This past weekend’s (11-12 September) sixth round of the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series saw Andre van Vuuren move closer to taking the NA Cup title, but it was the Afrikaans music sensation, Early B, who was the talk of Zwartkops Raceway.
With just half a day to go before the start of the weekend, the Pablo Clark Racing | EasyEquities outfit announced the name of their wildcard entry, Early B, who would pilot the BMW Car Club Gauteng OG Track Taxi. While this was his saloon car debut, Early B, a Liqui Moly South Africa-sponsored driver, has been competing in the SuperVee South Africa single-seater series for several years.
Philip Mostert Jnr broke into Class C in Friday’s practice sessions. He was not the only frontrunner to break out on the weekend.
Saturday morning’s qualifying session saw Van Vuuren continue his ATS Motorsport Pole Position lockout around the Pretoria circuit. Richard Gerntholtz shared the front row with him, with Bernard de Gouveia and Olerato Sekudu on Row 2. Ignus du Plessis qualified fifth. In Class C, it was Nicholas Herbst who headed up Ruan van der Walt, Cobus Bohmer, Mitch Coetzee, and Tihan van Rooeyn. However, Van Rooyen, who also competed in the DigitFMS 111 Sports & Saloons Series, damaged his BMW E82 125i in that Series’ qualifying session, and could not make the Race 1 grid. Morgan Jacobs also broke into Class C, a goal she was chasing in Friday’s practice sessions already. This saw Series debutant Trent Williams take pole from Chloe Stuart. Philip Mostert Snr headed up Reinhardt Miller on Row 2, with Justin Brown in fifth place. Early B qualified in ninth place. Points leader Henry Platt was forced to change from his BMW E36/7 Z3 to the Mosco Motorsport team’s spare BMW E36 325i and qualified in 13th place.
Van Vuuren took a relatively easy Class B win from Gerntholtz in Race 1, while Sekudu passed De Gouveia for third. Du Plessis did not finish, but was classified fifth, one lap adrift. Van der Walt’s pressure on Herbst paid off, and he took the lead and eventual first Class C win. Bohmer also passed Herbst to take the runner-up spot. Claudio Jardim beat Coetzee to fourth place. Stuart took her maiden Class D win, expertly holding off Miller. Further back, Brown completed the podium. Craig Platt finished fourth, holding off Early B.
Race 2 saw the field compete on a very slippery circuit surface. Off the inverted grid, De Gouveia did an excellent job of holding off Gerntholtz and recording his first win of the season. Van Vuuren had to settle for third place, while Sekudu was the only other Class B starter. Issues for Herbst resulted in his retirement, which gave Jardim his first Class C win. Mostert Jnr celebrated his first podium in his new class, followed by Kent Swartz. Bohmer finished fourth, while Van Rooyen, who managed to have repairs completed during the course of the day, finished fifth. Williams took the Class D, a fine end to his debut weekend, ahead of Miller, who held off Craig Platt and Early B in a good tussle. Mostert Snr completed the top five.
The ZF Aftermarket Overall Results saw Gerntholtz in Van Vuuren tie on 16 points, with Gerntholtz superior accumulated time seeing him take the Class B win. De Gouveia, one point adrift, took third place. Jardim’s 15 points saw him two clear of Bohmer to take the win, with Van der Walt, a further two adrift, third. Miller took 16 points and the Class D win, with Williams second, two points adrift. The 11-point tie between Stuart and Craig Platt was settled in the latter’s favour based on accumulated time.
Van Vuuren retained the Class B lead, but with the margin now down to 13 points over Gerntholtz, the new second-placed driver. Du Plessis, eight points behind, is third. Despite a challenging day, Herbst only dropped one point of his margin over the rest of the Class C field. Jardim, 30 points adrift, is now second and has a seven-point advantage over Van Rooyen. Miller retook the Class D lead and is now 10 points clear of Henry Platt, who is now one point clear of Brown.
Despite Herbst’s losing out in Race 2, he ate two points into Van Vuuren’s NA Cup lead, which is now only 12 points. Gerntholtz is only one point adrift.
Round 7 of the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series NA Cup will see the field return to Red Star Raceway on 9-10 October.