Summarize

Zwartkops’ jam-packed third round Regional Festival certainly delivered the thrills and spills to entertain an eager Pretoria crowd on Saturday. With racing quite literally flat out from dawn to dusk, there was not a moment to look sideways as a huge variety of classes delivered great racing all day long.

Top of the pops was the fifth round of the SA National GT3 G+H Transport Extreme Supercars, where home hero Jonathan du Toit’s Lamborghini Huracan was out for a little revenge over Charl Arangies’ Audi R8 LMS GT3 after the Vaal man’s double victory in Port Elizabeth just two weeks prior. But wildcard Reghard Roets qualified his Nissan GT-R second between the title rivals and looked set to run a little interference in the races. 

That, Roets did, as he surged ahead of du Toit in the opening lap, until the Nissan’s drivetrain failed to leave du Toit to the win. Arangies had a mid-race hiccup and had to fight back past Ben Morgenrood’s Lexus and Greg Parton. GT3 trio Parton and Ricky Giannoccaro’s Lamborghginis and Ferrari man Mark du Toit’s Ferrari followed from Class A winner Deon du Plessis’ KTM XBow, quick Class C kid Kwanda Mokoena Audi R8 GT4 and Class D BMW trio, Cape drivers Ammaar Coetzee and Mansoor Parker and local man Uli Sanne.

Jonathan du Toit made it a double revenge over Charl Arangies in race 2, with Morgenrood third again, while Greg Parton beat Marius Jackson's Audi R8 LMS GT3 and Ricky Giannoccaro’s Lamborghini to the GT3 Balance of Performance GT3 class win. Mokoena impressed again as he picked fourth GT3 man Mark du Toit off for seventh en route to the Class C double. Class D winner Ammaar Coetzee was next from Class B winner Jimmy Giannoccaro, du Plessis, Sanne and Parker.

A crazy PABAR VW Challenge A&C opening lap settled down as Wayne pipped Bevin Masters and Rory Atkinson to win. Cape GTi Challenge duo Marco Busi and Nathan Victor shone in fifth and sixth from Derick Smalberger, Waldie Meintjies, Chris and Sam Dale. Atkinson’s now purple Polo bounced back to a close race 2 win from Wayne Masters, Busi, Victor, Meintjies, Hopkins, Sam and Chris Dale. Ian Walker beat PL Muzzulini to the first Class C win from Panagiotis Nousias. Muzzulini won race 2 from Walker and Nousias.

 

VW Challenge Class B raced alone as super rookie Hannes Scheepers won race 1 from Elna Croeser. Karshin Naidoo was third from Charisse van der Merwe, Ethan Coetzee, Francois van Zyl, Tinahe Ncube and Anthony Pretorius. Lady hero Croeser turned the tables for her second Zwartkops race 2 win on the trot, with Naidoo the thorn between the roses as van der Merwe ended third from Jacques Hayes. They disposed of Scheepers on the final lap of a bruising race, with Stuart Mack, Miguel Dias and Stelio Nousias next.

Class A survivor Arrie Van Der Berg took the opening BMW M Performance Parts Race Series race win ahead of a Class B gaggle headed by Andreas Meier, with Jagger Robertson, Rick Loureiro, Nek Makris, Lyle Ramsay, Oz Biagioni, Nicholas Van Zyl and Mark Jones in pursuit. Class C winner Rob Gearing was tenth from Hein Van der Merwe and George Economides, while Shane Grobler beat Nicholas and Craig Herbst to Class D and Shaun Dodd took Class E from Nicholas Fischer and Bernard De Gouveia.

Thomas Potgieter led van der Berg and Fabio Fedetto, and Class B lot Lorenzo Gualtieri, Loureiro, Biagioni, Jones and Robertson when the red flags flew to stop the second race. There was not much change after the restart up front as Renier Smith took Class C from Troy Cochran and Dewit Oosthuizen. Craig Herbst topped Class D from Manny Ribeiro and Grobler, and Mike Grobler beat Fischer and De Gouveia in Class E.

