(UPDATED feb 26) VW AND THEIR ‘CONTRIBUTION’ TO supacup
and motorsport in 2025
WHAT DID VW DO IN 2025? THE ‘MACHINE’ THAT ALLOWED IT AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR THE FUTURE OF TALENT IN SA ….. UPDATED FEB 26 (BELOW)
A quick, FACTUAL, if not somewhat angry REPORT……
This was supposed to be a quick ‘prequel’ and placeholder of what would be a ‘warts and all’ story from a Dad who truly believed in developing genuine motorsport talent in SA but its a bit more than that, but far from all of what happened! Most motorsport Dads (and entire families) give life, soul and savings to get our youngsters on track to develop their skills on legal equipment (equal ground) alongside a strict set of rules (and hopefully enforced) with the goal to then take South African talent to the world and prevail.
However, after 13 years of supporting my son’s racing career in South Africa (as well as creating initiatives to help other parents and drivers), 2025 has been a shocking eye opener of note. I have witnessed first hand (no conjecture here or guessing… actual irrefutable data, evidence, findings and documented events which I will gladly and transparently make available) that large elements of the motorsport ‘machine’ of SA is broken. It has illegalities, lies, cover-ups, nepotism, theft (of podiums from youngsters in legal cars that actually deserve it as well as our money) and worse still, no admission or apology to the racing community when caught red-handed. Just more lies and excuses in its absence.
I would also like to make it clear that this is not sour grapes, as our driver won the SA National Championship in Supa Cup despite the behaviour of the Series owners and their team with a spare round to go… which just goes to show that talent and goodness can sometimes prevail against this (not usually). This is actually worse than sour grapes, instead it is my deep deep deep disgust and anger of what certain people have (actually) done to the very fabric of trust in our sport, the power and control they abused and continue to do so. The youngsters and families they have stolen trophies from, the sponsorship money they still continue to benefit from instead of more worthy recipients (even though all the other competitors were the only ones using a 100% version of what their main Sponsor sells, which I am sure the sponsors are not aware of) and the misinformation that continues to this day to try and hide what really is the lowest of the low in any sport.
These are also the same people that I unavoidably have to pay hundreds of thousands of rands to this year alone (don’t want to count the last five!) in maintaining a VW car to chase results in a series we are supposed to have an (equal) chance of winning, as has everyone else. In business that is called ‘corruption’ and people can go to prison for it… in Motorsport people are just too scared to call it anything, let alone look for it in the first place, and certainly never speak about it publicly although everyone on the grid knows or suspects it.
I am beyond livid not only as a Dad (and sponsor) but also as someone passionately involved in promoting the growth of motorsport. I continue to be livid, but have been silent on this for ages still waiting for an apology … not to me, but to the whole SupaCup field and the whole of motorsport in SA. Instead, it’s being covered with misdirection - even to the point that those few of us personally involved in pursuing and uncovering these truths (finally) in 2025 are being referred to as ‘critics’ and ‘haters’ by the teams drivers, families, associates and friends who clearly don’t know the actual truth and how long it has been going on (and now how obvious all of that is based on all the historical available data we have seen). So so so bad……
VW’s despicable actions in SupaCup aside, you will also see that on this journey, despite mountains of evidence, irrefutable data and analysis from the countrys leading experts, and following due process over months to try and stop the perpetrator…. when the ‘serial killer’ was free and about to target their next victim, the cops were asleep on their phones and for a little while actually helped bury another next victim! In my personal view, the perpetrators are still very much armed and dangerous… leopards rarely change their spots. I say leopards, but maybe it’s just one or two, who knows.
Despite their best efforts for it not to happen, we obviously obtained official chemical analysis paperwork for the single event that was finally punished (not without having to go outside of our own countrys ‘machine’ in order to do so), but the data from earlier events also correlates perfectly to the chemistry results and related data is also equally damning, and it was that original data that started our hunt for the truth from round 2 at Kyalami after lap records were utterly smashed without any fuel, technical checks or anyone even looking at the cars whatsoever. This after our car was literally taken apart by the VW staff in the previous round in Cape Town when winning with no lap records, even to the point that someone on our team had to prove our intercooler spray water was actually water by drinking it. Needless to say, our car is how it is supplied, and even if we wanted to fiddle we simply don’t have the access that they do. However, these cars are sophisticated and have extensive sensors, measurements and logging, and one thing we all know is…. data (now that we finally have access to see the important stuff) doesn’t lie and if you have access, you can see what’s really going on.!
