This coming weekend (7-8 June), the fifth round of the 2024 BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series will be one of the main attractions at Zwartkops Raceway‘s Dunlop Winter Extreme Festival.
This round, the series’ third visit to the venue this year, will form part of a bumper-edition event. Two of the category’s partners, Dunlop Tyres South Africa and ATS Motorsport, have partnered with the event promoter to deliver an event that will bring the spectators closer to the action, with a host of hot lap sessions and exhibitions on the programme.
However, the primary focus within the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series camp will be determining the top contenders for this year’s various titles before the mid-season winter break.
Heading into the weekend, reigning class and series champion Leon Loubser again finds himself on top of Class A, having retaken the position in Round 4. With 53 points accumulated, he holds a two-point lead over former leader Fabio Fedetto. Bob Neill, who started his return campaign with a three-race winning streak, will make his first appearance at Zwartkops Raceway since last year’s season finale. While Loubser has been the driver to beat at the Pretoria circuit, Neill has been showing impressive pace while collecting his 39 points from only two rounds thus far. Ryan Naicker will hope to have put the reliability issues of his BMW E92 M3 Turbo to bed, having shown great pace since moving to Class A.
Andreas Meier’s 70 points see him 17 clear of defending Class B champion Nek Makris. Renier Smith is 10 points adrift but enters Round 5 on the back of his first two wins of 2024. If Meier can show the pace he did earlier this year at Zwartkops Raceway, he will be a difficult driver to beat. Makris is still in search of his first 2024 win. Fifth-place Oz Biagioni will also look to move closer to the top, having been one of this year’s most consistent campaigners. Jaco Storm Snr will also be back in contention after repairs to his BMW E46 M3 Turbo.
Class C sees Gary Martins on 55 points, 14 clear of recent winner Jan Eversteyn. Hein van der Merwe, who won the first race in Round 4, and Bennie Luyt, who took his maiden win at the last Zwartkops Raceway visit, will also look to contend for class honours. The latter two have, respectively, accumulated 38 and 36 points. Regular stalwarts Alan Hilligenn, Andre van Vuuren, Bernard de Gouveia, Lenard Archer, Neil Reynolds, Nick Naidoo, Nishal Singh, reigning Class D champion Reinhardt Miller, Troy Cochran, and Varish Ganpath will also be battling for points. Devin Robertson, who skipped Round 4, will also look to mix things up at the top, while Jaco Storm Jnr will also be back on the grid.
Class D’s Nicholas Herbst is the driver with the most comfortable lead, on 62 points and 20 clear of George Economides. Herbst will look to emulate his victorious form from Round 2, but Economides, on the back of a double win, will not be an easy driver to beat around Zwartkops Raceway. Cobus Bohmer, one point behind Economides, has been a consistent podium finisher this year, while Claudio Jardim, eight points behind Bohmer, is the most recent race winner at the circuit. Fifth-placed Craig Herbst had a challenging Round 4 outing and is eager to build on his 31-point tally. Reigning Class E Champion Arri van Heerden, Dave Rehse, Dewald Smith, Ferdi van Staden, Roland Hopkins and Trevor Long will also be in the mix, while Stefano Cavalieri will make his return after his horrific Round 3 accident.
Johan Miller took the Class E lead from Zaheer Seedat after his victorious Red Star Raceway weekend. The pair have 50 and 46 points, respectively, with the latter being 12 clear of Eddie Rodrigues, who won on debut last time at Zwartkops Raceway. Matthew Wadeley, in the BMW Car Club Gauteng Track Taxi, and Tihan van Rooyen, fresh from his maiden win, have 33 and 32 points, respectively. Caren Nienaber and Mike Grobler will also be in action, while Jacques Smith returns to the series.
Meier is ahead of Nicholas Herbst in the overall championship, with Martins, Loubser, and Makris in the top five.
The day also features a host of other activities and activations, with the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series on the circuit at the following times:
10:10 – Race 1 Classes D & E – 10 Laps
12:15 – Race 1 Classes A, B & C – 10 Laps
13:35 – Race 2 Classes D & E – 10 Laps
15:50 – Race 2 Classes A, B & C – 10 Laps
Spectator tickets can be purchased at the Zwartkops Raceway entrance gate on Saturday morning or prior to the event by contacting the circuit office. The full Extreme Festival race day programme will be broadcast live, free-to-air, on https://extremefestival.co.za/live/. A detailed preview of the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series will also form part of the BMW Car Club Gauteng’s monthly BMW Club TV Show.
