Congratulations to Henri & Maurice Zermatten for winning the ABSA Off-road Class D championship for 2008

Six wins and a second amply illustrate the hold brothers Henri and Maurice Zermatten, in the Ryobi Nissan Hard body, had in Class D.  After a tough start to the 2008 season the Zermatten brothers came into their own and at the end of the season there was only one team in it. RGMotorsport congratulates the whole team for there dedication and perseverance which allowed them to take the title at the end of the season

RGMotorsport looks forward to being a part of the team for the 2009 season

News from Killarney 15th November 2008

Graeme Nathan wins the 2008 Class T and overall Production Car Championship

From RGMotorsport to Graeme Nathan ( Big G ) a very big congratulations on an absolutely fantastic 2008 racing season in your RGM tuned Seat Leon Cupra. Not only have you won the Class T championship but you have managed to win the overall production car championship as well. On behalf of RGMotorsport, Rob & Steven Green have been a part of and witnessed what we can only call true dedication and commitment which has surpassed all expectations.

A special note of recognition to your No 1 race technician Dean Jeffrey who has pulled out all the stops and given his total commitment and dedication in helping Graeme to achieve his set goals for the 2008 race season.

The Production Car Championship has not come easily and the help of the Seat Cupra Pace cars engine at Phakisa kept the points going. A special thank you to all involved at this event.

From the onset of race 1 in the 2008 production car championship your goal was to clinch the Class T as well as the overall production car championship and you went out and did exactly what you set out to do. The dedication and commitment seen from you and your team has made RGMotorsport extremely interested in being part of you and your racing teams future plans.

Once again Graeme a remarkable achievement  and this should get the big budget factory teams to sit up and take notice of you and your teams commitments and results.

For all the potential sponsors who will be looking to getting involved with sponsorship you will be backing a gem in Graeme Nathan as an individual who is a dedicated racing driver with committed and professional race team.

The Production Car Championship consisted of 20 rounds

Graeme was on the podium 16 times

• six………….....1^st    place finishes
• nine…………...2^nd  place finishes
• one…….……...3^rd    place finish

A BIG THUMBS UP FROM RGMOTORSPORT TO GRAEME AND HIS TEAM

Van Heerden finishes season on a high note in the RGM Tuned Opel Astra OPC

A very big congratulation to Gary Van Heerden. What an awesome way to finish the season

From the RGMotorsport Team Rob and Steven Green were present at the Killarney race meeting and witnessed the fantastic drive and Gary,s overall Class T win for the day. An absolutely fantastic and well driven race by Gary Van Heerden.

The Class T battle of the Bridgestone production car championship was set to be a humdinger when it returned to Cape Town for the final round. Even though Graeme Nathan had already clinched the class T championship at Kyalami, nobody would be holding back. But it was touch and go for Team Astra OPC as they almost didn’t make it to the event, until Webcom stepped in with the funds.

However the weekend did not start off well for the two drivers as both cars were plagued by mechanical trouble. The team were however able to repair the OPC of Roets, just in time for Fridays late afternoon qualifying. The team then made a strategic decision and decided to give the car to Van Heerden for the weekend. Gary van Heerden then did very well to qualify the car in fourth position. “We were very pleased with this result as we had very limited practice time on the day due to the mechanical issues with the two cars and it is also the first time that we have raced the OPC at Killarney”

Race one saw van Heerden lose out on one position at the start and was then caught up in a race long dice with Graeme Nathan in the SEAT Leon Cupra and Curt Alchin in a VW Golf GTi. He eventually finished in fifth position.

Race two, was set to be a reversed grid which meant that Van Heerden’s fifth place finish put him in fourth place on the grid once again. Gary Van Heerden drove like a man possessed and started picking off the places one by one. He managed to make his way past Shaun Duminy in the Focus ST, Iain Pepper in the Golf GTi and then took the lead from Ettienne Prinsloo in the Mazda3 MPS. Graeme Nathan was following Van Heerden through the field but didn’t have the pace to challenge the OPC for the lead.

The great performance meant that Gary Van Heerden took the overall class T win for the day and the CAR magazine Rookie of the day award, as this is his first year in the Bridgestone Production Car championship. “This great performance is a taste of things to come as the team prepares for the 2009 season, which will be the first complete year of racing for Team Astra OPC.

The team would like to thank their sponsors, Webcom, RGMotorsport, Soviet eyewear, SAX, TSW, Leatt Brace and Red Bull.

RGMotorsport has shared an interesting 2008 season with Gary van Heerden, Reghard Roets and the rest of the Opel OPC team and once again a hearty congratulations to the whole team for there achievements during the 2008 racing season.

Thank you Reghard Roets for the editorial!

