Julian, Jason, Aqil, Sebastian & Damion seal 2026 titles

The 2026 Extreme Festival crowned most of its National circuit racing champions at Zwartkops Raceway on Saturday. Julian van der Watt took the premier South African Touring Cars title, Jason Loosemore won SATC SupaCup, Aqil Alibhai sealed Investchem MSA4, Sebastian Dias captured the VW Rookie Cup.

Kobus Reynecke, Nabil Abdool and Devon Scott are Toyota GR champions, and Damion Purificati secured SunBet ZX10 Masters title with one round to spare. Only the Astron Energy Polo Cup and Masters, and Dunlop Extreme Supercars titles remain open for their respective standalone finales in November at Kyalami and Zwartkops. The ZX10s will also race again in East London .

Keegan Campos won SATC race one from pole position in his BMW, beating Toyota duo Jason Coetzee and Michael van Rooyen. Van der Watt won the reversed-grid race two from van Rooyen and Campos, which was enough for Julian to seal the SATC Drivers' Championship, while van Rooyen took the day overall. Loosemore dominated SupaCup with pole and both heat wins over Rory Atkinson, Judd Bertholdt, and David Franco to take the round and the championship.

In Astron Energy Polo Cup, Christopher Tait took the Friday Superpole, but Hannes Scheepers and Mauro Da Luz shared Saturday's race wins. Scheepers took the overall round by under a second from Da Luz to see the championship head to the Kyalami finale undecides, although Scheepers needs just two ponts to take it. Wayne Masters and Derick Smalberger shared the Masters wins, with Smalberger taking the day overall to also take that title down to the wire.

Aqil Alibhai dominated MSA4 race one from pole, beating Mikel Bezuidenhout. Heat two saw the title rivals collide into Turn 4 on lap five, ending Bezuidenhout's race in what was later deemed a 50/50 racing incident. Alibhai held off Guido Bidoli to win the race and seal the MSA4 title, while Nicholas van Weely swept to Formula Kent honours.

Charl Arangies took the opening Extreme Supercars Driven by Dunlop opening race in his Mercedes-AMG GT3, but Lamborghini Huracan man Jonathan du Toit won the second and third heats to take overall honours. Karah Hill swept Class A in third overall in her Audi R8, while Shayur Harpal took Class B.

On two wheels, Clinton Seller dominated the SunBet ZX10 Masters Cup with two race wins, but that was not enough to stop Damien Purificati from sealing the two second places to seal the Championship with that final round still to race.

Sebastian Dias won Rookie Cup race one from Luke Hill, before Sebastian Venkov won heat two from Keyaan Dwomoh and Dias. Dias' third place was enough to secure the championship and a Volkswagen factory drive in 2027, while Venkov took the day overall. Reagile Mailula swept the Toyota Gazoo Racing SA Cup to earn his maiden main circuit race win in the GR86 class, but Namibian Kobus Reynecke did enough to clinch that tight title. Devon Scott won the Dealer Challenge to win the title, while already champion, Nabil Abdool took another Media Challenge double.

That wraps up an albeit tough 2026 National Extreme Festival season marked by venue swaps, race cancellations, and tragedy. The racing, however, was superb throughout, leaving three more champions to still be crowned at their standalone finales, before the Festival dusts itself off in time for another great season in 2027.