After Kyalami and the performance and data we had analysed there, there were then a few of us all lobbying the ‘machine’ with this detailed data since then as we (with the aid of expert analysis) knew exactly there was a huge different in engine load, injector durations and essentially the engine receiving lots more fuel than any of ours (and we compared a good few and all of ours were the same). This generally means that unless you are illegally changing mechanical things like injectors, turbos and the such like (none of which us mere mortals have access to as only they have that access), you have to be using an additive in the fuel that makes the ECU demand more fuel because it can burn more fuel (with it’s additive). It is one of those two, so take your pick… data data data showed that it was the type of fuel (being not 100% Astron). Fact.
The next round came (PE) and on Friday’s practice we could see again their data (engine load) was through the roof. I had even imported ethanol testers (enough for 10 cars) from the US especially for this round and gave them to the VW TCs. Super easy to use as you just mix the petrol from the tank with water and instantly shows ethanol content in a minute, no need for expensive chemical test but shows up the one thing these SupaCups love. Of course these were quickly sidelined (now we know why) and as usual there was to be no meaningful fuel testing and I have never seen them since. But instead I decided to protest fuel on the day (very publicly) as a preventative measure and their data suddenly returned closer to normal levels on race day. However, when I asked a senior representative of the said company, they said it was because these cars are also used for Endurance so ethanol could be in the tank… absolutely not these particular ones I can assure you! Fuel additives and Ethanol have no place in a single SupaCup car on the grid this year as none are in Endurance spec or used as such.
Post this event, I wrote a full (email) letter to the Machine and the company and officials (a very nice and polite one) asking for more checks at the next round in Zwartkops and especially around fuel, and I made mention that it seems there may be a problem (as now we had more data showing a certain car with very different engine data to a number of ours over a number of events) and I also asked for controlled fuel. I was literally begging for the field to be equal and controlled.
At Zwartkops, quali came and went and there was no sign of controlled fuel or any checks. Then suddenly a bulletin was issued there was to be controlled fuel for Race 1 and we must drain our tank (which we did) and then controlled fuel was suddenly cancelled and instead we had to have our tanks sealed after the race which we did gladly. I was assured that there were measures in place. I filmed and watched fuel samples being taken and given that we had once again seen data that would show an additive was used , we were confident that this would be the end to this farce. However as the police were policing the police they conveniently didn’t file the paperwork for the tests to be done (I wonder why) but thankfully they were done anyway and then made available.
The ‘Machine’ then tried to have the definitive chemical test that became avaiable (and the same trusted Lab process used by the bigger SATC cars) deemed not eligible because of ‘failure of due process’. Of course the very people who were in charge of the ‘due process’ were the ones with fuel well out of range and illegal. Funny that. Obviously we were not taking that ridiculousness lying down as despite the mountains of data that we had provided (from multiple people) which we all knew was conclusive enough, we now had an actual chemical analysis from the day, from sealed tanks, on video which was irrefutable.
What happened after that, I will write about later if necessary…. but it involved a lot more misdirection and excuses from VW around replacing injectors and other misdirection and irrelevant junk, other countries and Head offices, ‘machines’, flights, meetings and a complete waste of a good few weeks of my life just to try and put a stop once and for all (haha I wish) to what had to be the very worst thing that could ever happen in motorsport. Especially given where this was emanating from as this was obviously not just a renegade ’Dad’ being caught fiddling with a spark plug in a single series, and clearly had much deeper implications for many people in many series in 2025, in the future and maybe in days gone by, who knows!
For those that don’t know how this could happen in the first place, you can’t really blame the ‘machine’ (much) here… the ‘machine’ trusts the leopard to run, control and check everything and abide to the rules (and tech regs) that they themselves approved, signed and use against the rest of us when they feel like it… and why wouldn’t they trust them, they are a global brand and a Public Listed Company. It’s quite shocking. Needless to say that the whole ‘TC’ process has changed (ever so) slightly since this all happened, but rest assured, the leopard(s) are still having their say and way too involved in all the wrong places and continue to get stroked for it! I was always taught that leopards rarely change their spots.. or maybe ‘cheetah’ would be a better use of animal name!
