Zwartkops Raceway is set to light up Pretoria when the 2022 National Extreme Festival comes to town on Saturday, April 23.
If Killarney’s season opener was anything to go by last time out, Gauteng race fans really have something to look forward to now that they are finally welcome to return to the racetrack en masse for the first time. And it has been a while since that great Killarney show, so competitors across the board are also itching to fight hard behind the wheel.
Champion Robert Wolk has had his Killarney penalty overturned and arrives in Pretoria in a comfortable nine-point global touring car championship lead. He has Killarney race 2 winner Julian van der Watt’s Ford Focus and second overall in the Cape Daniel Rowe and his VW Motorsport Golf teammate Jonathan Mogotsi to deal with, too.
Never ignore Toyota Gazoo Racing Corolla trio Michael van Rooyen, Sa’ood Variawa and Mandla Mdakane, Audi lad Andrew Rackstraw, or Bradley Liebenberg’s brand-new VW Golf. It is all VW Polo in the GTC SupaCup, where Jeffrey Kruger and Keagan Masters are separated by a solitary point in the championship chase after sharing out the Killarney laurels last time out.
They have Polo Cup champion Leyton Fourie, brothers Keegan and Jason Campos and Danie van Niekerk from Cape Town in close pursuit, while Arnold Neveling is an interesting new name on that entry list. Nick Davidson will defend Masters honours against André Bezuidenhout, Dawie Joubert, Rui Campos and others, too.
Pretoria driver Jono du Toit’s Lamborghini Huracan avenged Zwartkops first G+H Extreme Supercar winner, Cape lad Dayne Angel, at Killarney. So will Angel and Franco Scribante’s turbo Porsches be the cars to beat back at altitude in Pretoria? Time will tell.
Also watch out for Ben Morgenrood’s Lexus and National GT3 men Charl Arangies’ Audi R8, Gianni Giannoccaro’s Nissan GT-R, Lamborghini lads Greg Parton, Ricky Giannoccaro and Damian Hammond, and Nicky Dicks and Ant Blunden’s Porsches. Cape Town kids may have dominated in the Compcare Polo Cup as double race winner Jurie Swart, race 3 victor Tate Bishop, pole man Giordano Lupini and Charl Visser made their Killarney home track their own last race.
But Zwartkops is a different story as that is all their rivals’ backyard, even if Swart won there at the last Zwartkops races. So expect Dawie van der Merwe, Clynton Bezuidenhout, Nathi Msimanga, Kwanda Mokoena and lady racers Lonika Maartens and Karah Hill to fly on home ground. Revenge will be top of several Investchem Formula 1600’s minds.
Brothers Antwan and Gerard Geldenhuys turned the class order on its head in a splendid family one-two last time out as the favourites floundered. So expect Killarney heat 2 winner Josh le Roux, Jarrod Waberski, who had a disaster in the Cape, Nick van Weely and Andrew Schofield to seek revenge.
And rookies the likes of Jason Coetzee, Troy Dolinschek and Delon Thompson to be out to prove a point. Upcountry riders will be out to make up for a Cape rout in the SunBet ZX10 Masters Cup.
Locals Trevor Westman, Ronald Slamet, Trevor Westman, David and Enticott dominated at Killarney, so Graeme van Breda, Rob Cragg and Jayson Lamb and others will want to restore that status quo, too. The Toyota Gazoo Yaris Media Challenge continues, where the question is whether anyone can deal with Ashley Oldfield. Thomas Falkner, Mark Jones, Jeanette Kok-Kritzinger and Lerato Matebese will do their best, too.
Two additional challenge races add to the regular National Extreme Festival fare. Mobil V8 Supercars return to Zwartkops with champion Mackie Adlem back in control from Franco di Matteo’s similar Jaguar, Richard Fuller, Terry Wilford and Warren Lombard’s Ford Falcons and Julian Fameliaris Corvette. And DOE Formula Vee is also back at Zwartkops’ round 2, with Gert van den Berg and Greg Wilson in the title tussle ahead of Lushen Ramchander, Lendl Jansen and Peter and Vaughn Hills.
So, will the Cape competitors maintain that advantage? Or do their upcountry rivals have them covered? The best way to find out is to catch Zwartkops’ brilliant National Extreme Festival action for yourself.
You are free to park your car on the grass bank, set up camp and light your braai for the day to take it all in, or sit on the edge of any of Zwartkops’ several grandstand seats. Or wander along between the many vantage points, the pits and the paddock to enjoy all the action throughout the day.
Adult entry is R130 per person, students get in for R90 and kids under 12 are free. For those out of town, the brilliant National Extreme Festival action will also be live streamed on Zwartkops and the Extreme Festival’s social media. Sounds like a splendid way to spend your Saturday April 23!
Source: MotorsportMedia
