It’s all to play for across the Gauteng Extreme board

The Northern Regions Extreme Festival championships are all to play for as the series heads to its penultimate round at Red Star Raceway near Delmas on Saturday, 10 October. Just a handful of points separate the leaders in the Dunlop V8 Supercars, ATE VW Challenge, and in BMW M Performance Parts, there’s just seven points between the lot of them. And while the DOE Formula Vee once seemed all over bar the shouting, the fat lady is nowhere to arriving to sing there, either.

Starting with the Dunlop V8 Supercars, just one point separates Mustang men Warren Lombard and Terry Wilford in one of the closest-ever V8 championship chases. Thomas Reib’s Corvette has also been on form, but a retirement last time out has put him a little on the back foot, but rest assured, he’ll be back to make up lost ground. Behind them, watch for Franco di Matteo, Sam Dahl, and Alan Ryan, and GT2 men Wayne Spicer, Vic Dias, and Steve Herbst.

It’s a case of the rookies versus the more experienced championship leader Anthony Lessing in the ATE VW Challenge. Double leader last time out has Class A young guns, Josh Moore a single point behind him and Chris Tait a further four points adrift. It’s just as close in the smaller classes, where six points split the B top three: Sebastien Bouilliart, Kian Dwomoh, and comeback winner last time, Keegan Nathan in B. And Bryce Pillay sits two points clear of Stuart Konig in C. Let the games begin!

Even more exciting is late starter Lee Thompson’s progress in the BMW M Performance Series Turbo Series. Unbeaten since he arrived in the third round, Thompson has whittled his championship deficit down to just five points behind Anton Pommersheim. Can Pommersheim resist? How long before Thompson takes over up front? It all to play for at Red Star! Behind them, watch for Ethan Coetzee, Reiner Smith and Wessel Mostert in Class B, and Nicky Dicks, Oz Biagioni and Anand Naidu in C.

Andre van Vuuren, Ingus du Plessis and Bernard de Gouveia are the men to watch in the Normally Aspirated races, where Ruhan van der Walt and Claudio Jardim are the Class C drivers to beat, and lady racer Chloe Stuart, Henty Platt and Trent Williams are the Class D top guns.

There’s a little more leeway in DOE Formula Vee where log leader Lendl Jansen’s early season advantage sees him 18 points clear of Vaughn Hills, but with Peter Hills, MD Bester and Kyle Watt finding recent form, anything can now happen there too. Never ignore Shaun van der Linde, Brandon Hills, or Jaco Schriks here too, and remember, the Formula Vees will always entertain!

It’s also close among the Digit FMS 111 GT and Saloons, racing with SuperHatch also always entertain, and Saturday will be no different. Jared Rossouw’s Polo, Wayne Robb’s Focus, Mark du Toit’s BMW, and Wouter Roos’ Golf are the form men in the top GTA class. Jonathan Visser and Vic Dias top GTB. Melanie Spurr and Tihan van Rooyen’s Polos fight in Class A. Piet Potgieter’s Golf tops Class B, Henry van Vledder’s Golf tops Class C, Dean Parker D and Mini Le Roux E. SuperHatch racers include Ish Baloyi and Joshua du Toit’s Hondas, Karel Stols’ Etios, George Aldrich in a Peugeot and Mark du Toit’s BMW among the quicker of them.

With a good view of the circuit from the strands, all the regular off track attractions, catering, and the rest, find Red Star just off offramp 485 on the N12 Freeway East. Or follow the live stream action via the Extreme Festival’s social media outlets.