News from Kyalami 25th October 2008

Graeme Nathan RGM Tuned Seat Leon Cupra

A very big congratulations to Graeme and his team in the RGM tuned Seat Leon Cupra for winning the 2008 Class T production car championship on Saturday 25^th October at Kyalami with 1 race still to go. Graeme took 2^nd on the grid for heat 1 after the qualifying rounds with 100^th of a second between him the pole position vehicle. Lap 4 saw Graeme flying passed the Ford ST to take the lead which he held on to with ease for  a comfortable win. Heat 2 saw reverse grids and Graeme drove himself into 2^nd position and stayed there to complete heat 2 in 2^nd place. Overall for the day was 2^nd place and the Class T championship. The dedication & late nights by Graeme, Dean & RGMotorsport has paid off. A very special thank you to Steven Green for all those late night & very early morning tuning sessions. The last race at Killarney on the 15^th November will be the cherry on top for the RGM tuned Seat and Graeme & his team as the overall production vehicle championship can be won by Graeme in the Seat. This will be the first time that a Class T vehicle will win the overall championship

Good luck Graeme in Cape Town on the 15^th November and the RGM team is 100% committed to helping you achieve this goal

Reghard Roets & Gary van Heerden in the RGM Tuned Opel Astra OPC,s

Both Gary & Reghard had great qualifying heats and Reghard was in 3^rd on the grid and Gary was 4^th.Reghard had an awesome race and managed to pass the Ford to finish 2^nd in heat 1. Gary finished a credible 5^th in heat 1. Heat 2 saw a bit of drama unfolding as Reghard unfortunately had a front end bumper bashing at the start which put paid to his race. Gary had a flying start in heat 2 but was that was short lived as he was rear ended putting and end to his race.

A lot of hard work has gone into getting the 2 x OPC,s race ready and im sure the 2009 season will have some interesting results. Good luck for the last race of the season at Killarney in Cape Town and for the 2009 season

Melvill Priest in the RGM tuned Audi A4 3.2lt Quattro

Melvill had an awesome qualifying session and managed to take 2^nd position for heat 1

A hard fought race saw Melvill coming home in 4^th place in heat 1. Reverse grids then applied in heat 2 and Melvill went on to a credible 4^th place finish giving him an overall 3^rd for the day.

News from the Limpopo 400 13th September 2008

Well done to Henri & Maurice Zermatten in their RGM tuned Nissan Hardbody for coming home in 1^st place in class D at the Limpopo 400.

Friday evening was to be a very busy time for Henri and his team as the drive chain in the transfer case failed as well as the right front side shaft and all this happened before the time trials. The crew worked flat out to get the necessary repairs done and by 2am Saturday morning Henry had a race ready vehicle. Being the outstanding driver he is he won the class D time trials in 2 wheel drive only. Henri & Maurice went on to dominate Class D in the RGM tuned Ryobi Nissan Hardbody. A respectable lead was built up and further front axle problems close to the end of the race didn’t prevent Henri from winning class D.

An awesome result for Henri and his team in the RGM tuned Hardbody considering the mechanical problems they incurred.

Good luck for the Toyota Dealer 400 on the 10^th October.

Reghard Roets & Gary van Heerden in the RGM tuned Opel OPC,s

Reghard came into the Zwartkops race meeting on a high note after winning at Phakisa in August. The RGM tuned OPC,s  had a tough qualifying round. Reghard qualified in 4^th and Gary 5^th and this was due to the OPC,s braking abilities not being sufficient on the day. Heat 1 saw Reghard and Gary in 2^nd and 3^rd positions by the end of lap the first lap. Halfway through heat 1 Reghard took over 1^st position but delaminating tyres hurt his pace a lap later where he dropped to 3^rd place and held that position until the end of heat 1. Gary was also battling with delaminating tyres but managed to hold onto 4^th place until the end of heat 1.

Heat 2 saw Reghard and Gary go from 4^th and 5^th to 2^nd and 3^rd  before lap 1 was complete. Reghard passed Graeme on lap 11 followed by Gary who unfortunately could not complete heat 2 due to mechanical problems during the race. Reghard held onto 1^st place in heat 2 and with the 3^rd in heat 1 gave him a 1^st overall for the day. Awesome stuff having won overall 2 race meetings in a row.

RGM will be 100% committed to the tuning and set-up of Reghard and Gary’s OPC,s

Good luck for the rest of the season to Reghard and Gary & their team.

Graeme Nathan RGM tuned Seat Leon Cupra

After the dramatic yet exciting events which took place at Phakisa in August, Graeme and his dedicated racing team completed the rebuilding process of his Seat’s engine on Wednesday the 3^rd  and once up and running was on RGMotorsport’s Dyno on Thursday the 4^th for the tuning and set-up for Zwartkops. Graeme’s Seat left RGMotorsport’s premises during the early hours of Friday morning and the next stop was the track. Graeme wasn’t happy with the handling on the track during the practice rounds and the diff was identified as the problem, so it was removed and repaired on Friday evening making sure the vehicle was ready on time for Saturday’s event.

