A stellar BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series Turbo Cup campaign has seen Lee Thompson take the championship lead ahead of this Saturday’s (24 October) eighth and penultimate round at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit.
Thompson has a three-point lead over Class A rival, Anton Pommersheim, the former leader of both championships, following the previous round. Thompson’s season might have started late, three rounds in, but he has racked up all but one point since then. Not that Pommersheim is out of it yet, few drivers have had fortune on his side quite like him this year, and in recent events, he has been closing the on-circuit gap to Thompson as well. Leon Loubser is a further 38 points adrift, seven clear of Bob Neill.
An outing at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit always sees an influx of competitors, therefore full points eligibility will not be a concern for Classes A and B, as it has been in various other rounds this year. Bilal Ahmed will again be in action, while Sav Gualtieri will make his second Class A appearance this year. This could make it a bit harder for Thompson and Pommersheim, especially as Gualtieri’s recent Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit outings have been victorious. Both the leaders will also look to maximise their points ahead of the season finale, where full points may not be guaranteed, and with them not yet being comfortably clear of the other class leaders.
Class B’s Ethan Coetzee trails Thompson by 22 points at present, He will also need to contend with his immediate rival, Renier Smith, who is only two points adrift. Wessel Mostert is 15.5 points behind, but has been gaining pace in the last few rounds. Oz Biagioni, 5.3 points adrift has not entered for this round, while Lenard Archer, is a further 19.6 points behind.
They will be joined by Nishal Singh, who competed in Class A in earlier rounds, but will not be driving his BMW E92 M3 Turbo. Instead, he will compete in his BMW F80 M3 Turbo. Carlo Garbini will also be back in action.
Class C’s Reinhardt Miller trails Thompson by 13 points and is also in the hunt for the Turbo Cup title, the Class C title, and the NA Cup’s Class D title. He leads Bennie Luyt by 10 points, with Nicky Dicks another 10 adrift. Michael Grobler trails him by 2.9 points and leads Anand Naidu by 1.1.
Alan Hilligenn, who missed the previous round, will be back in action. Cameron Christian and Salvi Gualtieri last competed in Round 4, Hein van Merwe, Kyan Boodaya, Sayen Moodley, Sheldon Chetty, and Varish Ganpath are all regulars who will also be in contention.
Class D leader, Craig Herbst, is only four points behind Thompson. He also has both titles in his sights and will hope to have buried his Kyalami bad-luck bug. He enters Round 8 with a 26-point advantage over Johan Miller, with Gerald Anthony another point adrift. Eugene Gouws is still in relatively close contention to them, 13 points behind Miller, while fifth-placed Gerhard du Plessis is now 37 points behind.
Narser Ismail will be back after missing the last two rounds, Jonathan Govender will have his first 2026 outing, while Capetonian, Weylin Volschenk, will make his Turbo Cup debut in his BMW E46 M3 Turbo in the Series. Volschenk, however, does have a lot of top class experience behind his name. Apart from competing in the BMW Car Club Cape Town Race Series, 2026 has also seen him compete in the Extreme SuperCars Driven By Dunlop, and South African Endurance Series championships.
The penultimate round of the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series Turbo 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.