Oz Biagioni has the early BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series Turbo Cup points lead after Zwartkops Raceway season opener (30-31 January) where he capitalised on the bonus points on offer.
Friday saw a significant change to the weekend’s points structure in the top two classes. Anton Pommersheim opted to move to Class A by fitting slick tyres and having surpassed the time-qualifier on semi-slick tyres already, which meant this group had five entrants and was eligible for full points. This meant that Class B, now with only four entrants, would not be eligible for the full points payout.
However, the star in Qualifying was the returning Kashen Naicker, who blasted his way into the Dunlop Pole Position, seeing him line up ahead of Nishal Singh, also now in Class A. Bob Neill headed up Leon Loubser, with Pommersheim fifth. The 2025 Series champion, Renier Smith, headed up Class B from Lenard Archer and Carlo Garbini. Shane Grobler posted the fourth-fastest time, but would not line-up that position on Saturday’s grid. His Grobler Motorsport-built and prepared BMW E36 M3 Turbo was sold mere minutes after Friday’s session to another future competitor. Biagioni headed up Class C from Wessel Mostert. Third was Ethan Coetzee, with Anand Naidu and Bennie Luyt completing the top five. Johan Miller beat Craig Herbst to the Class D pole spot. Neil Reynolds and Alan Hilligenn lined up on the second row, with Ronald Lenters, a Dutch driver invited to represent the Pablo Clark Racing outfit, taking fifth place on the grid.
Naicker made light work of taking the Class A win in the first race, while Pommersheim gradually picked off the trio in front of him to take the runner-up spot. Loubser completed the podium, with Singh and Neill next. In Class B, Smith was unchallenged and started his season with a win over Archer and while Garbini retired on the formation lap.
However, the results in the subsequent two classes were a little bit more interesting after the race was stopped following Michael Grobler being stuck in a dangerous position, with the Class A leaders already on the final lap. Taking the countback procedure into account, Biagioni took the win from Anand Naidu, Luyt, Hein van der Merwe, and Nicky Dicks. Originally, it was communicated that Hilligenn won Class D, but this was corrected after it was found that the timekeepers did not apply the countback. This gave Miller the win from Hilligenn. Lenters finished third, with Gerald Anthony and Herbst completing the top five.
Race 2 saw even more drama right from the word go. Naicker made a false start off the reverse grid and had little trouble getting to the front of the field. However, Pommersheim was mindful of this and did not offer much resistance when Naicker tried to pass him. Instead, he opted to focus on keeping the rest of the field at bay. After the race, the positions were reversed when Niacker received a 30-second penalty, which gave Pommersheim his first Class A win. Loubser completed the podium, while Neill and Singh finished fourth and fifth. It was a repeat of the Race 1 results in Class B, with Smith beating Archer, and Garbini back on the circuit for this rounding out the podium. A false start for Luyt also pushed him down the Class C order, and into fifth place, with Naidu beating Biagioni. Varish Ganpath completed the podium, while Sheldon Chetty finished fourth. Hein van Merwe and Wessel Mostert were both in line for good points, but contact between the pair eliminated Mostert from the race, while Van der Merwe received a 30-second penalty for causing the collision. Class D saw Herbst taking the win from Anthony, while Lenters completed a superb South African debut with another podium finish. Eugene Gouws and Sayen Moodley completed the top five.
Pommersheim took the day’s ZF-Aftermarket Class A honours from Naicker. While the pair both finished with 18 points, the tie was broken in Pommersheim’s favour due to his superior accumulated time for both races. Loubser, with 12 points, was third. Smith took Class B from Archer and Garbini, with 16, 12, and 5 points for them, respectively. The 18-point tie at the top of Class C was settled in Naidu’s favour over Biagioni, with Luyt, on 10 points, third. Herbst’s 14 points saw him one clear of Anthony and Miller, with this tie also broken based on time.
Pommersheim also recorded both fastest laps, enough to solidify his ITOO Driver of the Day award and take the lead on the Class A points table, with 20 points. Naicker took the qualifying point to finish Round 1 with 19, with Loubser third. Smith, taking all three bonus points, sees him on 19 at the top of Class B, with Archer and Garbini in second and third. Biagioni also took all three bonus points to push his tally to 21 at the top of Class C, ahead of Naidu and Luyt. Herbst set the fastest lap in Race 2 and Miller took the pole position point, to increase their respective tallies to 15 and 14 at the top of Class D, with Anthony third.
Biagioni, Pommersheim, Naicker, Smith, and Naidu head up the Turbo Cup points table after Round 1.
The second round of the 2026 BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series Turbo Cup will see the field return to Zwartkops Raceway on 6 and 7 March for the Extreme Festival season opener.