A 63-car strong BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series field delivered an action-packed feast in Round 5 of the Championship this past weekend (27-28 June) at Red Star Raceway, which saw a couple of maiden winners while Renier Smith retained the top spot on the points table.
The largest field by a single series to compete at the circuit was split into two groups, with Classes A, B & C competing separately from Classes D, E & F.
Classes D, E & F
The second group were the first from the Series to take to the circuit in the weekend’s sessions. Saturday morning’s qualifying session saw Sheldon Chetty break into Class C, which handed the ATS Motorsport Pole Position to Andre van Vuuren. Mario Hattingh joined him on the Class D front row, with class points leader Bernard de Gouveia third. Craig Herbst and Olerato Sekudu completed the top five. In Class E, it was Karabo Melemela who headed up Cobus Bohmer and incoming class points leader Wessel Mostert. Kent Swartz and Tihan van Rooyen completed the top five. Zaheer Seedat outqualified the Class F points leader, Shaun Dodd. Manny Ribeiro, Ignus du Plessis, and debutant Simphiwe Mohlahlo, completing the top five. Chloe Stuart, one of the former frontrunners in the Class, broke into Class E in Friday’s practice sessions.
In Race 1, Van Vuuren took an unchallenged lights-to-flag win in Class D, his second of the season, but first on the circuit. Further back, there was a host of action. Herbst got the jump on De Gouveia in the early stages and held him at bay. However, on the penultimate lap of the eight-lap race, he lost several places, which promoted De Gouveia to second. This also saw Eugene Gouws, who gradually made up places from ninth on the grid, complete the podium, with Sekudu and Troy Cochran in tow. In Class E, Malemela took his maiden win while, a bit further back, Bohmer held off Swartz for the runner-up spot. Claudio Jardim finished fourth while former points leader Eddie Rodrigues took fifth. Wessel Mostert’s race came to a halt after six laps.
Seedat took Class F, but the rest of the podium would soon see a reshuffle. Dodd and Ignus du Plessis took the runner-up spots, but broke into Class E, which promoted debutant Henry Platt and Mariska du Plessis, the latter being one of four female drivers in the field. She held off Zeyad Ismail and Miguel da Costa.
Race 2, contested over nine laps, saw Mario Hattingh being the first to cross the line, but broke out in the process. This saw Van Vuuren take his second win of the day. Sekudu held off Cochran for second place, while De Gouveia and Gernholdtz completed the top five. Malemela, Bohmer and Swartz repeated their Race 1 results in Class E, with Rodrigues beating Jardim to fourth place. Seedat, Platt and Mariska du Plessis again crossed the line as the top three finishers in Class F, but Du Plessis received a 30-second penalty for overtaking under yellow-flag conditions. This saw her classified sixth, promoting Ismail, Mohlahlo, and Caren Nienaber.
With double wins all round, Van Vuuren, Malamela, and Seedat topped the respective ZF-Aftermarket Overall Results for Round 5 in Classes D, E & F. In Class D, De Gouveia beat Sekudu to second place based on time after the pair tied on 13 points. Class E saw Bohmer second, with a four-point advantage over Swartz. Platt beat Ismail to second place in Class F by five points. Malemela’s efforts also saw him take the ITOO Driver of the Day award.
Classes A, B & C
Bob Neill’s Saturday morning started well, with him taking the Dunlop Pole Position to head up the defending Class A champion Leon Loubser. Elwyn Steenkamp, making his return to the Series, qualified third ahead of Fabio Fedetto. Four entries meant that the Class A contingent would be eligible to score the full allocation of points, but the same did not apply in Class B, where the defending champion Renier Smith headed up Anton Pommersheim and Nek Makris. In Class C, it was Nishal Singh who headed up the grid from Lenard Archer and Shane Grobler. Debutant Ethan Coetzee qualified fourth, ahead of Bilal Ahmed. The Class C points leader, Salvi Gualtieri, found himself in eighth place.
Neill took the early lead, while Steenkamp quickly got ahead of Loubser. On Lap 4, Steenkamp passed Neill, with the pair taking the respective Class A win and runner-up spots. Fedetto’s day ended on Lap 3, while Loubser was out two laps later. It was a cat-and-mouse battle in Class B, with Smith beating Makris and Pommersheim. Singh and Archer took the top spots in Class C, with Coetzee completing the podium. Gualtieri also made up ground to finish fourth, ahead of Grobler.
The second race concluded the day’s Extreme Festival Presented By Coca-Cola programme as the sun started to set over the circuit. However, at the midway mark, the race was red-flagged when Hein van der Merwe’s BMW E36 328i Turbo broke down in a dangerous position. After the restart, Neill held onto first place in Class A to finish the day with a win over Steenkamp. Pommersheim took his maiden Class B win, with Makris racking up another second place, and Smith third. It was also a maiden win for Coetzee in Class C. Archer crossed the finish line in second place, but received a 30-second penalty for passing under a yellow flag, which promoted Stefan Snyders to second and Gualtieri to third. Grobler and Ahmed also benefited, with Archer classified in ninth place.
The ZF-Aftermarket Overall Results saw Steenkamp’s Race 1 winning margin breaking the 18-point tie with Neill in his favour. Pommersheim and Smith tied on 13 points, with Pommersheim’s superior time giving him the win. Makris, with 12 points, was third. Coetzee’s 16 points saw him take Class C, with the 11-point tie for second place settled in Gualtieri’s favour due to his superior total time compared with Singh.
Championship After Round 5
Loubser still holds the lead in Class A despite not adding to his 65 points, but Neill has closed the gap to 11 points after retaking second place from Fedetto, who is 10 points adrift. Ryan Naicker and Rick Loureiro are still fourth and fifth, with 22 and 21 points, respectively.
Smith’s tally is now 83 points, which sees him well clear of Makris, who has 48 points, in second place, having moved up two spots. Pommersheim retains third place, a point behind Makris. Andreas Meier, who missed Round 5, is now fourth with 35 points, while Lorenzo Gualtieri is in fifth, 13 points adrift.
Salvi Gualtieri retained his Class C lead with his tally now on 61. Singh, with 43 points, now moved ahead of Van der Merwe, with 41 points. Varish Ganpath dropped a place, with two points less than Van der Merwe, while the absent Oz Biagioni is fifth with 32 points.
In Class D, De Gouveia has 68 points, which sees him 19 clear of Van Vuuren. Dawie Olivier has 35, which sees him one ahead of Michael Grobler. Paolo Cavalieri’s 27 still sees him in the top five.
Malemela has now taken the top spot in Class E. His 61 points sees him hold a two-point lead over Rodrigues, while Wessel Mostert slipped to third, one point adrift. After breaking out, Dodd has 48.7 points in fourth place, with the 43-point Jardim in fifth place.
Seedat is the new Class F leader with a tally of 62 points, 37 clear of Nienaber. Kyan Boodaya is third with 26 points, nine clear of fourth-placed Arri van Heerden, who has a one-point lead over Platt.
On the Series points table, Smith heads up De Gouveia, Loubser, Seedat, and Salvi Gaultieri.
Next Event
The next outing for the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series will see a maiden visit to the East London Grand Prix Circuit for Round 6 on 22-23 August.
