The BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series is set for probably its most significant shake-up in 2026, with the announcement of two standalone championship crowns ahead of its 16th season.
Founded in 2011, the Series, now backed by BMW South Africa, commenced as a dedicated motorsport addition to its operator, BMW Car Club Gauteng’s track day events. The first 11 seasons featured a steady contingent of drivers, but the past four seasons have truly marked a watershed moment for the Series. Starting the 2022 season with 30-40 entrants, the 2025 season saw a regular entry list of 60+ entrants and a total of 104 competitors. From humble beginnings, the Series has now become one of the headline additions at various national and international events, including on the Extreme Festival’s regional roster, where it regularly sees the biggest entry list for nearly three years, with comparrisons often drawn between the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series and the succesful Group N fields at the end of the previous century.
2022’s season finale saw the first event that required the grid to be split due to Motorsport South Africa’s safety guidelines relating to the maximum number of competitors allowed on the shorter circuits on the calendar. This practice continued in 2023 and 2024, and it also extended to some of the longer circuits as the number of entries increased. 2025’s addition of a sixth class marked the first season of split grids for all 16 championship races. Traditionally, split grids balanced the number of entrants while accounting for differences in pace between cars in different classes. However, the Series’ management committee noticed a trend: the top three time-based classes accounted for the bulk of the turbocharged entrants. In contrast, the slower classes featured a substantial number of normally aspirated cars. This led to a decision to split the two groups based on this trend, with a standalone championship for each in 2026.
Therefore, the new season introduces the Turbo Cup and NA Cup under the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series banner, with each Cup featuring four classes: A, B, C & D. Competing in Class A in the Turbo Cup will require cars to be fitted with slick tyres in the Dunlop-shod series. All other classes will see drivers competing on semi-slick tyres.
In December 2025, the Series launched a campaign via its digital platforms to find appropriate names for the two championships, offering a prize of an entry voucher to one of the upcoming 2026 XPEL South Africa Track Days. Sashlin Naidoo submitted Turbo Cup and NA Cup as the names; however, as he is a BMW Car Club Gauteng committee member, it was decided to select a different winner, with the creativity of the names as the basis for selection. Subsequently, the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series announced Carmi Gerntholtz as the competition winner.
Bernard de Gouveia, Chairman of the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series, is looking forward to the commencement of the new chapter for the Series. “We have worked exceptionally hard behind the scenes to grow the Series in recent years, and it is a fantastic feeling to look at our race starts and see two capacity grids. As our split grids became a regular occurrence, we had to find a definitive method for dividing the fields, so we began looking at factors that could be used for this purpose. Given that it is a time-based series, it is obviously difficult to use technical specifications or production dates. We didn’t want to sacrifice our time-based format either, as that has been one of the significant contributors to our success. The BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series is all about keeping it simple yet competitive, while also providing a platform for everyone competing in a BMW to enter, regardless of age, experience, or bank balance.”
The BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series model for success has since also been adopted by BMW Car Club Cape Town, which launched its own series in 2024. However, the new structure will see a few key differences going forward, as De Gouveia continues. “For starters, we will now have two BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series champions going forward, one per Cup. The various class championships will also be per Cup, so you will see a different Class B champion in both the Turbo Cup and the NA Cup. The two-cup system also mitigates the impact of other factors we’ve had to deal with over the past few seasons, such as alternating weather and circuit conditions for the split groups, or situations where a group is unable to compete due to factors outside our control, as we saw in the 2024 season opener. This creates a fairer playing field. Something we have also seen in recent events is that some drivers wanted to compete in both groups with different cars, but breaking out of Class D and into Class C ended one of their campaigns. Now, should you possess a turbocharged and normally aspirated car, you will be able to do so. We firmly believe that 2026 will see the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series set the bar even higher than before”
The season opener will form part of The 25th Passion For Speed event at Zwartkops Raceway on 30-31 January, with event tickets already available via Computicket.