The BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series NA Cup championship battle moves to Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit for the eighth and penultimate round of the 2026 season this Saturday (24 October), and despite what it may look like, the championship is far from decided.
Andre van Vuuren holds a 20-point advantage over Richard Gerntholtz in Class B. Ignus du Plessis is a further 24 points adrift, and seven ahead of Olerato Sekudu, who leads Bernard de Gouveia by eight points. The top four in Class B also make up the bulk of the primary contenders in the top five on the NA Cup points table, with Class D’s Reinhard Miller being the only non-Class B driver there. Van Vuuren has also racked up nine wins thus far in the season, with at least one in each round. With this being another race away from Zwartkops Raceway, Gerntholtz might favour his odds for taking the ATS Motorsport Pole Position. So far, he has three from three non-Zwartkops Raceway rounds.
However, Round 7 showed that breakouts could come at any time, and a competitor is yet to break into Class A. Reliability could also play a part, and while the current advantages seem significant, two DNFs can quickly turn things around. Also, don’t discount any of the other competitors who will be in action. With one more round to go after this, some of them can’t be discounted from taking away points just yet.
One such driver is Dawie Olivier, who will make his first appearance since the season opener, and when he is in action, it is usually at the sharp end of the Class B field. Eddie Rodrigues also showed good pace in his return to the Series at Red Star Raceway, and will look to back it up with results. Trevor Long’s 2026 outings might have been sporadic, but he also has the potential to turn things upside down. Cobus Bohmer, Kent Swartz, and Ruan van der Walt, who broke out in the previous round, will also look to move closer to the front of the field.
It is a bit closer in Class C, though. Claudio Jardim and Tihan van Rooyen are separated by only seven points, and they shared the wins in the previous outing. Karabo Malemela, third at present, will be missing this outing. The closest entered competitor to them will be Chloe Stuart, 33.5 points adrift after her Round 7 breakout. Philip Mostert Jnr is 2.9 points behind her, and 1.4 ahead of Mitch Coetzee.
Regular campaigners Dirk van Loggerenberg, Ferdi van Staden, Morgan Jacobs, and Shane Grobler will also be back. Varish Ganpath will make his second NA Cup outing, while this will be Zaheer Seedat’s first race weekend since Round 4.
Miller holds a nine-point advantage in Class D over Henry Platt. Justin Brown is just one point behind him. It’s a full 40 points till the next contender, Craig Platt, while Philip Mostert Snr trails him by 12. While Miller is on course to take a class title in both Cups, the Henry Platt and Brown will not make it easy.
Desmond Bloem will be back in the OG Track Taxi, with which he took both wins in the previous round. Mariaan Emmeniis and Mariska Smith are also back for more action. Vatiswa Mokhonoana will again be substituting for Malemela. It will be Zeyad Ismail’s first outing since the season opener. Following numerous unsuccessful attempts, Giulio Airaga will be hoping to make his debut. Manny Ribeiro will have his first Taxi 2.0 outing of the season.
The penultimate round of the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series NA Cup will form part of the private XPEL South Africa BMW Car Club Gauteng Track & Race Day. Regrettably, no spectators will be granted access, and because the circuit is only hired for one day, streaming the event was not considered as an option.