Defending series champion Renier Smith took the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series points lead from Shaun Dodd this past weekend (11-12 April) after four action-packed Round 3 races at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit.
Classes D, E & F
The Class D, E & F field started the business end of the weekend, as well as Saturday morning’s race programme.
In Friday afternoon’s qualifying session, Andre van Vuuren took his maiden ATS Pole Position to head up Class D from Paolo Cavalieri, Michael Grobler, class points leader Bernard de Gouveia, and Mario Hatting. Claudio Jardim headed up the Class E field from Eddie Rodrigues and Tihan van Rooyen. Heinz Bose, piloting the BMW Car Club Gauteng Track Taxi for the second time, qualified fourth, with Wessel Mostert fifth. Zaheer Seedat headed up Class F from Gerald Anthony, Kyan Boodaya, Justin Brown, and Chloe Stuart, the latter being one of the youngest female drivers to compete in South African motorsport.
Dewald Smith made his way into the lead, but soon after being the first to take the flag, he was informed that he had broken into Class C. This gave Van Vuuren his maiden win. Although Hattingh was also an early contender, he lost places just after the midway mark, which saw Cavalieri slot into an eventual second place. Michael Grobler concluded the podium, with Trevor Long fourth and De Gouveia fifth. Rodrigues won Class E from Mostert, Jardim, Karabo Malemela, and Van Rooyen. In Class F, Boodaya took the lead and his maiden win, pursued by Seedat. Anthony completed the podium, with Brown fourth and Caren Nienaber in fifth place.
Fifth in Race 1 meant De Gouveia started the second race at the front of the pack, from where he took his third win of the season. This race also included a Safety Car period in the closing stages after Johan Miller retired on Lap 4 with his car BMW E36 328i Turbo on fire. This resulted in an exciting final lap sprint, with Michael Grobler second and Olerato Sekudu concluding the podium. Craig Herbst and Dawie Olivier concluded the top five. Mostert took his first Class E win from Rodrigues, with Malemela third. Jardim and Van Rooyen trailed them over the line. Anthony made it two maiden Class F winners on the day, beating Boodaya, Seedat, Stuart, and Brown.
The ZF-Aftermarket Overall Results for Round 3 saw Michael Grobler and Bernard de Gouveia tied on 14 points, but Grobler had a faster-accumulated race time, which gave him the win. Van Vuuren, with 11 points, completed the podium. The 18-point tie at the top of Class E was also settled in Rodrigues’ favour over Mostert based on time. So, too, was the final podium spot, with Jardim beating Malemela with 11 points. Boodaya, with 18 points, took an outright win over Anthony with 16 and Seedat with 14. Boodaya also took the ITOO Driver Of The Day Award.
Classes A, B & C
Ryan Naicker took the Dunlop Pole Position on Friday afternoon, with Sav Gualtieri joining him on the Class A front row. Leon Loubser and Bob Neill occupied the second row, with Fabio Fedetto fifth. In Class B, Anton Pommersheim headed up Renier Smith, with Andreas Meier third. Although only three drivers set a time, full points were guaranteed, given that they started the weekend with the required number of entrants. Debutant Stefan Snyders headed up the Class C grid from Hein van der Merwe. Nishal Singh and Bilal Ahmed shared Row 2, with Nick Naidoo fifth.
The race was called after six laps, much to the drivers’ surprise, due to an incident that left Snyders in a precarious position. Naicker took the Class A win from Gualtieri, with Loubser third. Neill crossed the finish line in fourth place but received a 30-second penalty for jumping the start, which saw him drop behind Fedetto. While Pommersheim held the early Class B lead, Smith passed him on the what-would-turn-out-to-be final lap. Meier completed the podium. Van der Merwe took the Class C lead on the opening lap, going on to win the race. Snyders also lost places to Singh and Naidoo before retiring. Anand Naidu and Lenard Archer completed the top five.
Naicker rapidly made his way to the front in the reverse-grid second race to make it two wins for the day, but not without Sav Gualtieri applying pressure throughout. Loubser and Fedetto also repeated their third and fourth places, and Neill retired on Lap 3. It was also a repeat result in Class B, with Smith beating Pommersheim and Meier. Class C, however, saw some changes. Nick Naidoo took his first win of the season, with Naidu holding off Archer for second place. Just a bit further back, defending class champion Reinhardt Miller finished fourth, with Bennie Luyt fifth.
The ZF-Aftermarket Overall Results saw Naicker taking Class A with 20 points, four clear of Gualtieri and four clear of Loubser. With similar totals per position, Smith won Class B from Pommersheim and Meier. Naidoo’s 16 points saw him beat 13-point Naidu in Class C. While Van der Merwe did not finish the full Race 2 distance, he did earn a classification and, more crucially, another point to see him third.
Points Table After Round 3
Loubser has 48 points in Class A, with his lead over Neill now extended to 12 points. Fedetto is four points adrift, while Naicker now has 22 points due to his double win and two fastest laps.
Smith retained the top spot in Class B, now with 54 points and a 19-point advantage over Meier, who passed the absent Nek Makris on the points table. With 28 points, Makris is five ahead of Pommersheim, who also recorded both fastest laps.
The mixed bag of results in Class C saw Salvi Gualtieri only lose one position despite not adding any points. Van der Merwe, who also set both fastest laps, is now on top with 38 points, seven clear of Gualtieri. Varish Ganpath, who broke into Class C on Friday, also holds 31 points, but Gualtieri’s two wins see him ahead. Despite only adding three points, Oz Biagioni is only six points adrift, while absentee Rob Gearing is fifth with 22 points.
Bernard de Gouveia retained the top spot in Class D, with his total now at 46. Michael Grobler is 12 points adrift. Cavalieri has 27 points, seeing him seven ahead of Dawie Olivier, who heads Johan Miller by three. Cavalieri and De Gouveia took the fastest lap points.
In Class E, Rodrigues is on top with 50 points, 12 ahead of Mostert, who is 10 ahead of Malemela. Jardim and Ferdi van Staden are tied on 24, with Jardim holding the advantage following his race win in Round 2. Mostert took both fastest lap points.
Dodd’s early exit from Round 3 saw him unable to add to his tally of 37 points and now sees Brown only one adrift. Seedat, who set both the fastest laps, now has 30 points in third place. Nienaber is fourth with 23 points, three ahead of Boodaya.
The weekend saw a shake-up on the Series’ points table. Smith becomes the second leader of the season, up from third. Rodrigues, previously fifth, moved into second place. Loubser dropped one place to third, while De Gouveia gained two places to rank fourth. Van der Merwe, fifth, gained six places. Former leader Dood is now seventh.
Round 4 of the 2025 BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series will form part of the Extreme Festival Presented By Coca-Cola at Zwartkops Raceway on 16-17 May.
