kruger (Habot Lubricants). Derick Smalberger (Sabertek) is third.

The GR Cup Driven By Netstar will also dish up a host of battles in various classes, with this weekend also marking their crossover round into the second half of the season.

In the GR 86 Class, Jason Coetzee holds a 15-point lead and has won all but one of the 2025 races. Second-placed Mbuso Ngwenya is still winless, while Kent Swartz is the other driver to have won a race.

Nabil Abdool heads up the GR Yaris Class by 13 points and has a 100% start-to-win ratio for the season thus far. Kyle Kock and Vatiswa Mokhonoana are second and third heading into the weekend.

Mario de Sousa leads the GR Corolla Class by 21 points and will head into the weekend on the back of a four-race winning streak. Werner Venter is his primary rival at present.

After missing the Aldo-Scribante outing, the Extreme SuperCars Driven By Dunlop will be back in action this weekend. Some of the drivers to look out for include Jonathan Du Toit (Trans Africa Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO), Charl Arangies (Stradale Motorsport Porsche GT3 R), and Damian Hammond (Liqui Moly Lamborghini Huracán).

Kris Budnik (Bucketlist Composites Dodge Viper) leads the championship heading into the weekend.

The experienced Michael van Rooyen (Toyota Gazoo Racing Corolla SATC) has a 15-point lead over season debutant Jagger Robertson (Sparco Volkswagen Golf 8 GTI SATC) in the South African Touring Car Championship. Heading into their mid-season round, both drivers remain winless but have been consistent frontrunners. Keegan Campos (Campos Transport BMW 128ti SATC), who joined the series in Round 2, has already stood on top of the podium twice.

Behind them, the SATC SupaCup is also set to entertain. Tate Bishop (ANGRi Racing Volkswagen Polo SupaCup) now holds a 25-point lead over defending champion Jonathan Mogotsi (Volkswagen Genuine Parts Polo SupaCup), with Charl Visser (Charl Engineering Volkswagen Polo SupaCup) in third place.

Spectator tickets will be available from the Zwartkops Raceway entrance gate or can be pre-purchased from the office at R140 per adult, R120 per student, and children under 12 enter for free. Saturday’s race day will also be broadcast live via the Extreme Festival website.

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