Summarize

Regional Festival racing is set to warm the cockles of Pretoria race fans hearts as much as it will bring warmth to the lives of the local needy when the Dunlop Winter Festival delivers action out of the top drawer at Zwartkops Raceway’s fourth round on Saturday 8 June.

Race fans are invited to bring blankets to donate to charity with Zwartkops, while lapping up the extreme action of the Mobil 1 V8 Supercars, BMW M Performance Parts Race Series, PABAR VW Challenge, DOE Formula Vee, 111 GT Sports & Saloons and SuperHatch racing with the Youngtimers.

The quickest class of the day, the thundering Mobil 1 V8 Supercars are always fast and exciting at Zwartkops. Young champion Julian Fameliaris once again leads the pack in his Corvette, but he has a target on his back with Thomas Reib’s Lumina and Warren Lombard’s Mustangs right on his tail. Terry Wilford’s Mustang, Sam Dahl and Franco di Matteo’s Jaguar are also in the mix, while Auke Compaan’s Mustang, Steve Herbst’s Corvette, Shaun Holtzhausen in a Falcon and legend Larry Wilford will fight it out for GT2 honours.

The PABAR VW Challenge returns to its happy Zwartkops hunting ground with Masters brothers Bevin and Wayne in charge of Class A and Miguel Dias right in there too. Mo Karodia’s Polo sedan and Stuart Mack’s turbo litre hatchback version are on equal points in the Class B war, with Shiren Rajpaul, Ethan Coetzee and Anthony Lessing right in there. The Class C Brat Pack sees youths Chris Tait and Judd Bertholdt up against the experience of Andy Gossman and Philip Croeser.

Class A drivers Bob Neill and champion Leon Loubser should be the men to beat in the BMW M Performance Parts Race Series. Class B is super competitive and any of Carlo Gabini, Andreas Meier, Nek Makris, JP Nortje among a few others are quite capable of toppling the top class guys overall too. Gary Martins takes on the effervescent Devin Robertson, Rob Gearing and Jan Eversteyn in Class C. Racing on their own for double the action, watch for Claudio Jardim, Shaun Dodd, Nicholas and Craig Herbst in Class D. And Marais Ellis, Tihan van Rooyen, Johan Miller and Matthew Wadeley in Class E.

The DOE Formula Vee partnered with CIM Lubricants Single gang will have one thing in mind on Saturday: beat Lendl Jansen. Still undefeated in 2024, Peter and Brandon Hills have come closest and they, among others, will by now be desperate to stem that Jansen tide. Those others include Gert van den Berg, Kyle Watt, Jaco Schriks and MD Bester; Theodore Vermaak, Marcel Blignaut, Roy Douglas, Jannie Geyser and the rest. That’s guaranteed another great dice at Zwartkops this weekend.

The Ferro Energia 111 GT and Saloons are always a fun race to watch with great variety across an entertaining field. It includes exotica like Philip Meyer’s Porsche, Lucas Bezuidenhout in a Lexus, and a gang of Subarus. Melanie Spurr, George Economides and Lindsay Clur are among the VWs chasing glory, while Lenard Archer and Dawie Olivier will be among those upholding BMW honour in Pretoria. 

This weekend sees the SuperHatch regulars joined by a few booted Classic Youngtimers. Jonathan du Toit’s BMW will be up against Karel Stols’ Etios and George Aldrich Opel Corsa. Seten Naidoo is cause of extra interest this weekend. He steps into an Opel Corsa, leaving Ishmael Baloyi and Arthur Thorne to defend Honda Civic honours alongside Youngtimer Ballade duo Mike O'Sullivan and Rob Clark.

So there you have it. Not only will the Dunlop Winter Festival warm the cockles of your heart with an epic bill of top drawer regional racing, but you can also warm the lives of someone who really needs it need. So pack those charity blankets, head for Pretoria and see you at Zwartkops Saturday 8 June!