Summarize

Northern championship racing returns to action at the Red Star Raceway’s third round Regional Festival near Delmas on Saturday 11 April. If the action, excitement, and drama at the previous Kyalami round was anything to go by, Gauteng fans would be well advised to make the short trip to savour the action as the Mobil 1 V8 Supercars, BMW M Performance Parts Race Series, PABAR VW Challenge, DOE Formula Vee, and 111 GT Sports & Saloons with SuperHatch get ready for a literal wrought in the mielies.

Talking about rumbling, that’s something the mighty fast Mobil 1 V8 Supercars are best at. These thundering superstars will be challenged by the twists and turns of Red Star’s tight confines, as much as they will thrill down those long straights. Young champion Julian Fameliaris is the lad to beat in his Corvette, but rest assured that Thomas Reib’s Lumina, Terry Wilford and Warren Lombard’s Mustangs, Franco di Matteo’s Jaguar and the rest are aiming to do precisely that. Beat Julian!

Class A man Bob Neill returned to top the BMW M Performance Parts Race Series pops last time out. So, put money on champion and first round victor Leon Loubser being out for revenge. Carlo Gabini, Andreas Meier, Nek Makris, and JP Nortje are the top Class B men, while its Gary Martins versus the effervescent Devin Robertson, Rob Gearing and Jan Eversteyn in Class C. Racing on their own to deliver a double the action bonus, watch for Claudio Jardim, Shaun Dodd, Nicholas, and Craig Herbst up front in Class D. And Marais Ellis, Tihan van Rooyen, Johan Miller and Matthew Wadeley in the E chase.

The PABAR VW Challenge will be keen on a little less drama and a little more action this time out as turbo Class X man Rory Atkinson, Mike Barbaglia and Luigi Ferro take it to the Class A faithful including Masters brothers Wayne and Bevin. Stuart Mack’s turbo litre Polo is also eager to put another one over his 2-litre atmo rivals, including log leader Mo Karodia’s sedan and Stelio Nousias, and the rest of the hatchbacks in Class B. Injured overall championship leader Michael Zapheriou will sit this one out, leaving Brat Pack youngsters Chris Tait and Judd Bertholdt to counter the experienced Andy Gossman and Philip Croeser.

The ever-spectacular DOE Formula Vee partnered with CIM Lubricants Single will add a slice of seater action, where Lendl Jansen has come out of his corner punching and remains unbeaten so far in 2024. Peter and Brandon Hills, Gert van den Berg, Kyle Watt, Jaco Schriks and MD Bester are among the men determined to topple Jansen at Red Star. Add the likes of Theodore Vermaak, Marcel Blignaut, Roy Douglas and Jannie Geyser and we are guaranteed more exceptional Vee action in Delmas.

It's a BMW versus Volkswagen affair, peppered by a little exotic spice in the 111 GT and Saloons, which will be out to put on a show and a half to celebrate new title sponsor Ferro Energia this weekend. Ladies first, Melanie Spurr, George Economides and Lindsay Clur are among the VWs chasing glory in the mielies, while Lenard Archer and Dawie Olivier will be among those upholding BMW honour. Add exotica like Philip Meyer’s Porsche, Lucas Bezuidenhout’s Lexus, and a gang of Subarus and it’s action guaranteed. Racing amidst the 111s, watch for Jonathan du Toit’s BMW from Karel Stols’ Etios and Seten Naidu’s Civic among the SuperHatch frontrunners.

There’s the additional twist in that Red Star has just completed its annual switch to clockwise rotation for 2024, so that adds an element of the unknown to the many who thunder around practicing there. All of which means more excitement, too. Makes the Mpumalanga Raceway’s Regional Festival an even more compelling reason to make the short trip to Delmas on Saturday 11 May!