A very big thank you to Steve and Rob Green who helped complete this task in the early hours of Saturday morning as well as a special thank you to Roland from HDS  for opening up his shop at 11.30pm on Friday evening for Steven. With all the events that were taking place Graeme still managed to go out there and qualify in pole position for heat 1 on Saturday.

Heat 1: Graeme got of to a blistering start and ran the 1^st 2 laps at a 1.09.4 time which was 1 second quicker than the lap record giving Graeme a bonus point for the quickest lap.

Unfortunately the tyres started delaminating during lap 10 so Graeme tapped of during the last 5 laps to make sure he completed the heat and he came home in 8^th position which was in his favor for the reversed starting grid in heat 2

Heat 2: Graeme led heat 2 until lap 10 and using his many years of racing experience he had to slow the pace down so he could complete the race on his badly delaminated tyres and he still came home a credible 2^nd  which gave Graeme in his RGM tuned Seat a 4^th overall for the day. Graeme leads the class T category by 28 points going into the final 2 race weekends of the season

RGMotorsport remains 100% committed to the tuning & setting up of Graeme’s Seat and wishes Graeme & his dedicated racing team all the best on his charge to winning class T for the 2008 racing season

Melvill Priest in the Class A RGM tuned Team VMP Audi A4 Quattro

Melvill had a great qualifying round and put himself 3^rd on the grid for heat 1.

Heat 1 was explosive as ever and Melvill worked hard to come home in 3^rd place. Heat 2 saw the RGM tuned Audi suffering from a faulty fuel pump which caused Melvill to withdraw from the race 2 laps from the end.

Good luck to Melvill and the VMP racing team for Kyalami on the 25^th October

News from Phakisa 9th August 2008

Opel OPC --- Reghard Roets

Reghard “the one & only” Roets in his RGM tuned OPC qualified 2nd on the grid and has let all in class T know what his intentions are for the future.

After racing with class leader Graeme Nathan in heat 1 Reghard overtook Graeme 2 laps from the end to finish 1st as well as setting a new lap record for class T.

An awesome first win for Reghard in the RGM tuned OPC. Starting in 8th position in race 2 Reghard managed to race into 3rd position by the end of lap 2. A hotly contested race between Reghard, Formatto & Pepper with the RGM OPC coming home in 1st place giving Reghard a double and 1st overall for the day and the first win for Opel in South African production racing in 7 years!.

Congratulations to Reghard and good luck for the rest of the season

Opel OPC --- Gary van Heerden

Gary qualified in 5th position in his RGM tuned OPC and being the awesome driver he is he came home in 3rd place in heat 1. The 2nd heat started with the reverse grid and Gary managed to finish in 6th place, which gave him a 5th overall for the day.

After experiencing teething problems at the previous race meeting and during the early practice rounds Gary has displayed his professionalism as a racing driver by having great qualifying rounds and giving his best all the time. The RGM team is committed to making sure Gary’s OPC is in perfect running order for Swartkops on the 6th September and wishes him all the best for the rest of the season.

All round this was a great weekend for the RGM tuned vehicles and the last 3 race meetings will be hugely exciting events. RGM remains 100% committed to making sure that the Seat and Opel OPC's will be running as quickly as possible.

RGM tuned Seat Cupra-  Graeme Nathan

This is what true racing champions & their teams are made of. Graeme’s RGM tuned Seat Cupra picked up a misfire during the 1st practice round which could not be rectified at the track.

But with every intention to make qualifying in order not to start last on the grid and no spare engine at the track until Hatfield Seat were kind enough to offer their pace car as a donor .

A huge effort was put into removing both Seats engines and getting Graeme up and running. This paid off handsomely, as we saw Graeme take pole position after the qualifying session.

Race 1 saw Graeme going well until delaminating front tyres hampered his pace and only allowed him a 2nd place finish. The following heat got going with a reverse grid and Graeme was allowed to remove 20kg to combat the tyre delaminating problem. An unfortunate coming together between Graeme and Heinz Bose in the Mazda put paid to Graeme’s race and he could only limp home in 8th position which put him 6th overall.

With only 3 race meetings left in the season Graeme and his RGM tuned Seat will be working flat out to ensure he will be crowned 2008 champion. RGM will be there all the way and wishes Graeme and his team all the best for the rest of the championship.

EASTERN CAPE 500

Congratulations to Henri and Maurice Zermatten for winning class D in their RGM tuned Ryobi Nissan Hardbody at the Easter Cape 500.

TV coverage was awesome. Good luck for the Nissan Sugarbelt on the 16th of May 2008

News from Kyalami 24th November 2007

CONGRATULATIONS TO GRAHAM NATHAN

For winning Class T first time out in his new RGMotorsport tuned Seat Leon Cupra 2.0lt turbo at Kyalami on the 24th November 2007

RGMotorsport is proud to be associated with Graham Nathan & the team and look forward to the 2008 racing calendar.