Summarize

The penultimate Gauteng Regional Festival championship races thrilled Red Star Raceway outside Delmas as the BMW M Performance Parts Racing Series, Pabar VW Challenge, DOE Formula Vees and 111 Sports and Saloons racing with Superhatch sizzled. It was however a sad day, run in memory of BMW racer Vigen Naidu who passed away after collapsing in the pits during practice on Friday. The Regional Festival extends its heartfelt condolences to Vigen’s family, friends, and competitors on behalf of the entire South African racing community.

Racing commenced following a minute of silence in Vigen’s honour, with the first BMW M Performance Parts Racing Series Class A, B and C race cut in two after a car spectacularly dispensed blazing oil over much of the circuit to bring out the red flag to clean it all up. Leon Loubser was the only Class A survivor to make the finish in his 335i from Class B duo Renier Smith, Cape man Mansoor Parker and Oz Biagioni. Another Cape entry, Anwar Levy took Class C from Nicholas Fischer and Bennie Luyt. Reinhardt Miller took the opening D and E race from Theuns Nel, Neil Reynolds and Nicholas Herbst, while Claudio Jardin beat Arri van Heerden, Mike Grobler and Dewald Smith to Class E honours.

In what proved to be a day of the BMW doubles, Loubser was again the only A finisher out front of what proved to be a second race of attrition. Renier Smith repeated his Class B win over Andreas Meier, Parker and Biagioni, while Levy also repeated his Class C victory over Fischer with Varish Ganpath and Bernard de Gouveia third and fourth. Reinhardt Miller took the other Class D win too, from Nicholas Herbst Cobus Bohmer and Theuns Nel, but Arri van Heerden bucked the trend. He defeated race 1 winner Claudio Jardin, Dewald Smith and Mariaan Emmenis in Class E.

Rory Atkinson led the opening Pabar VW Challenge race off pole position until he out-braked himself to gift brothers Bevin and Wayne Masters a bonus 1-2 from. Atkinson clung on to third from Charl Smalberger and Polo Cup driver Dawie van der Merwe. Behind them, Yotti beat Stelio to win the battle of the Nousias brothers in Class C from Philip Croeser and Andy Gossman. Racing on their own, Stuart Mack beat the Class B field in his experimental turbo litre Class X machine, to leave Hannes Scheepers to pass and then fend debuting former Superbike racer Anthony Lessing and Ethan Coetzee off for the Class B win.

Atkinson made no mistakes in race 2 as he stormed to victory to clinch the Class A title from Bevin and Wayne Masters, van der Merwe, Smalberger and Meintjes. Behind them, young Yotti Nousias cruised to the Class C title with another flag to flag win from Ian Walker, Gossman and Croeser. Class X man Mack made off up front of the other race, leaving Scheepers to watch in his mirrors as he spad to the Class B double ahead of Coetzee, who fended off allcomers to preserve his class title lead. Mo Karodia eventually took third from Shrien Rajpaul and Francois van Zyl.

Lendl Jansen took a comfortable win at DOE Formula Vee partnered with CIM Lubri Fuel standards, from MD Bester, Jaco Schriks and Brandon Hills in the opening race. Peter Hills followed from Shaun van der Linde, Theodore Vermaak and CF du Toit. It was all change behind double winner Jansen in Race 2, as Schriks held Bester, Brandon Hills and Gert van den Berg off, with Vermaak, Eric Booyens and Peter Hills in pursuit.

Louis Scholtz took his Honda Civic to an easy opening Car Care Clinic 111 GT, Sports & Saloon race win from GT rival Maritz Le Roux’s BMW and Class A Golf top two, Wouter Roos and Piet Potgieter. Wayne Masters’ Polo took Class B from Michael Grobler’s Golf. Dhiren Ganasen’s Ballade won Class C, Elke van Vledder’s Golf beat Rob Clark’s Ballade to D, and Tiaan Esterhuysen’s Polo took Class E. 

Racing with the 111s, Francis Aldrich took Superhatch honours in his Corsa, while Steve Mearns’ Golf took Class B from George Aldrich’s Peugeot. Race 2 was much the same, except that Wayne Lebotschy’s Golf took Class B from Grobler, Clark turned the Class D tables on van Vledder, and George Aldrich did the same to Mearns in Superhatch B.

The respective 2023 Gauteng racing championships wrap up at Zwartkops’ Regional Festival Finale on Saturday 18 November. Diarise that one now!