This weekend (22-23 August will see the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series make a maiden visit to the East London Grand Prix Circuit for the sixth round of the 2025 season.
This is only the third coastal visit for the series, with the previous two seasons seeing the field competing in Gqeberha and Cape Town. After the planned visit to Maputo was cancelled for the Extreme Festival Presented By Coca-Cola’s regional roster, East London gained a spot on this year’s calendar.
For most of the field, it will be a brand-new hunting ground. Some drivers have competed there before in other series. With the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series utilising the Drop Round System, some drivers will miss the fly-away event as their drop round for the year. Nevertheless, 40 drivers will start the weekend in East London, again ensuring the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series will bring the biggest number of entries for the event.
This weekend, the Class A field will not be eligible for full points due to having only two entries. Leon Loubser, with 65 points, heads up Bob Neill by 11 going into the weekend. While Loubser has the points advantage, it is Neill who has the competitive experience at the circuit, having competed there in GTC2 during the latter half of the previous decade. There will be another unknown variable for Neill to contend with, though, as he will be competing in a borrowed BMW E63 M6, while still awaiting the completion of gearbox repairs on his BMW M3 E92 Turbo.
The Class B field will, however, be racing for full points again this weekend. The defending Series champion, Renier Smith, with 83 points, has a commanding lead over his nearest rival, Nek Makris, who is one point ahead of Anton Pommersheim. Andreas Meier, who last started a race in Round 3, will also be back. None of these drivers has competed at the circuit before, giving Dean Ball an advantage with the latter joining the grid. Ball, residing in Gqeberha and originally from East London, competed in 2024’s coastal event at the Killarney Grand Prix Circuit, and will look to make his homeground advantage count.
Class C could be in for a few shake-ups this weekend. Currently, Salvi Gualtieri has 61 points, putting him 18 clear of Nishal Singh. The latter leads Hein van der Merwe by two points, who also has a two-point advantage over Varish Ganpath, with Oz Biagioni seven points adrift. Neither Gualtieri nor Van der Merwe will make the trip, though. Singh competed at the circuit in the GT Supercup and will be one of the drivers to watch for. Anand Naidu, Nick Naidoo, and Sheldon Chetty are also GT Supercup regulars, while Nicky Dicks has raced there in various other series already, including Extreme SuperCars and the SATC SupaCup. Ganpath, Biagioni, Lenard Archer, and Reinhardt Miller will compete in East London for the first time.
Bernard de Gouveia, with 68 points, heads up Class D from Andre van Vuuren, 19 points adrift. While they are the only top contenders who will be at the circuit, they are not the only drivers who will be in the running for honours on the weekend. Cameron Christian is the sole driver in the class with prior East London Grand Prix Circuit experience. Johan Miller has shown to be competitive at the coastal venues, and Gerhard Du Plessis has shown good pace in his debut season. Nick Naidoo, who is also competing in Class C with his BMW F87 M2, will also make the most of the circuit time available by competing in Class D with his BMW E82 1M. As mentioned above, he does come into the weekend with prior experience at the East London Grand Prix Circuit.
Class E is headed up by two drivers who know the East London Grand Prix Circuit very well. Karabo Malemela, with 61 points, knows the circuit well and competed there just over a month ago in the Investchem MSA4 Championship. Although not recent, Eddie Rodrigues, with 59 points, has raced there in the Polo Cup. One point adrift, Wessel Mostert will make his first outing at the circuit. So too 48.7-point Shaun Dodd, who recently broke out of Class F but is not entered this weekend, and Claudio Jardim, with 43 points. Kent Swartz, competing in the GR Cup Driven By Netstar, also competed there on the same weekend as Malemela. It will be a new circuit for Ignus du Plessis and Tihan van Rooyen, while Gerald Anthony is also regular GT Supercup entrants. Paul Berry, also from Gqeberha, will also join the grid, having last competed in 2023’s coastal round at his home circuit.
With Zaheer Seedat, Caren Nienaber, and Arri van Heerden all missing the weekend, the top Class F contenders to watch for will be third-placed Kyan Boodaya and fifth-placed recent debutant Henry Platt. Along with Boodaya, and Shriyav Naidu, the event will also feature individuals with prior experience. Philip Mostert Snr. and Jnr., the respective father and brother of Wessel Mostert, will both make their second outing. Shane Grobler will pilot the OG Track Taxi.
Shaun Gradwell, hailing from East London, also competed in 2023’s Gqeberha outing, but will compete in a different car, this time piloting a BMW E36 328i. Jonathan Govender will also make his debut.
Saturday’s programme will see:
11:30 – Classes A, B & C – 8 Laps
13:00 – Classes D, E & F – 8 Laps
14:40 – Classes A, B & C – 10 Laps
16:20 – Classes D, E & F – 10 Laps
Spectator tickets can be purchased at the East London Grand Prix Circuit entrance gate. The event will also be broadcast live on the Extreme Festival Presented By Coca-Cola website. A handy mobile device-friendly event link portal has also been created to access important links and downloads easily.