The seventh, and penultimate round, of 2025’s BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series championship this past weekend (3-4 October) at Red Star Raceway delivered a host of moments that left a significant impact on the points table.
The weekend’s twists were not limited to the 13 corners around the clockwise layout of the circuit, which differed from the one used in Round 5 back in June. While Fridays are mostly for official practice and setup, this weekend’s business end started a lot earlier than usual.
Friday Practice
The shake-ups started in the second practice session for Classes D, E & F already. Karabo Malemela, who began the weekend as the Class E leader, broke out, handing the spot to Wessel Mostert.
The third practice session for this group also saw Malemela’s NGK Pablo Clark Racing teammate, Kent Swartz, along with Jonathan Governder, break out of Class E. Kyan Boodaya, second in the Class F battle, in turn broke into Class E.
The Class A, B & C group also saw their fair share of breakouts in the final session, along with some bodywork on Fabio Fedetto’s BMW F82 M4 catching alight. While appearing to be very spectacular, the damage was not severe at all, but significant enough to put an end to his weekend. However, because the official sessions had already commenced, his withdrawal would not affect his fellow Class A competitors’ eligibility for full points. Shane Grobler broke out of Class C.
Although starting the weekend as the Class F points leader, Zaheer Seedat was allowed to participate in the top half’s final session as he missed his session for religious reasons. He, too, broke out, handing the Class F lead to Caren Nienaber, who started the weekend third in the class.
Qualifying & Races – Classes D, E & F
Bernard de Gouveia racked up another ATS Motorsport Pole Position on Saturday morning, while finding himself tantalisingly close to the summer breakout margin in conditions similar to a nippy winter’s day. This saw him head up the Class D front row, with points leader Andre van Vuuren in second place. Troy Cochran and Johan Miller shared Row 2, ahead of Malemela. Gerald Anthony broke out of Class E, which saw Eddie Rodrigues head up their grid from Wessel Mostert. Tihan van Rooyen, Seedat, and Chloe Stuart completed the top five. Mitch Coetzee broke out of Class F, with Henry Platt taking pole position from Philip Mostert Jnr. Zeyad Ismail, Mike Grobler, and Arri van Heerden completed the top five.
If the timed sessions did not already produce more than enough action, fans were in for some more surprises in the day’s races. So, too, was Stuart, who was unsighted in the Lap 1 Class E skirmish, which resulted in her torpedoing straight into the side of Wessel Mostert, who found himself a passenger following earlier contact with another driver. The stricken cars were removed under the Safety Car.
Van Vuuren beat De Gouveia in the eight-lap affair, but was one of quite a few drivers to rack up a 30-second penalty for passing under yellow flag conditions, which saw De Gouveia take his fourth win of the season, and first since Round 3 at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit. Van Vuuren was classified in seventh place, while Cochran took the runner-up spot. Malemela lost his third place due to a 30-second penalty for a jump start, which relegated him to 10th place. Miller completed the podium, with Gerhard du Plessis in fourth. Neil Reynolds also jumped the start, which dropped him to 13th, and with eighth-placed finisher Anthony completing the top five. Rodrigues took the Class E win from Phillip Emmenis, also his first since Round 3, while Ignus du Plessis completed the podium. Boodaya took fourth, and yellow-flag-pass penalties for Coetzee and Claudio Jardim promoted Seedat to fifth place. Platt lost out on his maiden win due to a similar penalty, while Philip Mostert Jnr broke out. Van Heerden, too, passed under a yellow flag, which relegated him to seventh place. This saw Ismail take his maiden Class F win from Grobler, while Platt was classified in third place.
Race 2 saw an early red flag and a complete restart for the nine-lap affair after Mostert Jnr’s BMW E36 330i suffered a spectacular engine blow-up. The cat-and-mouse battles continued after the restart. This time, it was Van Vuuren who took his fifth win of the season, with De Gouveia second. Anthony took his first Class D podium ahead of Miller and the defending class champion, Nicholas Herbst. Rodrigues took his fourth Class E win of the year. Emmenis crossed the line in second place, but broke out, with Van Rooyen and Jardim completing the podium. Seedat finished fourth. Platt racked up his maiden win in Class F, but second-placed Arri van Heerden broke into Class E, where he finished fifth. Grobler and Ismail completed the podium, ahead of Miguel da Costa and Nienaber.
