Racing feast in Free State
With more than 180 competitors and spectacular racing, the Extreme Festival paid the Free State Phakisa Raceway a successful visit on Saturday.
VICTORIOUS: Adrian Dalton (Xtra Shoes Golf) en route to overall victory in Saturday’s 48-lap race at Phakisa. Picture: RacePics.
Johan Engelbrecht (Porsche GT2) led the opening race for G&H Transport Extreme Supercars from lights to flag, closely followed by Jonathan du Toit (TAR Ferrari 430) and Anton Cronje (Auto Sound Subaru WRX STi).
Nicky Dicks (Curvent Porsche 996 Cup) took Class B from Craig Jarvis (Panacea Porsche GT3) and Deon du Plessis (BPT KTM X-Bow), while Oliver Dalais (Marlboro Crane Ford GT) won Class C ahead of Willem van der Westhuizen (C3 Engineers Ferrari 360).
Cronje’s Subaru expired early in race two, leaving Engelbrecht to win from Du Toit again.
Likewise, Dicks won Class B from Jarvis and Du Plessis.
The Ford GT of Dalais stopped four laps in, leaving Willem van der Westhuizen to win Class C in his Ferrari, ahead of Gianni Giannoccaro (G&H Transport BMW CSL GT).
After eight desperately close laps, Jaco Schriks (Office Direct Rhema) won the first Hankook Formula Vee race from Alan Holm (Laserprint Rhema), Peter Hills (Renexcon Rhema), Greg Wilson and Trystan Alford (Castle Graphics Rhema).
The four cars were covered by less than a second over the finish line.
Race two provided similar excitement, with Schriks winning from Gert van den Berg (Nantes Motors Rhema), Holm, Hills and Alford.
Stewart MacLeod (Red Star ZX10R) and Graeme van Breda (Breda Motorcycles ZX10R) fought tooth-and-nail for the opening Red Square Kawasaki Masters Cup victory.
MacLeod eventually won by two tenths of second, followed by Van Breda, Kyle Robinson (Tech Group ZX10R), Gavin Lightfoot (KMSA ZX10R), Pieter de Vos (Jongingozi ZX10R) and Tony Klem (Frontier Diamonds ZX10R).
On the second occasion, MacLeod finished one tenth of a second ahead of Van Breda, with Lightfoot, Robinson, Klem and De Vos making up the top six finishers.
James Hurley (Starter Pack Polo) won the Comsol VW Challenge races overall, taking Class A from Rory Atkinson (Comsol Haupt Polo) and Waldie Meintjies (Performance Masters Polo).
Darren Nathen (Sextrader .co.za Polo) took Class B from Deon Holiday (Snap On Polo) and Henry van Vledder (Stuffall Golf), while Elke van Vledder (ZIP Golf) won Class C ahead of Adrian Dalton (Xtra Shoes Golf) and Jannie van Rooyen (Goldwagen Polo).
The 48-lap Phakisa 200 race for Goldwagen Super Hatch and 111 Sports Cars drew a 35-car grid, of which 24 reached the finish.
Dramatically, the race ended behind the Safety Car after Marius Roberts rolled his Opel Kadett and parked it upside down on a crash barrier with just 10 laps to go. The race was won by Adrian Dalton (Xtra Shoes VW Golf ), followed by Joel Silva & Ricky Giannoccaro (Speed and Sound BMW E36), Hilton van Nieuwenhuizen & Brett Garland (ASAP Peugeot 207), Chris Davison & Jaco Kriel (Opel SuperBoss), Stuart & Jono Konig (Northern Bolt Peugeot 206) and Gianni Giannoccaro & Thouca Mechanicos (Mini Cooper).
Works BMW HP4 riders Greg Gildenhuys and Ryan Ottens were invited to tackle the Thunderbike races, and they blasted to two easy one-two victories.
Other winners on the day were Kyran de Lange (Silverton Triumph Daytona) – Class A, Konrad Viljoen (Zambesi Motorrad BMW) – Class B, Nico van der Merwe (Genrock Mining Kawasaki) –Class C, and Teddy Brooke (Refrigeration Kawasaki) – Class M.
The next round of the Extreme Festival series will be held at Kyalami this coming Saturday.