Motorsport and some of the players in it must change for the better and quickly. We have great talent here in SA without the means to jump on planes and pay the big fees abroad, but so much holding them back here at home on talent alone. The whole ‘machine’ seems more scared of upsetting the big boys as they think motorsport will suffer…. I can tell you categorically that Motorsport is (and has been) suffering BECAUSE of the likes of them (behaving like this) and our talent will certainly be better off in the long run without leopards like that. Starting and running a series is all well and good and deserved of praise, but it is not helping if the power the controllers have then ultimately corrupts which it most certainly has, then we are just wasting our money! PLEASE… we have a rule book, technical spec and morals… we just want to stick to those.
VW should also remember that we (as well as 90% of the field) also drive a VW with lots of big VW badges on and surely all wave a VW Flag (a legal and legitimate one) in any Championship. VW Motorsport did indeed win the SupaCup Championship this year as our SATC SupaCup/ SupaPolo is designed and built by them, our engine supplied, refreshed and sealed by them (bit of a concern there now ) and every single part on it is bought and replaced from them. For VW to try and win at all costs against a VW customer seems to make it even worse. One thing is for certain is that I personally won’t pay to race with them or against them ever again, nor would I advocate anyone to do so in anything under their sole jurisdiction and any hint of control or influence (and trust me that ‘influence’ is a big thing and spans far and wide!).
There is also another factor at play here that should mean that this should never have happened in the first place. This is a Public Listed Company whose representatives get paid a salary to be at the track, wear the brand and do what they do and also the Company uses that platform as a showcase to promote their road cars. Unlike us who pay to be there. A large Public Listed Corporate (and anyone who represents them) must always behave and act within rules, governance and a strict set of global and internal morals, codes and policies in any of the areas in which they do business or present themselves to the public. To some extent, they should actually be nice to you! VW global are very big on that and admirably so in the rest of the world and employ independent Company’s to ensure their governance is always spot on. In this context alone, the term ‘Cheating’ is perhaps what a father and son / daughter do when they cross into the grey areas of the rules when karting or racing….. it is of course absolutely wrong, and can end in a punishment (not death ) from MSA or the such like. However, when this behaviour is done by a Public Listed Company and / or their representatives or contractors, whilst still accountable to MSA for the race day rules, it moves well outside the auspices of MSA and also becomes a very different thing which is actually called Fraud or corruption, and people go to jail. Remember their Diesel scandal of misrepresenting just a few emission figures to the press and their customers. People did go to jail!
It is also very important to understand the extreme emotional context of this which makes us Dads so passionate and so angry about the despicable wrong in this… This is a big Public Listed Corporate with huge budgets taking away (illegally) from your own son or daughter and belittling and diminishing any growth and achievements they are thriving for (and in many cases being denied to achieve)…. let alone the money spent to do so (mostly spent with the very same Corporate). Then brushed under the carpet and ridiculous stories such as ‘they got their fuel from the wrong Astron pump’ (yes they really are saying that to anyone with lower than average brain cells!)…. but you would need petrol marked 100 Octane on the pump to actually be 97/98 measured RON octane and that does not exist in SA. I dare any parent to accept anyone (let alone a corporate) stealing so blatantly from their kids and then treat them as if they have done the wrong. Dont think so. …. However, if they had just put their hands up, apologised to all the drivers and admitted they had done wrong (which I was foolishly expecting) then I think we would all feel a lot better and I would not be writing this, but the lies, deceit and complete lack of accountability and misdirection continues.
This badly written blurb above only scratches the surface of all of this and what actually happened.…. and I have spared much of the official correspondence between us Competitors, ‘Machines’, Police, Leopards and everyone, and the work behind the scenes to try and make sure this did not end up like this. Whatever story you have been told or heard, this is the only the story and we gave all the relevant people due warning that we knew what was happening, that we wanted fair and equal racing and for VW to police the series properly and that of course the abuse of this and the cheating must stop. People wonder why we are still so angry, and why it should take Dads of competitors to ensure this all happens and a premium class has fair and equal racing!!! As you will have seen, we made every effort to make this preventative to just get these people to stop before they were caught and have the right checks in place to stop anything they were doing. There was no intention for people to get penalties by ‘surprise’ and we only ever wanted to race on equal ground and most definitely the same fuel as per the regs.
