The BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series championship has produced some of South Africa’s best circuit racing in 2025, culminating in a close showdown at this coming weekend’s (7-8 November) season finale at Zwartkops Raceway.
As per the recent article on its website, the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series championship and class points tables are set to undergo a couple of adjustments ahead of the final round. Effectively, this means that highlighting the gaps between the drivers based on the current points table will not provide quite an accurate picture, which is why we will be focusing on the various contenders.
Heading into the weekend, Leon Loubser is the only driver to have secured a class title. Heading up the Class A field, not even another driver breaking out of a lower class can take away his third successive class win. That does not mean that he can afford to play it safe by any stretch of the imagination, as he is one of the contenders for the Series title, and his class rivals will all be eligible to score points. Loubser has taken two wins at the circuit earlier this year, but the momentum will be with Rick Loureiro, who won both races at the last Zwartkops Raceway event and is on the back of a double win in the penultimate round. Also back in contention will be Bob Neill, while Paulo Loureiro will also compete in his third weekend of the season. For the Class A drivers to be eligible to score full points, all four drivers must start at least one official session.
In Class B, Renier Smith cannot be challenged on points, but breakouts are in play for the season finale. It is not like he can afford to take it easy either, with Loubser in close contention for the 2025 Series title. He, too, will be pushed by a group of eager rivals, especially with the battle for second place being a close contest, featuring Lenard Archer, Andreas Meier, Anton Pommersheim, and Nek Makris. The on-track battles will also include Ethan Coetzee, Nishal Singh, and Shane Grobler, all eager to impress in their first weekend of starting as Class B competitors.
Salvi Gualtieri has the Zwartkops Raceway momentum in Class C, with three wins from the six previous races. He also has a slight margin of comfort over Hein van der Merwe, the only other driver still able to challenge him. Anand Naidu, Varish Ganpath, the defending class champion Reinhardt Miller, and Nick Naidoo are all in the running for the runner-up spots. This group will be complemented by Bennie Luyt, Cameron Christian, Dewald Smith, Mario Hattingh, Nicky Dicks, Rob Gearing, Sheldon Chetty, and Stefan Snyders, who will all look for end-of-season bragging rights.
The battle at the top of Class D will be one of the fiercest rivalries on the weekend. Bernard de Gouveia won this year’s first circuit race in the country, a weekend that also saw Andre van Vuuren destroy his Class C car. Since then, he joined the Class D brigade, where it has been a close battle between him and points leader De Gouveia. Both drivers have four wins to their name. Two of De Gouveia’s wins came at Zwartkops Raceway. Van Vuuren has only competed once at Zwartkops Raceway in Class D in 2025, though he did not have any wins to show for it. He did have the upper hand over De Gouveia, who spent most of Round 4’s race day recovering from a crash in Qualifying. Therefore, this weekend might be the first actual head-to-head encounter this year between the pair at the circuit. Having broken into Class D at Red Star Raceway, Karabo Malemela will look for a good finish to his debut season. Johan Miller will also be in contention, and so, too, Dawie Olivier, the most recent winner at the circuit after a superb Round 4 display. Craig Herbst, Gerald Anthony, Kent Swartz, Neil Reynolds, defending class champion Nicholas Herbst, Phillip Emmenis, and Troy Cochran will also be in contention. Michael Grobler and Paolo Cavalieri will both make their first starts since Round 3.
In Class E, Eddie Rodrigues holds a comfortable lead over Wessel Mostert, and both drivers have one win to their names at the circuit. Tihan van Rooyen is the most recent Zwartkops Raceway winner and is eager to continue his good form at the circuit. Zaheer Seedat will start his first full weekend in Class E, while Claudio Jardim will look for a strong finish to the season, having also won a race at the circuit in Round 2. Arri van Heerden, Chloe Stuart, Cobus Bohmer, Dave Rehse, Ferdi van Staden, Kyan Boodaya, Philip Mostert Jnr, Shaun Dodd and Stefano Cavalieri will also be in contention. Heinz Boze will pilot the BMW Car Club Gauteng OG Track Taxi for the second time this season, and, like Mitch Coetzee, also in his second round, will not be eligible to score points.
Caren Nienaber heads up Class F, but will have a battle on her hands against Henry Platt, while Shriyav Naidu is also still in with an outside chance. Zeyad Ismail and Miguel da Costa will also look to build on their strong campaigns. Philip Mostert Snr will also be in contention. Manny Riveiro will have another outing in the BMW Car Club Gauteng Track Taxi 2.0. Henry Harber, in his second outing, will not be eligible to score points, and neither will Mariaan Emmenis, who will make her first 2025 appearance.
Renier Smith leads Leon Loubser in the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series Championship. While Smith is the defending champion, Loubser won in 2023. Therefore, the Series might crown its second two-time champion this year, with Andreas Meier being the only other driver with two titles. Should Smith win, he will become the first consecutive champion in the series. Mathematically, both Eddie Rodrigues and Bernard de Gouveia are still in contention as well.
Saturday’s races are scheduled to start at:
10:35 – Classes A, B & C – 10 Laps
11:50 – Classes D, E & F – 10 Laps
13:25 – Classes A, B & C – 12 Laps
14:55 – Classes D, E & F – 12 Laps
Spectator tickets can be purchased at the Zwartkops Raceway entrance gate, and the full race day, starting at 10:10, will be broadcast live on the Extreme Festival website. Highlights of the penultimate round of the 2025 BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series championship can be watched on the most recent episode of BMW Club TV.