Anthony takes advantage with another grand slam
Anthony Lessing tightened his grip on the 2026 ATE VW Challenge championship with a second, compelling clean sweep at the weekend’s penultimate round Gauteng Northern Regions Extreme Festival at the Red Star Raceway near Delmas on Saturday. Keegan Nathan meantime overcame Sebastian Bouilliart to take Class B and Bryce Pillay won C races.
All three of Lessing, Nathan and Pillay made their intentions known in qualifying. Anthony put his Raless Polo on pole position alongside Josh Moore’s Worx BPW Puma Polo on the front row. Francis Aldrich and Chris Tait’s King Price Extreme machine shared row 2 ahead of AutoZone man Stuart Mack.
Applied Heat lad Sebastian Bouilliart put it on the Class B pole alongside Keegan Nathan’s Nathans Motorsport Polo. Jonathan Konig’s Northern Bolt & Tool version sat third from Keyaan Dwomoh’s Adhive car and Century Racing’s Max Corbett. Bryce Pillay’s Phishrod Vivo topped the Class C Brat Pack qualifying to line up alongside Northern Bolt lad Stuart Konig, Elna Croeser’s ATE Vivo, Dimitri Zapheriou and Andy Gossman’s Cardoc Vivo, Lebo Mokutu and Hencom lad Brendon van Gend.
Lessing made short work of the opening heat, although Tait initially kept him honest once he’d passed Moore on the opening lap. But there was little Chris could do to prevent Anthony from edging away to an easy win from Tait, Moore, Aldrich, and Mack. Class B was more intense as Bouilliart held Nathan off and Dwomoh, Corbett, Konig fought it out. Pillay took charge of the Brat Pack as Croeser overcame Konig for second ahead of Gossman, Zapheriou, Mokutu and van Gend after a first lap shake-up.
Heat 2 was straightforward up front. Lessing took another win from Moore as Tait held Aldrich off for third and Mack a lonely fifth. Class B was a squabble. Nathan found his way around Bouilliart early on and held on for the win with Corbett holding station in third as Dwomoh and Konig fought it out behind. Pillay dominated Class C once again from Croeser, Stuart Konig, Zapheriou, Gossman, Mokutu and van Gend.
Anthony Lessing ultimately took an easy overall win from Josh Moore and Chris Tait to extend his title advantage to seven points over Moore and Tait. Keegan Nathan took the Class B day from Sebastian Bouilliart and Max Corbett as Nathan moved up to second behind Bouilliart in the chase. And Bryce Pillay beat Elana Croeser and Stuart Konig in Class C where Pillay now leads Konig by eleven points in class.
With none of the classes or the overall championship anywhere near resolved, the 2026 ATE VW Challenge comes to a head at the Northern Regions Extreme Festival Finals at Zwartkops, Saturday 21 November. Be there!
*VW Challenge salutes series sponsor ATE Brakes and series partners Dunlop Tyres South Africa, ATS Motorsport Supplies, AutoZone, Norbrake, PABAR and the Extreme Festival.