A dominant performance by Arnold Neveling (Bobcat powered by Goscor Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO) at the final round of the National Extreme Festival, held at Zwartkops Raceway on 18 & 19 October, gave him the overall 2025 Extreme Supercars driven by Dunlop championship.
Neveling gave an early indication of what would come on Friday when he was the only driver to dip under the minute mark in the practice sessions. His quickest time on the day of 59.436 seconds was almost a second quicker than overall championship rival Jonathan du Toit (Trans Africa Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO), who in turn was a few hundredths of a second faster than fellow GT3 driver Silvio Scribante (Cemza Lamborghini Huracan).
In Saturday morning’s qualifying session, it wasn’t only Neveling who dipped under the one-minute mark. The top four all did. Neveling was still quickest, with a blisteringly quick 58.593-second lap around the 2.4km circuit to grab pole position. He was followed by Jonathan du Toit and Silvio Scribante, with Aldo Scribante (Scribante Concrete Lamborghini Huracan) lining up in fourth alongside his brother. Class A contenders Kris Budnick (Bucketlist Racing Dodge Viper) and Charl Arangies (Stradale Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup MR) occupied the third row of the grid ahead of the Giannoccaro brothers, Gianni (BISC Transport / Stradale Motorsport Nismo GT3) in front of Ricky (G&H Transport / ITRE Cugini Logistics McLaren MP4-12C GT3). Mark du Toit (Trans Africa Racing Ferrari 430 GT3) and Ant Blunden (G&H Transport / Sajco McLaren MP4-12C GT3) filled the fifth row of the grid ahead of newcomer and leading Class B car, Shayur Harpal (Stradale Motorsport Porsche 997 GT3 Cup) and Jimmy Giannoccaro in a similar G&H Transport backed Porsche. Uli Sanne (G&H Transport BMW Z4 lined up at the back of the grid.
In the opening heat, Neveling led the way from the start and was never challenged on his way to a comfortable win. Behind him, the chasing pack was led by Jonathan du Toit, who was a couple of car lengths ahead of GT3 class rival Silvio Scribante, with Aldo Scribante, Arangies, Budnick and Gianni Giannoccaro not far behind. Shortly before one-third distance, Jonathan du Toit’s Lamborghini indicated an oil pressure problem, and he slowed to preserve the motor, allowing Silvio and Aldo Scribante to go through into second and third places with Arangies not far behind. Aldo grabbed second place when Silvio left the door open at the top of the hill and held it to the flag. Despite having to hold off Arangies in the middle of the race, Silvio opened a slight gap in the latter stages to take third on the road, and the GT3 class win. Arangies crossed the line in fourth to claim Class A from Budnick, who was fifth on the road. Sixth place overall gave Gianno Giannoccaro second place in the GT3 class, ahead of Jonathan du Toit, who limped to seventh. Blunden finished in eighth ahead of Ricky Giannoccaro, who pitted on the warm-up lap and started the race from the pit lane at the back of the field. Harpal got the better of Sanne to claim tenth.
In the second heat, Neveling again cruised to a comfortable win after opening a substantial gap in the opening stages. Behind him, du Toit and the Scribante brothers were involved in a great tussle for second place, which lasted until a water hose on Silvio Scribante’s car let go, spilling hot fluid on his back wheel and the track. Unfortunately, Aldo was too close behind to see the fluid and slid off the track into the kitty litter outside of turn five, bringing his race to a premature end. Silvio pitted, thinking he had a puncture, but his crew sent him out again after losing a handful of positions. The safety car was deployed with Aldo’s car stuck in a dangerous place, leaving the drivers to follow it until the flag.
Du Toit crossed the line in second place behind Neveling, taking the GT3 class win. Arangies, the first Class A car, was in third place. Gianni Giannoccaro took second place in GT3 and fourth overall. Ricky Giannoccaro bounced back after his first heat problems to take fifth place and second in Class A ahead of Silvio Scribante, who had to settle for third in the GT3 class. Blunden and Harpal finished in seventh and eighth, with Aldo Scribante classified in ninth despite being stuck in the gravel trap.
Neveling’s two wins on the day were enough to secure him the 2024 Extreme SuperCars driven by Dunlop overall championship from Jonathan du Toit and Stuart White. Despite not competing at the final event, White had done enough to secure Class A+ from Neveling and Xolile Letlaka. 2024 GT3 honours went to Jonathan du Toit, with Gianni Giannoccaro and Silvio Scribante in second and third. Two Class A wins on the day were enough to secure the Class A crown for Arangies ahead of Ricky Giannoccaro and Blunden. By virtue of his performances earlier in the year, Blunden topped Class B from Mark du Toit and Damian Hammond. Class C honours went to Jimmy Giannocaro, with Uli Sanne topping the Class D log.
The Extreme SuperCars driven by Dunlop will be back in action at the 2025 Passion for Speed, which takes place at Zwartkops Raceway on 31 January and 1 February.