Terry Wilford (Wellnetix Ford Mustang) continued his recent run of good form at the fifth round of the Dunlop V8 Supercars championship, with two wins and a second place in the three heats at the East London Grand Prix circuit on 23 August 2025, to move up to third place on the championship log. After championship leader Thomas Reib (Café 9 Automotive Chevrolet Lumina) failed to finish in the opening heat, Warren Lombard (PepBoys Automotive Ford Mustang) took full advantage to close the gap at the head of the standings to just six points with two rounds left to run.
Wilford signalled his intentions for the weekend when he topped both of Friday’s practice sessions, before going on to claim the Dunlop Pole Position with an absolutely stunning lap of 1’21.260”, over a second quicker than Reib. Auke Compaan (Hurricane Automotive Ford Mustang) was the quickest of the GT2 brigade and lined up in third place alongside Wayne Spicer (Wellness Group Holden) and local man Johan van der Westhuizen (Chevrolet Camaro). Both Alan Ryan (Wellness Group Ford Falcon) and Lombard, whose crew spent the entire Friday trying to get his car ready for action after he suffered mechanical problems in Thursday’s unofficial practice session, didn’t make it out for the qualifying session and lined up at the back of the grid for the first race on Saturday.
In the opening heat, Wilford used his pole position to good effect, opening up a commanding lead over the chasing pack. Reib looked like he was going to have to settle for second, but gearbox problems with the normally reliable Café 9 Automotive Chev Lumina shortly before half-distance left Reib as a spectator. Lombard, who had a cautious start after only having driven four laps around the 3.92km East London Grand Prix Circuit, had worked his way through the field and inherited second after Reib’s demise. While Lombard did manage to narrow the gap to Wilford, the early advantage that Wilford had built up took him to a comfortable win with Lombard just over five seconds adrift. Ryan, the other driver who missed out on Friday’s qualifying session, also worked his way through the field to cross the line in third place and first of the GT2 cars after Compaan suffered mechanical problems with three laps left to run. Spicer and van der Westhuizen rounded out the top six.
Reib’s crew fitted a new gearbox in the gap between races, allowing the Lumina to take its place alongside Wilford on the front row of the second race grid. While Wilford managed to stay in front the entire race, his advantage was nowhere near as big as in the first heat, and Reib harried the Mustang at every opportunity. In the end, Wilford took his second win of the day, this time by less than two seconds. The pair that started at the back of the grid had a race-long scrap that was only decided on the final lap when Lombard made a move that stuck to claim third. Ryan had to settle for fourth, and his second GT2 class win of the day ahead of Spicer and van der Westhuizen.
The final heat was a reverse grid affair over a slightly longer ten laps. Lombard had better tyres than his rivals and used them to good effect, grabbing the lead on the opening lap and controlling things from the front to take a five-second win. Behind him, Reib held second in the early stages, but Wilford pushed him down a spot after the first quarter of the race. Wilford was able to pull away from Reib, but couldn’t close the gap to Lombard, eventually having to settle for second place. Behind Reib, Compaan, in his repaired car, got the better of Ryan to take fourth place and the GT2 class win. Spicer rounded out the top six.
Wilford’s two wins and a second place gave him the overall and GT class wins ahead of Lombard. Ryan claimed third place in the overall standings, and with it the GT2 win ahead of Spicer. Reib, Compaan and van der Westhuizen completed the top seven.
While Reib still leads the championship standings, his advantage over Lombard has been cut to just six points. Wilford has kept his march up the championship table going, and has now moved up to third place, 48 points behind Lombard. Compaan, Spicer and Ryan round out the top six.
The Dunlop V8 Supercars return inland for the penultimate round of their 2025 championship, which is scheduled to take place at Red Star Raceway on 3 and 4 October.