The 2025 season of the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series got off to an action-packed start at the Zwartkops International World Of Motoring this past weekend (31 January – 1 February).
Classes A, B, & C
A key change to the initial communicated entry list was Fabio Fedetto switching back to slick-shod Class A from Class C as per the entry list.
Friday afternoon’s qualifying session saw Class B’s Andreas Meier setting the fastest time. However, with the grid compiled per Class, the Dunlop Pole Position for Race 1 went to Class A’s Bob Neill, who lined up ahead of Fedetto and defending class champion Leon Loubser. In Class B, Nek Makris joined Meier on the front row, with the defending Series and class champion Renier Smith in third. Champion Reinhardt Miller headed up Class C from Hein van der Merwe, with Oz Biagioni, Salvi Gualtieri, and Rob Gearing completing the top five.
Race 1 saw the bulk of the field completing two laps, but also an incident involving Andre van Vuuren, which left him beached in a precarious position outside of Turn 1. This necessitated the race to be stopped and, on Countback, declared null and void. With the race seeing a full 10-lap restart, Neill took a lights-to-flag win in Class A. He had his work cut out to keep second-placed Loubser at bay after the latter quickly disposed of Fedetto, who finished third. Meier held the initial Class B lead, but his retirement promoted Makris, who retired after six laps, handing the win to Smith, the sole classified finisher. Early Class C leader Miller also retired, with Van der Merwe holding off Gearing for the win. The battle for the final podium spot was settled in Gualtieri’s favour ahead of Nicky Dicks, with Biagioni completing the top five.
The partially inverted grid for 12-lap Race 2 saw Fedetto heading up the field off the line, but both Loubser and Neill passed him soon after. This time, Loubser had the lead and a fairly comfortable advantage to take the Class A win from Neill. Fedetto made it two third-place finishes on the day. Smith made a double Class B win on the day, following a good tussle for the lead with Makris. Meier’s woes continued when he ran off at Turn 5 due to a lack of grip. However, he kept going and, with only three starters in the class, completed the podium in a lap adrift. Biagioni resisted the pressure from his rivals to take a lights-to-flag win in Class C. Early second-place runner Gualtieri retired on Lap 9, leaving Gearing to pursue Biagioni to the line. Anand Naidu beat Van der Merwe to the last podium spot, while Alan Hilligenn finished fifth.
Based on accumulated points, the ZF-Aftermarket Overall Results for Round 1 saw Loubser beat Neill in Class A. Although both drivers accrued 14 points, Loubser’s advantageous total race time saw him victorious. Because the class had less than four entrants, drivers were not eligible for a full points payout. It was a similar situation in Class B, where Smith’s double win saw him accrue 16 points, winning from Makris and Meier, with 12 and five points, respectively.
Class C saw Gearing on top with 16 points from his two second places, beating race winners Van der Merwe and Biagioni, respectively, with 15 and 14 points.
Classes D, E & F
Classes D, E & F were bound to see quite a few shake-ups in the season opener, not only because of the drivers that dropped back from the top group with the adjusted breakout times but also due to the host of debutants and new car/driver combinations.
Bernard de Gouveia took the season’s first ATS Motorsport Pole Position to head up the Class D grid. He was joined on the front row by debutant Weylin Volschenk, while Bilal Ahmed qualified third. Dawie Olivier, competing in the Series for the first time since 2022, qualified fourth, ahead of Eugene Gouws. Craig Herbst headed up the Class E field in the qualifying session from Olerato Sekudu, Johan Miller, Dewald Smith, and Richard Gerntholtz, another debutant. However, Herbst requested to be moved into Class D, which promoted Sekudu to Pole Position. Gerntholtz, a driver with no prior circuit racing experience, joined some of his fellow debutants at the back of the grid, as per the Series regulations. The revised grid, therefore, saw Sekudu head up Miller, Smith, Claudio Jardim, and Eddie Rodrigues. It was a similar case in Class F. Seedat headed up the times from Wessel Mostert and Shrijav Naidu, who also moved to the back. This promoted Ferdi van Staden, Justin Brown, Shaun Dodd, Jacques Smith, and Caren Nienaber.
It was a good tussle at the front of Class D in Race 1, with De Gouveia maintaining the lead. The race was soon neutralised because Stefano Cavalieri’s car was stuck with a broken alternator at Turn 8, which saw the Safety Car come out. On Lap 5, Volschenk moved to the front. He retired two laps later, and De Gouveia retook the lead. Olivier and Gouws jostled for second place, with Olivier beating Gouws to the runner-up spot. But the last spot on the podium changed hands when Gouws was penalised with 30 seconds for jumping the start, a penalty that saw him drop to eighth in the closely-contested class’ final classification. Ahmed secured the final podium position after holding off Varish Ganpath and Troy Cochran. Gouws was not the only one to lose out due to a penalty. Jardim was the first Class E driver to cross the finish line, but overtook under a yellow flag, relegating him to 13th place. This saw Miller open his 2025 account with a win, with Rodrigues and Roland Hopkins in close pursuit. Shane Grobler finished fourth, ahead of debutant Karabo Malemela, an up-and-coming talent to be watched competing for Pablo Clark Racing in association with BMW South Africa. Dodd took the maiden Class F win, while Seedat, Van Staden, Brown, and Naidu completed the top five.
While Ganpath took the early lead in Race 2, he had Ahmed applying pressure in the early stages. Ahmed made a pass for the Class D lead stick on Lap 3 and took his maiden win in the Series despite Ganpath’s persistence to retake the lead. Olivier held off De Gouveia for the final podium spot, with Cochran finishing fifth. Hopkins took the Class E after jostling with Rodrigues. Further back, Shane Grobler beat Miller to the final podium spot, with Malemela making it two fifth place on the day. Debutant Naidu took Class F from Dodd, Seedat, Arri van Heerden and Van Staden.
The ZF-Aftermarket Overall Results saw Ahmed accumulate 16 Class D points to take his maiden overall win while also taking home the ITOO Driver of the Day award. De Gouveia, with 15 points, and Olivier, with 14 points, completed the podium. Rodrigues tied with Hopkins on 16 points in Class E but took the win based on a faster accumulated race time. Miller took thrid place. Dodd’s 18 points saw him take Class F, while Seedat’s better time broke the 14-point tie with Naidu in his favour.
Points Table After The Season Opener
Loubser also took both Fastest Lap Points on offer in Class A, seeing him two clear of Neill. The Fastest Lap Points are only added after each race day, so they were not considered for contention in the ZF-Aftermarket Overall Results. Meier salvaged an additional reward with both the fastest laps in Class B, decreasing his gap to the leaders. The Class C points table remained unchanged, with Gualtieri and Reinhardt Miller sharing the Fastest Lap Points. It was a similar scenario in Class D, with Cochran recording both fastest laps. Hopkins’ Race 2 fastest lap saw him gain an extra point on Rodrigues, who is tied on the points table with Johan Miller, who set the other fastest lap. Dodd and Shriyav Naidu shared the Fastest Lap Points in Class F.
While a host of drivers are on equal scores after Round 1, Dodd has taken the outright lead in the Series after the season opener, two points clear of Hopkins, with six drivers tied on 16 points.
Next Event
Round 2 of this year’s BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series will form part of the Extreme Festival season opener, also to be held at Zwartkops Raceway, from 28 February to 1 March.
