Never One to Quit, Van Der Merwe Pushes Through a Tough Zwartkops Finale

The 2025 South African Touring Cars SupaCup Championship reached its conclusion at Zwartkops Raceway this past weekend. During the final event, Dawie van der Merwe encountered significant challenges due to persistent overheating issues affecting his performance. Overcoming tick-bite fever certainly didn't help.

Despite the technical setbacks that hampered his Toyota SupaStarlet’s pace throughout practice and the races, the Mbombela-based driver showed his trademark determination to push forward, refusing to throw in the towel. Dawie continued to make incremental improvements across every session, working closely with his team to extract the most from the car under difficult conditions.

In qualifying, Dawie set a best lap of 1:05.992, placing him eighth among the SupaCup entries but only three-tenths off third. Across both races, the heat proved relentless, both in weather and in competition. While the car’s temperature gauges ran high, Dawie kept his focus cool, completing both races and maintaining consistent lap times in the 1:07–1:08 range, his best being a 1:07.533 in Race 2. He brought the car home safely and ensured valuable data was gathered for future development.

Reflecting on the weekend, Dawie noted that while it wasn’t the ending he had hoped for, it marked another step forward in understanding the SupaStarlet package and his own progression as a circuit racer.

“It was a tough weekend, the overheating made it really difficult to push the car the way I wanted to. But we never give up. Every lap is a lesson, and I’m proud that we fought through to the end,” Dawie said after the final race.

The Zwartkops finale wraps up Dawie’s 2025 SupaCup campaign, where resilience and steady growth defined his season. With the off-season ahead, he will now regroup, evaluate the technical challenges faced, and prepare for an even stronger 2026.