Ignus du Plessis started his second season in the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series by taking the early lead on the NA Cup points table with a full house of points in this past weekend’s (30-31 January) season opener at Zwartkops Raceway.
With no drivers entered in Class A, the battle at the front of the field was headed up by the Class B duo of the 2025 Series Class D champion, Bernard de Gouveia, and his primary rival for most of the season, Andre van Vuuren. It was Van Vuuren who drew first blood in Friday afternoon’s qualifying session by securing the ATS Motorsport Pole Position to head up De Gouveia. Olerato Sekudu impressed with third place on the grid, ahead of Richard Gerntholtz, while Troy Cochran completed the Top five. In Class C, Du Plessis opened his points account for the weekend with the pole position, ahead of Nicholas Herbst. Tihan van Rooyen qualified third, with Maurizio Bianco, an Italian driver invited to represent the Pablo Clark Racing outfit, fourth. Claudio Jardim took fifth place. Zaheer Seedat headed up Class D from Desmond Bloem. Debutant Ruan van der Walt, with experience in the Lotus Challenge, was third, with Ferdi van Staden fourth. Fifth-placed Chloe Stuart was the fastest lady in the 20-car-strong grid Class D, which also included debutant Morgan Jacobs and Mariska Smith, competing in her second season.
Van Vuuren showed good pace in Race 1, and took a lights-to-flag win with a sizeable advantage of the rest of the field. Further back, De Gouveia held off Germholtz to take the runner-up spot, after the latter passed Sekudu in the early laps. Dawie Olivier took fifth place after dispatching Cochran and Trevor Long on the opening lap. Du Plessis also went unchallenged for the lead in Class C, soon mixing it up with the Class B field. Herbst and Van Rooyen also retained their positions to complete the podium. Bianco was forced to retire the BMW E9 3.0 CSL “Batmobile” reproduction due to mechanical issues, while Jardim lost some early positions. This saw Karabo Malemela and Kent Swartz complete the top five. Bloem quickly saw off Seedat to take the lead in be the first Class D driver over the line, but he broke out of the class on Lap 6, which saw Van der Walt take a win on debut. Seedat finished second, while 2025’s Class F champion, Henry Platt, completed the podium. Van Staden saw off Stuart to take fourth place.
Race 2’s reverse grid saw the on-track action at the front of Class B notched up considerably with a pass-a-minute battle between the top four. It was Sekudu who took the honours with his first win of the season over De Gouveia, who tried hard to haul him in during the closing stages. Cochran, a little bit further back, completed the podium, while Olivier held off Long to finish fourth. Race 1 winner Van Vuuren did not start after his BMW E36 M3 experienced gearbox issues earlier in the day. Du Plessis soon made it to the front of Class C to take another win, with Herbst making it two second places for the day. Swartz held off Cobus Bohmer for the final podium spot, while Bianco finished his day with a well-contested fifth place.
Reinhardt Miller, back in his BMW E30 325i used for endurance racing, took the Class D win, while Stuart took second place ahead of Platt. Race 1 winner Van der Walt finished fourth, with Arri van Heerden completing the top five.
The ZF-Aftermarket Overall Results for Round, based on points scored in the two races, saw De Gouveia, with 16 points, beat 15-point Sekudu in Class B, with Van Vuuren’s 10 points from his Race 1 win seeing him third. Du Pleassis took the Class C win with 20 points, ahead of Herbst with 16, and Swarz with 10. Van der Walt took the Class D honours. His 15 points saw him two clear of Miller. Platt beat Stuart to third place after the pair tied on 12 points, but with the tie broken by the accumulated race times recorded by both.
De Gouveia also took the lead on the Class B points table from Sekudu. Van Vuuren, who took the points on offer for pole position and the fastest lap in Race 1, is third with 12 points. In Class C, Du Plessis added the two fastest lap points to see him score a perfect 23, which saw him take the lead, as well as the XPEL South Africa Driver of the Day award. Herbst and Swartz are second and third. Fastest laps for Van der Walt and Miller see them head up Class D, with 16 and 14 points, respectively. Here, the tie for third in broken in Stuart’s favour, with her taking second place in Race 2, while Platt finished both races in third.
Du Plessis holds the early NA Cup points lead from Van der Walt, De Gouveia, Herbst and Sekudu.
The second round of the 2026 BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series NA Cup will see the field return to Zwartkops Raceway on 6 and 7 March for the Extreme Festival season opener.