National Extreme Festival returns to action at Zwartkops

The Zwartkops Raceway outside Pretoria will host round three of this year’s National Extreme Festival on Saturday, with the country’s premier circuit racing show bringing 118 entries in seven disciplines to the venue.

Touring Cars and SupaCup

Officially heading the show will be two races for South African Touring Cars, with top contenders expected to include Saood Variawa (Toyota Corolla), Robert Wolk (BMW 128ti), Julian van der Watt (Volkswagen Golf GTi), Andrew Schofield (BMW 128i), Michael van Rooyen (Toyota Corolla), Nathi Msimanga (Toyota Corolla) and Anthony Pretorius (Toyota Corolla).

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Running as a separate grid will be SupaCup races, with contenders like Keegan Campos (Volkswagen Polo SupaCup), Bradley Liebenberg (Toyota Starlet SupaCup, Jonathan Mogotsi (Volkswagen Polo SupaCup), Nicolas Vostanis (Volkswagen Polo SupaCup) and Jean-Pierre van der Walt (Volkswagen Polo Supacup).

Others to watch should be Jason Campos (Volkswagen Polo SupaCup), Charl Visser (Volkswagen Polo SupaCup), Karah Hill (Volkswagen Polo SupaCup), Dean Venter (Volkswagen Polo SupaCup), Tate Bishop (Volkswagen Polo SupaCup) and David Franco (Volkswagen Polo SupaCup).

Polo Cup

Heading up the national Astron Energy Volkswagen Polo Cup category will be Nathan Victor, Jason Loosemore, Rory Atkinson, Chris Dale, Charl Smalberger, Mike Barbaglia, Tyler Robinson, Pierluigi Muzzulini, Ethan Coetzee and Bjorn Bertholdt.

Supercars

Setting the event’s quickest lap times will be the Dunlop Extreme Supercars, led by Stuart White (Lamborghini Huracan), Jonathan du Toit (Lamborghini Huracan), Arnold Neveling (Audi R8), Mark du Toit (Ferrari F430), Charl Arangies (Mercedes-AMG GT3), Xolile Letlaka (Lamborghini Huracan) and Nicky Dicks (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup).

Single-seaters

Podium chasers in the Investchem Formula Ford category should include Alex Vos (Mygale), Jagger Robertson (Mygale), Jason Cooetzee (Mygale), Shrien Naidoo (Mygale), Evan Holtzhausen (Mygale), Storm Lanfear (Myhale), Mike Bezuidenhout (Mygale), Karabo Malemela (Mygale) and Siyabonga Mankonkwana (Mygale).

Two wheels

Clinton Seller will be the man to beat in the Sunbet Kawasaki ZX10 Masters Cup events, chased by Graeme van Breda, Jason Lamb, Hein McMahon, James Barson, Michael Louw, Trevor Westman and Appanna Ganapath.

GR Cup

Sa’aad Variawa will be the driver to chase in the Toyota Gazoo Racing Cup for GR86s, chased by Dawie van der Merwe, Kent Zwartz and Nico Zafiris.

Sean Nurse (GR Cup Corolla) should be the favourite in the journalists’ race, coming under attack from fellow GR Cup Corolla drivers like The Citizen Motoring’s editor Jaco van der Merwe, Kumbi Mitshakazi,  Alex Shahini, Hannes Visser and Bernie Hellberg.

Times and entry

The Zwartkops gates will open at 07h00 with qualifying in the early morning. Racing will start at 09h30. Admission will cost R130 per adult and R90 per student, with kids under the age of 12 going in for free.

Food and drink will be for sale or you may take your own, with children activities in the pit area to include balloon artists, stilt walkers, face painting, pedal karts and a jumping castle.

Older people may wish to indulge in drifting passenger rides or try their hand at a racing simulator.

Everybody is welcome to visit the pits on foot at any time and the circuit’s Mini Moke trains will runn between the pit gate and the spectator areas all day.

For more information, contact the circuit office at 012 384 2299.

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