Zwartkops decider will see new BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series champion emerge

BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series

Zwartkops Raceway will see the 2024 BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series champions crowned at this coming weekend’s (15-16 November) 10th and final round.

On the face of it, things seem pretty clear-cut in all five classes. However, this is not the case, as the season finales of the past few years have proved. Various factors will change the current points table without turning a wheel, as laid out in the Series’ Standing Supplementary Regulations.

Eligibility to be classified in the final standings first needs to be established. Competitors who competed in less than three race weekends will be eliminated from the calculation. The points payout for the affected events will then be reclassified, i.e. if a non-eligible driver won a race, the points will be awarded to those eligible for championship classification. The Series also utilises the Drop Round System. In the case of the 2024 season, each eligible competitor will drop their two lowest-scoring rounds, which can include non-scoring rounds and extend to the final round. Therefore, the current gross totals will be referred to in this preview.

Breakouts can also play a part in the time-based Series. A driver might, therefore, have a winning advantage in a class, but should they set a time faster than the Breakout Time, they will move up a class. With this being the final round, they carry 75% of their points into their new class.

Leon Loubser

Defending Series and class champion Leon Loubser holds a commanding lead in Class A. His 106 points see him 27 clear of Ryan Naicker, with Bob Neill a further five adrift in third. However, Loubser has not quite wrapped up his second-consecutive class title yet. Should Class B’s Renier Smith break into Class A, he will have a mathematical chance of taking the honours. A factor that will influence the scores in Class A is the amount of entrants. Less than four Class A entrants means drivers won’t be eligible for a full points payout. In the previous visits to the circuit, Naicker won three races, with Loubser taking two and Neill one.

Renier Smith

Class B competitors won’t have the minimum number of entrants issue in this round, as in Round 8, with the provisional entry list already showing six competitors. Smith’s 129 points see him 21 clear of Nek Makris. However, based on current Drop Rounds, Makris cannot defend his title without Smith breaking out, a scenario the latter knows all too well from 2022 when he lost the Class C title in this manner. Andreas Meier is 27 points behind Makris and will look to finish a challenging season on a high. Gary Martins, who broke into Class B in Round 9, trails Meier by 17 points. Nick Naidoo, who also progressed to Class B in the same event, and Oz Biagioni will also be in contention. Smith and Meier have both won three races at the circuit this year, while Markis took one.

Reinhardt Miller

Last year’s Class D champion, Reinhardt Miller, heads up Class C with 96 points, 26 clear of Bennie Luyt on the gross points table, but the current net scores see the latter still holding a mathematical chance to overtake Miller. It will, however, be a closer contest for second place, with Luyt five ahead of Hein van der Merwe, who is three ahead of Rob Gearing, who is four ahead of Jan Eversteyn. Of the drivers currently in Class C, Miller has won two races at the circuit, compared to Luyt’s. Also looking to mix things up will be Bernard de Gouveia, Lenard Archer, Neil Reynolds, Nishal Singh, Troddddy dd Cochran, Varish Ganpath, and Willie Kok. For Eugene Gouws and Nicky Dicks, this will be their first event of the season, and neither driver will be eligible to score points.

Nicholas Herbst

Nicholas Herbst’s 125 points see him 42 clear of his nearest Class D rival, Shane Grobler. This pair have shared the last four race wins, with Herbst heading Grobler 2:1 at Zwartkops Raceway. Cobus Bohmer trails Grobler by seven points. Johan Miller’s tally of 68.75 points sees him 7.25 adrift of Bohmer and 0.75 ahead of Claudio Jardim, who also won a race at the circuit this year. Regular contenders Dave Rehse, Dewald Smith, Olerato Sekudu, Roland Hopkins, Shaun Dodd, Tihan van Rooyen, and Trevor Long will look to finish the season in strong form. Bilal Ahmed, in his second outing, will also not be eligible to score points.

Matthew Wadeley

Matthew Wadeley has 99 points at the top of Class E, which sees him 25 clear of Zaheer Seedat. The latter is 23 points clear of Mike Grobler, who is nine clear of Zeyad Ismail, with recent double-winner Michael Grobler trailing him by six. Justin Brown, Mariaan Emmenis, and Strati Yiannakis will also be in contention.

Overall, Renier Smith heads up Nicholas Herbst by four points on the gross points table, with Makris, Loubser, and Wadeley completing the top five. The current net points table puts things into a different perspective. Smith is 14 clear of Herbst. Should both drivers break out, Loubser will become the favourite to retain his title, with Wadeley becoming the main contender. 

The BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series season finale will form part of this year’s final Motorsport South Africa Regional Extreme Festival, with all races taking place on Saturday at:

11:20: Race 1 – Classes D & E
12:50: Race 1 – Classes A, B & C
14:55: Race 2 – Classes D & E
15:45: Race 2 – Classes A, B & C

All the above races will be contested over 10 Laps.

Spectator tickets can be purchased at the Zwartkops International World of Motoring entrance gate on Saturday or by contacting the office beforehand. The full Extreme Festival race day will be broadcast live on the Extreme Festival website.

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