Ignus du Plessis racked up another perfect score in the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series NA Cup this past weekend (6-7 March) at Zwartkops Raceway to extend his lead in the championship.
The big news on Friday was that Renier Smith, the 2024 and 2025 BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series champion, had shifted from the Turbo Cup and into the NA Cup, driving a BMW E36 328i which he is looking to develop further.
With still no drivers having broken into Class A, Andre van Vuuren, in Class B, racked up his second ATS Motorsport Pole Position of the season, to line up ahead of Olerato Sekudu. Richard Gerntholtz and Troy Cochran shared the second row, with Dawie Olivier in fifth place. The Class D points leader going into the weekend, Bernard de Gouveia, struggled with an electrical issue, which saw him lining up in seventh place after only one uncompetitive lap. In Class C, Du Plessis took pole, with Nicholas Herbst in second place. Shane Grobler, in a newly built BMW E46 M3, set the third-fastest time, with Tihan van Rooyen and Kent Swartz completing the top five. It was the Class D points leader, Ruan van der Walt, who headed up the class on the grid, ahead of Henry Platt and Reinhardt Miller. Chloe Stuart qualified fourth, with Lorenzo Gualtieri lining up in fifth place behind the wheel of the OG Track Taxi.
Saturday’s first race was aborted after only a few corners following an incident that eliminated Stuart and Arri van Heerden. The 10-lap race was restarted from scratch, but after six laps, the red flag came out again following an incident that left Justin Brown in a precarious position. Now restarted with four laps remaining, the final result would be compiled based on aggregate times. This did not make a difference to the order of the top five in Class B, where Van Vuuren took his second win of the year, ahead of Sekudu, Gerntholtz, Cochran, and De Gouveia. The Class C result also remained the same as they crossed the line, with Du Plessis beating Herbst, Grobler, Van Rooyen, and Swartz. However, a change was on the cards in Class D. Platt was the first driver over the line, but it was Miller who took the win due to the gap he had over the former in the first part of the race. Gualtieri kept his third place. While Gerhard Du Plessis had a superb final four laps to finish fourth, his time in the first part relegated him to 13th place, which moved Dirk van Loggerenberg up a place. While Morgan Jacobs had the fifth-best combined time, she collected another jump-start penalty, which promoted Philip Mostert Snr.
Race 2 sealed this as not being De Gouveia’s day, despite an early lead. On Lap 5, Van Vuuren passed him after starting fifth from the inverted grid. De Gouveia looked good to collect a podium, but spun out on his BMW E46 M3’s fluids after a broken belt. Van Vuuren made it a double Class B win for the day ahead of Germholtz, Sekudu, and Cochran, with Pieter Lombard completing the finishing order. Du Plessis took a comfortable fourth win on the trot in Class C, while Swartz held off Grobler, Herbst and Jardim for the runner-up spot. In Class D, Miller also made it a double for the day, and like Van Vuuren, took his third win from four starts. Platt and Mostert Snr completed the podium, ahead of Jacobs and Van Loggerenberg.
The ZF-Aftermarket Overall Results saw Van Vuuren, with 20 points, taking Class B. He also collected the XPEL South Africa Driver of the Day award. While Gernholtz and Sekudu were tied on 14 points, Gernholtz’s superior aggregate time secured second place. Du Plessis’ 20 points saw him beat 13-point Herbst in Class C. The 12-point tie for third was also decided in Grobler’s favour based on aggregate time over Swartz. Miller’s 20 points saw him take Class D, ahead of Platt with 16, and Mostert Snr with 10.
Van Vuuren took the top spot on the Class B points table, his 35 points putting him six clear of Sekudu, with Gernholtz on 24 in third. On top of his double win, Van Vuuren also took the pole position and fastest lap points. De Gouveia, now fourth, collected seven points on the day to take his total to 23. Du Plessis’ second consecutive full house saw him take his total to 46 in Class C, now 17 clear of Herbst, with Swartz in third, on 22 points. Miller added the two fastest lap points, taking his tally to 36 and eight clear of Platt. Former leader van der Walt only added one point, bringing his total to 18.
With two rounds completed, the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series will head into a two-month break before Round 3, when they make their first of two visits to Red Star Raceway this season, on 15-16 May.