Wet conditions throughout Friday practice gave teams enough time to prepare for a sodden Extreme Festival raceday at Port Elizabeth’s newly surfaced Aldo Scribante Racetrack, but that did not deter local race fans from turning up in their numbers to support their home heroes on their annual local home race. They were treated to racing of the top order, with local winners and wonderful wildcard performances across the board.
Local eyes were already smiling as PE native Michael Stephen took the Sasol GTC pole position from Engen Audi teammate and another home hero, Simon Moss, with BMW privateers Michael van Rooyen and Johan Fourie next up from another local lad, Daniel Rowe’s Jetta and championship leader Gennaro Bonafede’s Sasol BMW. Keagan Masters overcame a significant practice accident when he launched his VW Motorsport Golf GTI through a PE pre-cast wall late on Friday to put it on GTC2 pole ahead of Golf GTi privateer Charl Smalberger and Brad Liebenberg’s Mini.
Stephen stormed to a lights to flag win over teammate Moss, with Fourie third from Hodges, Bonafede, Wolk, Rowe and van Rooyen. Bonafede moved up from fourth to second early on before slipping back to fifth, while Devin Robertson beat Liebenberg to a Mini 1-2 in GTC with Charl Smalberger third after Liebenberg faded as the race progressed.
PE’s reverse race expert Rowe then delivered his third second race win of the season in a delighted home win for Volkswagen, 2.8 seconds clear of Johan Fourie, with Moss third from Hodges, van Rooyen, Wolk, Stephen and Bonafede. Rowe and Moss diced initially before Moss dropped back, as Hodges moved up to second for a spell.
Stephen meanwhile worked his up to fourth ahead of Moss, before dropping back to 8th and then fighting back to beat championship rival Bonafede to sixth. Fourie picked off his rivals one by one through all of that to end up a in second to take the day overall from Moss and Stephen, while Liebenberg took GTC2 from a recovered Masters and Robertson after Smalberger took his turn in the PE Vibrocrete wall as Liebenberg led Robertson to a Mini 1-2 overall.
Local fans waited long to witness the power and speed of the G & H Extreme Supercars and in spite of the sodden conditions, they were well rewarded for the wait as Charl Arangies planted his Aston Martin on pole position ahead of Franco Scribante’s Porsche 997T and Dawie Olivier’s ‘Baby Beamer’ 3 GT, Jonathan du Toit and Craig Jarvis’ Ferraris and Ricky Giannoccaro in a Lamborghini, while local heroes Nick Davidson and Aldo Scribante’s Audis and Ian Riddle’s BMW put one over their visiting rivals.
Arangies opted to rather race his Lamborghini in the sodden first race, but he could not prevent Scribante from taking the win in his spectacular Porsche as he held du Toit’s Ferrari and Giannoccaro’s similar car off, while local man Nick Davidson was the best of the normal production cars home in his Audi over Olivier’s BMW, Jarvis’ Ferrari, Elwyn Steenkamp’s BMW M3 and Ant Blunden in another Porsche. Arangies turned the tables over du Toit after Scribante left the track on the third lap, leaving Olivier to come home third from local hero Davidson, Giannoccaro and Jarvis.
It was a dramatic weekend in the Investchem Formula 1600s. Stuart White put it on pole position with Cameron O’ Connor, Scott Temple, local wildcard Chassen Bright and Tiago Rebelo between him and championship rival Nicholas van Weely, but two red flags and three starts later, it was van Weely who best overcame the treacherous conditions to win the first race, with Alex Gillespie in second ahead of White, O’ Connor, local hero Bright and Class B winner Ian Schofield. White turned the tables on van Weely in race 2 with O’ Connor third from Andrew Rackstraw, Scott Temple, Siyabonga Mankonkwana and Garth De Villers, who took a maiden class B win at home.
Tasmin Pepper qualified fastest for the Engen Polo Cup races to Jonathan Mogotsi, Delon Thompson, Shaun La Reservee, Jeffrey Kruger and Justin Oates into the top-six shootout, where Kruger emerged on pole position from La Reservee, Oates, Mogotsi, Pepper and Thompson. Kruger converted his pole position onto a slippery race 1 win, six seconds clear of La Reservee with Pepper next up from the returning Juan Gerber, Thompson, Clinton Bezuidenhout, Mogotsi, Darren Oates, Jason Campos and Paulus Franken.
There was high drama in race 2 as title fighters Tasmin Pepper, Jeff Kruger and Jonathan Mogotsi tangled. eliminating Mogotsi, while Pepper dropped down the pack and Kruger was later demoted from third to behind Pepper in tenth the overall standings due to his part in the incident to leave La Reservee to win from Bezuidenhout, Jason Campos, Thompson Keegan Campos Justin and Darren Oates, Gerber and Franken, with the recovering Pepper and Kruger next.
Two motorcycle races rounded off the day’s action as Sven Grune had to deal with new company in the form of off-road racer Jade Gutzeit and regular rivals Graeme van Breda, Jonty Collard, Jaco Gous and Pieter de Vos in the opening Red Square Kawasaki ZX10 race. It was back to the regular 1-2 in the second moto and Grune beat van Breda, with Gutzeit third from de Vos, Collard and Gous.
Veteran Lance Isaacs (BMW) rode to victory in the first, sodden Bridgestone Thunderbike race from Nic Grobblaar, Jade Gutzeit, Pierre Grobler, Gavin Upton and Harry Timmermann. Isaacs went on to do the double in race 2 from Gutzeit, Grobler, Grobblaar, Timmermann and Upton in a red-flagged and restarted second race.
The Extreme Festival now heads back to Gauteng for round 5 at Zwartkops on 11 August, while the South African Endurance Series joins a regular Algoa Motorsport Club regional at Aldo Scribante on the same day.
