Di Matteo races Jag to double

Phakisa Raceway, in the Free State hosted the regional categories of this year’s Extreme Festival series on Saturday, with competitors on both four and two wheels providing excellent spectacle.

• Top billing belonged to the Samcar V8 Supercar brigade. Veteran Franco di Matteo (Varta Batteries Jaguar) won the first race from Mackie Adlem (Shell Jaguar), Benjamin Morgenrood (Morgenrood Ford Mustang), Thomas Reib (Chev Lumina), Auke Compaan (Jaguar) and Steve Herbst (Prei Instrumentation Corvette). Race two, started from a reverse grid, saw Di Matteo slice through the field and win again. He was followed across the line by Adlem, Reib, PS Compaan (Ford Falcon), Herbst and Larrry Wilford (Fuchs Ford Mustang).
• Wouter Roos (Strata Drilling VW Golf) took the first Car Care Clinic 111 Saloon Car race, ahead of George Bezuidenhout (Accolade Nissan Almera), Veritie-Anne Joubert (Honda Spares Ballade), Jean-Pierre van der Walt (VW Polo) and Giles Darroch (GRD VW Golf Mk1). Roos and Bezuidenhout finished first and second again the next time out, chased to the line by Paul Saayman (Intercity VW Caddy), Van der Walt and Darroch.
• Lance Isaacs (Supabets BMW S1000RR) won the first Bridgestone Thunderbike race, followed by Nicolas Grobler (Yamaha R1), Mark Newland (Yamaha R1) and Damien Purificati (Amulgam Welding BMW S1000RR). After a huge dice, Grobler beat Isaacs to the finish line in race two, again ahead of Newland and Purificati.
• Sven Grune (Kawasaki ZX10R) took the opening Red Square Kawasaki Masters race from archrival Graeme van Breda (Stefanutti ZX10R), Gareth Bezuidenhout (Kawasaki ZX10R) and Pieter de Vos (Kawasaki ZX10R). Van Breda bounced back to win race two, narrowly ahead of Grune, Bezuidenhout and Vos.
• The first Bridgestone Sub10 Superbike race was red-flagged on the penultimate lap when Aiden Barnard crashed his GB Projects Kawasaki ZX10R at the end of the pit straight and required medical attention. The rider was treated at the circuit’s medical centre and later taken to a hospital in Welkom. With the result automatically reversed by a lap, Barnard still officially finished second, behind Reginald Seale (Adrenaline Yamaha YZF) and in front of Harry Potgieter (T-Squared Kawasaki ZX10R) plus Harry Timmermann (SupaBets BMW S1000RR). Timmerman won the next heat from Savannah Woodward (Industry Motorcycles Kawasaki ZX10R), Johan Nortje (Ultimate Kawasaki ZX10R) and Wayne Spicer (Wellness Group Kawasaki ZX10R).
• The opening Bridgestone Challenge race went to Naasief Wadhalla (Fastbike Kawasaki ZX10), ahead of Pelo Seate (Hanashwe Kawasaki ZX10R), Jonathan Tretheway (Suzuki GSXR) and Michael Dixon (Westside Honda CBR). Seate won the next race from Wadhalla, Eugene Reynecke (Kawasaki ZX10R) and Tretheway.
• Ian Smith (Shelby CanAm) took the first National Sports Car heat, ahead of James Forbes (Nash ADR MCE3), Fritz Kleynhans (Comenius Ligier JS49) and Dean Venter (Nash MVW3). Kleynhans won the next time out, followed by Forbes, Venter and Dean Wolson (Wright Sports 2000).

The next round of the 2018 Extreme Series will be a National round at the Western Cape Killarney circuit on Saturday, April 21.