Thomas Falkiner took a dominant first Lotus Challenge race win from duelling Mackie Adlem and David Coetzee, with John Kruger, Rudi Barnard and Ettienne Strydom in pursuit, after pole man Jeffrey Kruger took an early shower. Race 2 was closer after a wild start. Falkiner kept a resurgent Jeffrey Kruger at bay with Adlem, Coetzee, JP Nortje and Andre Human chasing. Gys van der Walt beat Sean Hepburn and Juan du Toit to the first Locost class win before going on to do the double from Andre du Plessis and Davide Favo.

Louis Cloete's Class B Beetle beat Class C men Phillip Meyer and Eugene Gouws’ Chevy Can Am in the opening On Track Clubmans and Sportscar race. The NSCC cars started race 1 at the back as Deon du Plessis’ KTM charged to fifth from Class D winner Tjaart Visser and Class E man Rodney Kruis’ Hondas, Aron Harmse SR4 and Anton Bitzer’s RX7 F. Du Plessis and Klippies Krige's Lotus 7 took advantage of starting up front to lead Cloete, Gouws and Visser home in heat 2. Tony Szabo took Class E, Bitzer F and Harmse SR4.

Karel Stols’ Toyota Etios broke away from a splendid three car Car Care Clinic Superhatch battle between Francois Henning’s Polo, Andre Dannhauser’s Corsa and Lenard Archer’s Hyundai to win race 1. Nic Martin’s Peugeot took Class B in fifth from Jonathan du Toit’s Honda and Melanie Spurr’s Polo. Devon Piazza-Musso’s Golf took Class C from Francis Aldrich and Freddy Watkins. Stols went on to do the double from Archer and Henning, while Martin beat du Toit to the class B win with C winner Piazza-Musso next home.

Marius Jacobs’ Tigra beat Cyril Jacobs’ Corrado and Class D winner Karel Stols’ Etios to the Silver Cup first race win. Class B man Freek Blignaut’s Mazda 323 was fourth from Evert Seyffert Jr’s RX8 frame, Wayne Pereira’s Golf and Class C winner Marthinus Viljoen’s Golf. Cyril Jacobs then took a slippery second heat win from Class B man Pereira after Marius Jacobs retired from the lead. Seyffert Jr. followed from Stols, Blignaut and Paul van Niekerk.

Gerhard Henning’s Polo beat GT class rivals Louis Scholtz’s Golf, Mark du Toit, Andre de Lange and Johan van der Vyver to the opening Car Care Clinic 111 Sports & Saloons race win with Class A winner Phillip Meyer’s Porsche sixth. Wayne Lebotschy’s Golf took Class B, Maritz le Roux C, Didi Matjila D and Jannie van Rooyen Class X. Scholtz turned the tables on Henning, de Lange and du Toit and Class A winner Wouter Roos’ Golf in race 2. Lebotschy, le Roux, Matjila and van Rooyen did the double in the other classes.

Kia team Pedro Pita and Etienne van der Linde beat Fivestar duo Paulo Collinson and Nico Banze to fraught visiting Mozambican Kia Picanto Cup honours by just a point. Moztek duo Manuel Barbosa and Mauro Almeida were third from teammates Remi Giuege and Pedro Oliveira and Blutech duo João Alberty and Rui Vilela. Each driver raced twice in a team effort as Collinson took race 1 from Barbosa, before Almeida beat Pita in race 2. Van der Linde took race 3 from Douglas Klint and Banze won the final from Paul Del Re.

Even quicker and just as nimble, the INEX Legends raced three times. Jagger beat Devin Robertson in the first race of this family affair with KZN lad Richard van Heerde, Gerhard Roux, Tyler Robinson and Ian Upton next. Devin turned Jagger in race 2 with van Heerde, Roux, Johann van de Venter and Johann Jooste next, before Devin wrapped it up from Jagger, Roux, van Heerde van de Venter and Tyler Robinson in the final. Regional Festival racing returns to Zwartkops for another blockbuster Saturday 13 August. Diarise it now!