2026 Extreme Festival season opener entertains Zwartkops crowd

There was no lack of excitement as the 2026 Extreme Festival tour started at Zwartkops Raceway this past weekend (6-7 March), with the regional roster delivering an action-packed race day.

The BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series Turbo Cup got the 2026 season underway. Anton Pommersheim (Eagle Granite BMW E46 M3 Turbo) took a double Class A win, both times beating Sav Gualtieri (SavSpeed Auto BMW F30 340i Turbo). Lenard Archer (ACD Welkom BMW E46 330i Turbo) moved to Class A, while Renier Smith moved to the NA Cup, which left Class B vacant. Ethan Coetzee (Ethan Coetzee Motorsport BMW F30 340i Turbo) and Bennie Luyt shared the Class C wins. Alan Hilligenn (AMTEC Lubricant & Race Fuels BMW E46 328i Turbo) and Craig Herbst (The Blue Store BMW E92 335i Turbo) shared the Class D wins.

The BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series NA Cup had its fair share of drama with two Race 1 stoppages. The first saw Chloe Stuart (Autozone BMW E46 330i) and Arri van Heerden (SAPPO BMW E30 318i) eliminated on the opening lap, while the second saw Shriyav Naidu (SA Auto Tech BMW E36 330i) and Ruan van der Walt (RJ Pack Solution BMW E36 328i) retire.

With Race 1’s results determined on aggregate, it was Andre van Vuuren (Curvent International BMW E36 320i) who took the Class B win. Ignus du Plessis (Mosco BMW E46 320i) took Class C, while Reinhardt Miller (Mosco Specialised Contractors BMW E30 328i) won Class D. This trio repeated their wins in Race 2, this time on the circuit with no stoppages.

Josh Moore (Worx Volkswagen Polo) and Keegan Nathan (Nathan’s Motorsport Volkswagen Polo) both took double wins, respectively in Class A and B of the ATE VW Challenge. Antony Lessing (Raless Volkswagen Polo) chased Moore to the line on both occasions. Sebastian Boulliart (Applied Heat Volkswagen Polo) and Chris Davison (Generator Services Inc Volkswagen Polo) traded the runner-up sports. Bryce Pillay (Sustech Volkswagen Polo) and Stuart Konig (Northern Bolt & Tool Volkswagen Polo) traded the top spots in Class C on the day.

There was no lack of excitement in the DOE Formula Vee Partnered With CIM Lubricants races. Both races saw the cat-and-mouse battles at the front covered just over a second, throughout. Gert van der Berg (DOE Quality Parts Rhema 2) beat the defending champion Lendl Jansen (Bull Security Rhema 2)  and Brandon Hills (Mangaza Racing Rhema 2) in Race 1. The trio again shared the podium in Race 2, but this time with Hills taking the win from Van der Berg, while Jansen completed the podium.

The biggest drawcard on the day was the 111 & GT Sports & Saloons Series, which was witnessed by a sizeable contingent of delegates from their new naming rights partner, DigitFMS.

Jared Rossouw (AXON Volkswagen Polo) started his 2026 campaign with two wins in Class GTA, on both occasions beating Marius Truter (Strategic Gear & Diff Volkswagen Polo). Defending champion Wouter Roos (Origen Oil Volkswagen Golf), who emerged unscathed from a high-speed incident in Friday’s practice sessions, bounced back on Saturday to complete the first race as runner-up to Wayne Robb (DigitFMS Ford Focus ST), before beating Tony-Tee Szabo (JDM Tuning Honda Civic) in Race 2.

In Class A, Charl Weyers (Opel Corsa) beat Melanie Spurr (Origen Oil Volkswagen Golf) on both occasions. Piet Potgieter (Nathan’s Motorsport Volkswagen Golf) beat Mike O’Sullivan (All Things Motoring Honda Ballade) twice in Class B. Class C saw Louis Scholtz (Car Care Clinic Honda Civic) and Henry van Vledder (Stuffall Volkswagen Golf) share the wins.

The other stoppage on the day came in Class X, when Dhiren Ganasen’s Mazda MX5 blew an engine quite spectacularly on the main straight, resulting in a lengthy clean-up for the marshals. Once racing restarted, it was Wayne Odendaal (959 Volkswagen Golf) who beat Tihan van Rooyen (Van Rooyen Vision Centre BMW E82 125i) to the flag. Odendaal repeated the feat in the second heat.

Thomas Reib (Café 9 Automotive Chevrolet Corvette) started the Dunlop V8 Supercars season with a double win. In Race 1, it was veteran Larry Wilford (Jet Bearings Holden) who completed the podium ahead of the defending champion Warren Lombard (Pepboys Automotive Ford Mustang). Race 2 saw Sam Dahl (ArcProtech Ford Falcon) finish second, despite a 10-second penalty for his part in an incident that saw Lombard’s car damaged. Franco di Matteo (Fi Matteo Jaguar XKR) completed the podium.

The SuperHatch Series saw Arthur Thorne (Volkswagen Polo) take a double win in Class T1, both times beating Hendrik Venter (4J’s Auto Opel Corsa). Karel Stols (Toyota Etios) beat Ismael Baloyi (Honda Civic) in Class A on both occasions. It was also a double win for Keithin Meintjies (Truck Repair Centre Renault Sandero) in Class T2, on both occasions beating George Aldrich (Aldrich Racing Peugeot 206 GTI).

While the Extreme Festival tour’s next stop is only a week away (13-14 March) with the national season opener at the Killarney International Raceway, the next event for the regional roster will be at Red Star Raceway on 15-16 May.

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