Four drivers, one of them a debutant, celebrated their maiden wins as Round 6 of BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series headlined the Gqeberha Extreme Festival this past weekend (1-2 September), a weekend that marked the first coast visit for the series.
As is the norm around the shorter circuits, the grid was split into two groups, with Classes A, B & C competing separately from Classes D & E.
Classes A, B & C
Saturday morning’s qualifying session was interrupted following Craig Rapp’s accident, with damage to his car sidelining him from the day’s action after he set the fastest Class C time. However, the interruption was long enough to result in the session being aborted altogether in the interest of time saving. Class A was headed up by Bob Neill, who took his maiden Dunlop Pole Position ahead of points leader Leon Loubser. Local competitor Shaun Gradwell’s day was brought to a halt due to electrical issues. Renier Smith headed the Class B battle in third place, with Nek Makris, Lyle Ramsay, Andreas Meier and Mansoor Parker behind him. Rapp’s absence handed the Class C pole position to 11th-place starter Anwar Levy. Class leader Nicholas Fischer started on his outside, ahead of Marco Retter, Bennie Luyt, and Troy Cochran.
Neill showed Loubser the way at the front of Class A for most of Race 1, but the champagne for Neill’s maiden win was put back on the ice with only a few corners of the race to go. What was initially thought to be a lack of fuel was a fuel distribution issue for Neill, who was forced to retire. This handed the win to Loubser, with Neill classified in second place, having completed two-thirds of the race distance.
Renier Smith took a lights-to-flag win in Class B, the first time he has topped the podium in 2023, and since his breakout from Class C in the 2022 season finale. Behind him, Nek Makris beat Lyle Ramsay to the runner-up spot. Parker finished in a lonely fourth place, while Nicholas van Zyl held Oz Biagioni off in the battle for fifth place. Andreas Meier, the defending class Champion and points leader, also featured in this battle. However, he struggled with overheating issues throughout the weekend and parked the car just after the midpoint.
Levy also held the lead throughout to take the Class C win. Fischer beat Retter to second place in a battle that also included Anand Naidu, who slowed and lost positions with three laps to go before finishing in seventh place. This saw Luyt and Cochran complete the top five.
Race 2 saw maiden race winners in all three classes. Neill repeated his performance. from Race 1, this time without any issues, to beat Loubser to the flag.
Class B produced an excellent battle with Ramsay, Makris and Smith, putting Parker under pressure. However, Parker did not yield and took the win. Ramsay suffered from over-boosting issues, which saw him lose ground to the front trio, with Makris beating Smith to second place. Ramsay soldiered home in fourth place, while Van Zyl completed the top five. Meier was back on the grid, but he retired with an engine failure after four laps.
Cape Town-based debutant Retter took a commanding win in Class C. Levy held off Fischer for second place. Naidu took fourth place after passing Luyt in the early laps, with the latter in fifth place.
While Loubser and Neill took 14 points from the day, Loubser took the overall Class A win after completing both races. The aggregate time tie-breaker was also used in Class B, where Smith took the honours after he and Makris finished with 16 points, one point ahead of third-placed Parker. Levy finished the day on top of Class C with 18 points, two clear of Retter, who scored two more than Fischer.
Loubser and Fischer retained their respective Class A and C points leads, while Makris returned to the top of Class B.
Classes D & E
Neil Reynolds beat Reinhard Miller to the ATS Motorsport Pole Position. East London’s Shaun Vallance set the third-fastest Class D time. Lenard Archer set the fourth-fastest time but did not take to the Race 1 grid after sustaining damage in the Car Care Clinic 111 Sports & Saloons session, where he competed with the same car. Gqeberha’s Stephan Aucamp qualified in fifth place. Claudio Jardim beat Arri van Heerden to the Class E pole position. Javelin Ramsamy was third-fastest, ahead of Dewald Smith and Caren Nienaber.
Reynolds and Miller jostled for the lead in Race 1, but Reynolds beat the Class D points leader to the line. The battle for third place produced an equally entertaining tussle, with Andre Diedericks making the definitive pass on the final lap to finish ahead of Vallance. Aucamp completed the top five, further back.
Like so many of the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series competitors, Jardim also started his circuit activities by competing in the BMW Car Club Gauteng Northern Regions Time Trial Championship. While Van Heerden held the Class E lead in the early stages, Jardim regained the position and joined the list of race winners who graduated from the Time Trials. Van Heerden closely followed him over the line, and Smith finished in third place, with a big enough advantage over Ramsamy that his 30-second Jump Start Penalty did not change the results. Nienaber completed the field.
Race 2 saw a fierce battle at the front between Diedericks and Miller. There was contact between the pair that did not require any further investigation. Diedericks went on to take the win and was surprised to spot the damage on the side of his car following the race, originally having thought that he merely had a handling issue. Miller trailed him over the line. Just behind them, the third-place battle saw Vallance narrowly beating Reynolds. Aucamp again completed the top five.
Jardim was the only driver to make it two wins for the day, this time with a little bit more daylight behind him and the rest of the Class E podium. Smith narrowly beat Van Heerden to second place. Ramsamy and Nienaber completed the field.
Miller and Diedericks both took 16 points, with Miller taking the Class D overall win on account of his better accumulated time. Reynolds, with 15 points, completed the podium. Jardim’s full house of 20 points saw him take the Class E win and the ITOO Driver of the Day award. Van Heerden and Smith both accumulated 14 points, with Van Heerden in second place with a better time.
Miller extended his lead at the top of the Class D points table while Van Heerden maintained his gap over Smith.
The weekend sees Loubser retain the overall championship lead, but with Miller and Makris edging closer. Only three points separate the top three heading into the season’s penultimate round, which will take place at Red Star Raceway on 20-21 October.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Reynard Gelderblom
Telephone +27 74 344 0007 | Email reynard@brandsponential.co.za
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