Local stars set to shine at Scribante Raceway

The scene is set for three local motorsport enthusiasts to perform this weekend when the National Extreme Festival rolls into Aldo Scribante Raceway for the third round of the exciting national championship. In the G&H Transport Extreme Supercars, defending champion Silvio Scribante will be hoping to do some damage control after having a somewhat troublesome start to his season after being plagued by unexpected mechanical failure as well as a non-finish in 1 heat in Delmas in his beautiful Cemza sponsored Lamborghini Huracan. Older brother Aldo, in his Scribante Concrete-sponsored Huracan, is well-positioned in the championship after having had some consistent race finishes thus far this season.

Jeandre Marais
Jeandré Marais in action at Kyalami earlier this year
Image by Paul Bedford

Algoa Motorsport Champion JeandrMarais (Syrabix Recycling) has been putting in the hard graft of late & has been setting some very impressive lap times during practice at his home circuit and realistically should be a serious contender for a top-six finish when the CompCare Polo Cup drivers square up in their identical VW Polos. It is not considered the most competitive racing class in the country, where the top ten are often less than a second apart for nothing. Charl Visser, the championship leader from Cape Town, used the last round of the AMSC Regional Championship to hone his skills around the 2.48-kilometre circuit. He will be difficult to beat in his Tyre Zone, Red Racing-sponsored Polo. Still, he will no doubt be pushed hard by fellow Capetonian Giordano Lupini (Tork Craft), who made a surprise return to the series to stamp his authority in PoloCup after missing the first round. After winning three out of the seven heats he has raced thus far, he will be a strong contender, as will Mbombela visitor Dawie van der Merwe (Nathan抯 Motorsport), who currently lies second in the championship hunt.

The Mobil 1 V8 Supercars will be seen at Scribante Raceway for the first time since 2019, and Bevan Schwarz from East London will be rejoining the action in his Mobil 1 and Alco Trucks sponsored Chev Corvette. There are double championship points on offer for the Gqeberha championship round. Julian Fameliaris hopes to extend his 40-point lead over Thomas Reib, who is currently in second, with Mackie Adlem a further four points down in third. This weekend will also see the launch of a GT2 Championship in Mobil 1 Supercars that will cater for cars with slightly less horsepower and use rev-limiters set at 7000rpm.

In the Global Touring Class (GTC), a new dawn beckons with the first of several new cars joining the series, with Julian van der Watt behind the wheel of the first of two Chemical Logistics BMW 128ti entries. He has made a remarkable recovery from the severe injuries he sustained following his horrific accident during practice at Kyalami at the beginning of the season, where he destroyed his Ford Focus. Saood Variawa, in his Toyota Gazoo Racing Corolla Hatch, is the championship leader, and he will have his hands full fighting off double reigning GTC champion Robert Wolk in his Chemical Logistics Toyota Corolla Sedan. In the GTC SupaCup, nine VW Polo GTIs will square up against each other, and Arnold Neveling will no doubt want to carry his recent overseas successes, where he and his teammates emerged victorious in the Hankook 12-hour 911 GT3 Cup class in Monza, into this weekend at Scribante.

The biggest class on show this weekend is the two-wheeled brigade in the Kawasaki ZX10 Masters Cup, where nineteen ZX10R motorcycles will do battle against each other on the tight technical circuit. Two East London competitors will have the support of the local crowd as Jayson Lamb (Max-4 Cars/Tyremart) and Travis Naude (sponsor needed) take on the likes of seasoned campaigners Graeme van Breda, Brian Bontekoning, Dave Enticott and Klint Munton.

Troy Dolinschek has a runaway lead in the Investchem Formula 1600 that caters to single-seaters with wings and slicks. At the halfway mark of their season, he holds all the aces, with Gerard Geldenhys being the most likely contender to threaten his dominance. Young karting superstar KC Ensor-Smith is improving in leaps and bounds, and it won抰 be long before he is a title contender.

In the Gazoo Racing SA Cup class, there will be 13 Toyotas, six Yaris GR cars and seven GR 86s which will be driven by motoring journalists from around the country.

The action gets underway from 8:00 am on Friday with practice sessions for all classes and qualifying for the ZX10 motorcycle and Polo Cup competitors. Qualifying for the rest of the classes from 8:15 am kicks off the action on Saturday, with racing scheduled to start at 10:15 am.

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