This weekend sees the opening round of the National Extreme Festival taking place at Killarney International Raceway in Cape Town and the Eastern Cape will be well represented across the various classes competing.

Leading the charge will be Gqbergha brothers Aldo and Silvio Scribante in their lightning quick Lamborghini Huracans racing in the newly rebranded Dunlop Extreme Supercar Series, where for the first time ever, all of the cars in the class will run on Dunlop tyres.

With a total six Huracans entered, one of them driven by Xolile Letlaka who also hails from the Eastern Cape, they’ll be up against a host of Ferrari’s, Porsche’s, AMG Mercedes, Audi R8’s, BMW’s, Backdraft Cobra’s and many more exclusive brands.

Local all-rounder Jeandre Marais will be starting his second full season in the VW PoloCup Series that has been rebranded as Astron Energy PoloCup with the fuel sponsor coming on board as the series sponsor for the 2024 season.

Now in its 28^th year PoloCup remains the most competitive class in South Africa and is certainly the breeding ground for international super stars. Marais will debuting a brand new Polo chassis in round one and will once again be racing in the Universal Motorsport Team.

Before his departure for the Cape a relaxed Marais had the following to say “we are going into the race weekend looking for an incident free opening round to start off the championship. Last season was very much a case of playing catch-up and finding my feet in Team Red, so now I’m really looking forward to a solid start and aiming to score some decent points and chase a desired top six finish in this very competitive class.”

With the 2023 PoloCup champion Charl Visser having moved up to the rebranded SATC SupaCup class, it leaves a field of drivers that have never tasted victory in the PoloCup class, with all eyes being on Capetonian Nathan Victor who should be considered the favourite on his home circuit. 

Another exciting addition to PoloCup is the reintroduction of a Masters class that now caters for drivers over the age of 50 years old.  Head of Volkswagen Driving Experience Mike Rowe had the following to say “Volkswagen Motorsport is primed and ready for another great year of Astron Energy Polo Cup racing & 2024 promises to be a vintage season and a completely different Astron Energy Polo Cup story this year. Not only do we have a great new sponsor in Astron Energy, South Africa’s next biggest fuel supplier, and an all-new over-50 Masters class, but we are also guaranteed new winners and champions at the end of the season.”

Adding to the excitement of the weekend is round one of the VW Polo Rookies Cup that is now in its second season and caters for youngsters from the age of 14-16 years old that have a valid Motorsport South Africa license and have had previous karting experience. The series aims to deliver a seamless transition from karting into main-stream circuit racing and not only covers race craft out on the circuit, but all aspects off the circuit  including data analysis, fitness, mental preparation, teamwork and dealing with the media. Local Algoa Kart Club member Joshua Moore will be hoping to convert his karting successes onto the main circuit and he will be lining up alongside four other candidates in this exciting iniative where they will race alongside their mentors and trainers Daniel Rowe, Mathew Merton and Jonathan Mogotsi.

The action from Killarney will not only be on four wheels but also two as the immensely popular Sunbet Kawasaki ZX10 Masters Motorcycles Series returns to the Cape. East London rider Jayson Lamb will once again be one of the guys to watch after having been at the sharp end of the championship chase for most of last year. Add the likes of Clinton Seller, Graeme van Breda, Allan Jon Venter, Trevor Westman, Hein McMahon, Damion Purificati & Dave Veringa into the mix and it is sure to be a thrill a minute affair as they go into the second round of their championship at Killarney. 

Upcoming Motorsport Events for March / April 2024

• 15^th March – Motorcycle & Scooter display at EP Veteran Car Club
• 23^rd March – Motocross Pre-National at Rover MX Track, Dirt Oval Racing at PEOTR
• 30^th March – National Motocross round 2 at Rover MX Track
• 06^th April – Dirt Oval Racing at Victory Raceway
• 13^th April – Round 3 of Karting Championship at Algoa Kart Club
• 20^th April – Algoa Motorsport Club round 2 at Aldo Scribante Raceway
• 27^th April – MSA Timed Drags at Aldo Scribante, Dirt Oval round 2 of Regional Championship at PEOTR