The ZF-Aftermarket Overall Results saw De Gouveia beat Van Vuuren by 18 to 12 points in Class D, while Miller’s 11 points secured him third place. Rodrigues, who also took the ITOO Driver of the Day award, racked up a score of 20 points to win Class E from Seedat, with 10, and Van Rooyen, with 9. In Class F, it was a 16-point three-way tie decided on accumulated race times, with Ismail beating Grobler and Platt.
Qualifying & Races – Classes A, B & C
Former Series champion Paulo Loureiro has mostly been spotted competing in headline events over the past few years, but competed at Red Star Raceway for the first time this decade. He took Saturday’s Dunlop Pole Position to head up the Class A grid from brother Rick Loureiro, back for the first time since Round 4. Leon Loubser, the defending class champion and current points leader, completed the line-up. In Class B, Anton Pommersheim headed up a line-up that grew to seven cars by the end of Qualifying, with Nishal Singh and Ethan Coetzee also breaking out of Class C. The defending, Series and class champion, and current points leader, Renier Smith, joined Pommersheim on the front row. Andreas Meier, who struggled with gearbox issues on Friday, Lenard Archer, and Singh completed the top five. Singh’s breakout also removed a challenger from the battle at the front of Class C, which was headed up by Bennie Luyt from Hein van der Merwe and points leader Salvi Gualtieri. Reinhardt Miller and Sheldon Chetty completed the top five.
However, Paulo Loureiro started from the pits after a set of bizarre events. The layout of the relatively small Red Star Raceway pit area means that a single pre-race area is not a viable option. Instead, the access roads are used. Upon release, Paulo was held up by other cars from another series that had to use the road in front of his pit to clear the circuit after their race. They could only exit once they were cleared, but by that point, the gate marshals had already closed the gate.
This paved the way for Paulo to deliver an absolute demon drive through the field. Despite his valiant effort, he was unable to haul in Rick and had to settle for second place. Loubser completed the Class A podium. In Class B, Smith struggled with power steering issues on his BMW E36 M3 Turbo and momentarily dropped out of the lead, down to third. He soon made his way back past Lenard Archer, with the pair of them passing Meier on the final lap. Grobler took fourth place, while Coetzee crossed the line in fifth, but received a 30-second penalty for jumping the start, which gave Singh the place. Pommersheim struggled with mechanical issues and retired, but completed enough laps to be classified in seventh place. The tussle at the front of Class C saw Van der Merwe hold off Luyt, with Gualtieri third. Miller and Chetty completed the top five.
While Paulo Loureiro might have missed the start in Race 1, Race 2 saw him quite visibly jumping the start. He did try to chase Rick Loureiro down, but in vain, as the latter took his fourth win of the season. Paulo’s pending thirty-second penalty also placed him behind Loubser. Smith gradually picked off the Class B contenders to secure his seventh win of the year, while Archer and Coetzee completed the podium, and Grobler and Singh rounded out the top five. The slippery surface also saw a couple of Class B and C competitors spin off. Red Star Raceway has not been a happy hunting ground for Miller in recent times, but he put that to bed with his first Class C win of the season, ahead of Van der Merwe and Gualtieri, the latter fending off Nick Naidoo and Rob Gearing.
The ZF-Aftermarket Overall Results saw Rick Loureiro take a full house of points in Class A. Loubser and Paulo Loureiro tied on 14 points, but this was settled in Loubser’s favour due to his superior accumulated time. A full house for Smith saw him take Class B, with Archer and Grobler second and third, with 16 and 10 points, respectively. Van der Merwe’s 18 points saw him top Class C, ahead of 15-point Miller and 12-point Gualtieri.
Championship After Round 7
On paper, Loubser has a commanding lead over Bob Neill and Fedetto in Class A. Smith leads Class B, with Archer now heading up the battle for second, which also includes Meier, Pommersheim, and Nek Makris. Gaultieri has a handy advantage over Van der Merwe in Class C.
The lead changed in all three of the bottom classes. De Gouveia retook the Class D lead from Van Vuuren. Wessel Mostert’s unfortunate outing saw Rodrigues finish the weekend as leader and with a healthy advantage. Nienaber holds the Class F lead, but will have to fend off the likes of Platt.
Smith’s campaign to become the first two-time consecutive BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series champion has gained a lot of momentum. Loubser, Rodrigues, De Gouveia, and Van Vuuren also occupy the top five.
With various Eligibility Adjustments now coming into play before the season finale, a detailed look at the 2025 BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series points table will follow.
Next Event
The season finale will form part of the Extreme Festival Presented By Coca-Cola’s finale for the regional roster at Zwartkops Raceway on 7-8 November.