There is so much more that I would happily speak about openly, on air, TV or anywhere than waste more of our time and write this down (badly)…all the facts, the correspondence and documentation and tonnes of it. I also believe that there’s a lot more to pursue on the above, if not purely to get that missing apology (and accountability) that they very much owe the drivers, sponsors and families.
Fix this for everyone’s sake in all of these classes please…. peel away the sugar coating and find out what the taste really is underneath (as it sits). These guys have the ability to really do great things for the sport and have done to an extent, they are an amazing global brand with amazing products and we are lucky enough to have a Motorsport division here in SA (the only one). SupaCup for one should arguably be the very best (and biggest) series in the Country with proper race cars that are second to none and the perfect young driver or older ‘masters’ race car. They are priced well and good enough to be exported to Germany for a brand new series which again is testament to the product itself.
So the products are great, so what or who is causing all of the above and the continuing lack of honesty and accountability because it is certainly not suddenly fixed by the loss of a few points?...and why are people still being phoned by a VW employee whenever this subject crops up on any WhatsApp channel or social post, saying that talking about it will damage motorsport and it must be deleted? Who is telling people openly that ‘certain people’ (I guess that might be me??) are the ones damaging motorsport because they involved VW Germany in this? (Yes I did when all of SA was trying to bury this and noone would answer me, this complete abuse of power and control had to stop immediately as it is not allowed in any global Company - including South Africa, and in any of their endeavours whether motorsport or not)…. Who is still insisting to everyone that they got the wrong Astron pump (100 octane unleaded ???) when those that know the facts know that is preposterous? Who has still not apologised to any driver or parent on the grid? Who are actually the ones damaging motorsport here and will continue to do so if left unchecked, and where actually are the checkers in all this?
Now we have controlled fuel, the latest (final) round at Zwartkops saw the VW cars run away again (literally run away) from the current 2025 SupaCup Champion, the returning 2022 SupaCup Champion (who has been doing amazing things in Europe this year) as well as some brilliant and much improved SupaCup drivers that really deserve to be at the front as if they were in a different formula and very different cars. After spending some time analysing this and historical data, it shows exactly why. It would be wonderful for VW to share (to their customers) how their cars in tow (air obstructed by a car in front) can run at engine temperatures between 88 degrees and 92 degrees which is cooler than they ran in the freezing winter sessions that we have their data for. It was a blistering hot day and we (and everyone else) were trying to manage temperatures of upto 106 degrees and beyond in free air. What is so important about this is - The SupaCup engines starts cutting turbo boost at 98 degrees and increasingly so for every degree the engine (water) temperature rises, so the hotter you get, the less power you have with next to no boost and a very crap car when hitting 106 degrees+.
The overlays of this data are chalk and cheese in terms of power because of this temperature (power) difference and on the short straights at Zwartkops equalled an 8 kph difference between us and everyone else versus BOTH the VW cars. That’s approaching the difference between Supacup and Touring Cars when all things are equal. I can’t speak for other SupaCup drivers but we could not use P2P at all that weekend as would have raised the temps even higher and the cars were ‘dead’ from the first lap.
88-92 degrees is impossible in these cars on a weekend like that and especially as the intake temps were exactly the same as ours, so the air (and amount) arriving into the cars was the same. Their engines were of course equally as hot as ours (physics says so), it’s just that the car’s brain that cuts boost somehow didnt seem to think it was, so they had 100% boost 100% of the time…. I know what they were doing of course because I am not as stupid as they seem to think we all are. But prior to this data, I can’t tell you how many times we have replaced radiators, water pumps and anything we can trying to chase the impossible ‘cool car’…. I guess thats good business though.
In the past, they have refused to address overheating problems of these cars and we even at one stage in 2024 had to resort to the old style front end until they outlawed it for 2025 when we were competing well with it! LTR even mocked up a prototype smaller intercooler back in 2023 which allows more air onto the radiator and there has been promise of that this year but of course it never came. They always claimed they didn’t have a heating problem which we now know a couple of very good reasons why they didnt / don’t…. Ethanol added to fuel of course is one of the greatest engine coolers in itself, but when that was shut down then there are clearly other things to do!
