Summarize

It’s time to light that blue 2024 PABAR VW Challenge touch paper, step back five paces and watch the 2024 season explode into action at Zwartkops’ Saturday 2 March Regional Festival races. With 35 entries already in and counting, fans can rest assured on another year of epic Challenge racing.

Class A brothers Masters, Wayne’s Performance Master car and Bevin’s CPS Warehouse machine are all set for Saturday, but archrival multiple and reigning class champion Rory Atkinson is still working hard to put his 2024 package together. Behind them, Mike Barbaglia’s PABAR car will resume battle with old rivals, Luigi Ferro’s Eco Simply Solar entry, and Blue Belt Pozidrive man Chris Dale. 

Seventeen Class B entries were in as we wrote, with 2024 building up to what promises to be another splendid scrap in the middle class. Polo Cup hotshots, Ethan Coetzee’s JRT entry, Fast 5 lad Mohammed Karodia, and AF Fans lass Tyler Robinson can be expected to be in the thick of it. Lady rival Charisse Piazza Musso’s Hot 102.7 FM car, Durban Dubcorp driver Shiren Rajpaul and Stuart Mack in the now Class B rather than X Nathan's Motorsport 3-pot litre turbo Polo, are all definitely worth a punt, too.

Also in the Class B mix, Jacques Hayes Platinum Wheels car, Jesus Saves’ Francois van Zyl, former C champion Ian Walker’s Mellow Velo entry, Ukwazi lad Adriaan de Beer, and Eco Simply’s Tinahe Ncube are all capable of an upset at any time. Norbrake lad Dean Ross’ step down from Class A and Superhatch star Francis Aldrich VaporWorx entry should make for even more Class B intrigue. 

Add Csol lad Anthony Lessing, JRT brothers Milan and Terence Emslie, Josh Wilford’s Coating Techniques car and MLP entry Martin de Beer too. 2022 class champion and regular frontrunner Hannes Scheepers is another not to have entered as yet, so his plans will be monitored with just as much interest.

Class C is growing in stature too, with thirteen cars already on the entry list at the time of writing. Philip Croeser’s ATE Brakes car is once again ready to take up battle with Andy Gossman, Allan Pereira’s Daisy Business car and PABAR man Charl Andersen. Insurisk mob, Dimitri and Michael Zapheriou, and Kyle  and Cody Petersen are also back to take on Dino Smit’s Rezcom entry.

JRT boss Mitch Coetzee steps down to the all-Volkswagen Polo Vivo Class C from Class B and newcomers Christopher Tait’s GoPro Vivo, Vishva Govender’s VMS Paint car and TPAS driver will be watched closely Tyron Pillay. Still missing from the list is 2023 champion Yotti Nousias. Will he be back, will he defend his Class C title, or will he step up a class or two?

The Gauteng regional championship PABAR VW Challenge will travel around the northern regions and also visit Killarney in Cape Town through 2024. Running on Dunlop tyres supported by ATS Motorsport Supplies, oiled by Habot Performance Lubricants and stopped by ATE Brakes, PABAR VW Challenge also salutes partners, Platinum Wheels, Norbrake, Eco Simply Solar, Insurisk insurance brokers, Van der Linde Developments, MDS Consulting Engineers, FSS Logistics and galetti.co.za property.