It was very unfortunate that we did not have access to the data (that we studied last week) in time on the actual race day because I would have loved to have protested ‘the certain components’ on these cars for achieving what was completely impossible for a standard SupaCup car that the rest of us had to put up with that weekend. Not because I would have gained anything out of that whatsoever, apart from proving once again that leopards don’t change their spots and perhaps something would be done to properly deal with this! These cars are all built by the same people, they run to the same rules, they are all maintained and kept in excellent condition with no expense spared, and all have the same tyres and setup give or take the odd .1 in tyre pressure, all the drivers are of a high standard….. Is it normal that all the other 10 cars run at 100+ degrees with decreased boost but only 2 cars run constantly at impossible winter temps of 88-92 and then literally blitz everyone? Look at the data…. and see for yourself, if you think that’s normal then great for you and drive on.
Use it, don’t use it, it’s your kids and your money, I just felt you should be armed with what actually happened this year, how and why. Also important to know that all we all wanted from the start was to race equally (when evidence on non-equality became evident), no advantage for anyone, no retrospective punishments… all the same cars and great racing, and for anyone thinking of chasing a cheap plastic pot unfairly to think twice for fear of punishment. This unfortunately did not stop them and took us all for fools, continue to do so and you know that thing about leopards right? Very sad.
There are definitely some eggs that will need to be broken for us to have a great omelette, but these particular eggs are very very off!
Tim Bishop
AND SOME RELATED DOCS……
This was Zwartkops post event fuel test that we all expected to happen but wasn’t supposed to happen! (The ‘alleged’ comment was me…. that’s what the ‘Police’ called it at the time when they tried to dismiss it). Subsequent tests confirm that a large amount of ethanol was present (of course)… SupaCup turbo cars absolutely love that but ethanol has no business being in SupaCup fuel solely used for our particular sprint racing and is forbidden. It must be 100% Astron unleaded as per (their) rules. Before this we already had a smoking gun, fingerprints and a dead victim, this however was the definitive DNA test.
We were all waiting for the fuel test from Zwartkops as we had politely requested it and had actions instructed by officials that indicated that way on the day, however it seems that was not the case! It was officially declared ‘not in due process’ so the test results were not enforceable despite us all doing exactly what was requested of us by the official to ensure fuel legality and testing. All the data and then this… and still no action? Thankfully somewhere in the ‘machine’ (and of course after us having no choice but to protest this to make sure the process didn’t stop (You can read this HERE) alongside multiple closed door discussions which I won’t write about as well as potential intervention from Germany) sense finally prevailed and at least some consequences were finally on their way alongside fundamental changes to the future control of SupaCup to make sure this could not happen again (so easily).
Some of the data screens sent off that started the process to find out what was happening… This is overall ‘Engine Load’... a factor which shows the power generated by that engine which all should be equal. All of these screens were submitted long before the actual fuel test results were received and these here were just the few I had done. Other driver’s data specialists have submitted many many more examples and much more detailed than this. You will see a normal engine data comparison further below.
Drill into the data to find the differences…. In this instance, it’s fuel fuel fuel and everything to do with it!
How much fuel is the ECU asking for and how much is actually being pushed through the injectors? (remember the ECU auto adjusts to whatever fuel you put into it, we don’t personally have access to the ECU or injectors to change anything as teams and drivers, manufacturers do though!). Bigger injector duty, the more fuel (of whatever type) you are burning, the more power. Obviously on the same fuel, all the grid should be all pretty much the same on all of these graphs and everything working the same. Was certainly not the case here and at multiple events in 2025. (Data fully available)
REFERENCE GRAPH: This is compared to another SupaCup competitor … exactly the same within a whisker as it should be and how these are all supposed to be built. This is how you get a Driver’s Championship not a Car Championship when the cars run to spec and the rules. These are my very basic comparison slides, there are a multitude of much more comprehensive and scientific analysis comparisons from data experts.
Leading up to all this and before Zwartkops, whilst tongue in cheek about what was done in terms of checks in PE (mainly as I was threatening to protest fuel as had already seen all the data from Kyalami), this is what I then requested politely by email to the very high ‘powers that be’ prior to the next round at Zwartkops. This email was pretty much ignored and the rest is history. We always wanted to prevent people from cheating and race on equal ground (with the fear of getting caught for anyone who was that way inclined), not actually catch them cheating and them be penalised after the fact. That is not racing!… and when it is the Series organisers and owners (and controllers) themselves that are doing it, then what future does that indicate for anything where they are involved? More worryingly, since all of this happened, so many people have spoken to me about so many things in past years (and current) involving the very same people. It’s scary and a can of worms too big for me to get involved in as I know what I know now and that’s enough for now.
As for the temperature issues and resultant performance in the last round at Zwartkops…. the data is available, go get it and look at it. If you need control data from the winter to compare I will gladly provide that to you but you wont need that to see!
NEW FEB 26
ETHICS AND GOVERNANCE COMMITEE PROCESS and then… ABSOLUTE silence AND BUSINESS AS USUAL.
Just after publishing the above article, (in November 2025), I was asked to attend into an ‘Investigation’ into VW by the Ethics and Governance committee of MSA which of course I did so with pleasure. This was a two hour online meeting with some very nice and esteemed members of the MSA board. From this process, I assumed there may be some sort of consequence or at the very least a public apology from those involved to be the ultimate output, which to this day we are still missing and it is business as usual for the perpetrators. (I have not been contacted or seen any published outcome at all). It was an interesting process to say the least as clearly there had already been some input from ‘the other side’ as many question were around ‘octane’ and ‘does octane bring power’ which is clearly a defence (excuse) strategy as of course it doesn’t on its own. They also seemed to be more interested in the fact that it was the article above that was damaging motorsport, when instead, my article was informing them of who was damaging motorsport and being conveniently swept under the carpet and invisible to all…. the usual modus operandi.
In this discussion I talked about that this was not about the fact that they ‘more octane’ and never was, this was about the fuel tests being vastly different from controlled fuel from Astron that they were supposed to be run as we were. The test confirmed what the data had confirmed all year (that we had complained about) that they were adding large amounts of performance additives (ethanol) to the fuel which we all know makes a massive difference in these cars, and is highly illegal and can only be ‘knowingly’ and purposefully done. The side effect of adding the ‘turbo loving’ ethanol is that it happens to raises octane readings. In the fuel test, this difference is how we could see that their fuel was not the controlled fuel demanded and confirmed what we had seen on the data and been complaining about since the Kyalami round. We don’t care about the Octane, we care that they had very different fuel to us stuffed with Ethanol to give all of the extra performance so evidenced on the data which they should not have.
I have heard all sorts of excuses from that side saying that they went to the wrong pump and got higher octane fuel by accident….as well as one of the driver’s father saying that octane at Astron pumps varies wildly (I’m sure their sponsors would love that comment on the quality of their fuel). But even if that was the case, both VW cars would be exactly the same readings (octane) when tested at the end of the day, which they were not. They were just slamming in different amounts of ethanol into the standard pump fuel and ‘gaining an unfair advantage’. Simple as that.
There are also a whole load of unanswered and undealt with consequences that as per normal due process and the GCRs should have happened and haven’t, and be very sure that we have all personally been victim to those processes and punishments end to end. There has been no public publication (on the normal MSA public channels) of the transgression and exclusion, there has been no fines or further penalties given as stipulated in the GCRs for such a ‘technical and unfair advantage’ transgression which are especially large for official ‘Teams’. Also, the individuals responsible at the team of course have penalties and restrictions imposed upon them, not least in the ‘MSA Code of Conduct’ for Board (or any) members which would specifically exclude people of such transgressions to represent MSA in any capacity. All I have heard in the pit lane talk since is lame excuses and ridiculous lies told to anyone stupid enough to listen, with no official comment of what has actually happened (or excuse thereof) as of course there is no way of doing that without actually admitting guilt (which of course is the indisputable case).
We know they were doing further illegal things to become much faster in the rounds after they were caught, being able to run engine temps inexplicably colder (92 degs) than their own winter testing times data on a blistering 40 degree hot Zwartkops day when everyone else was running at 110+degrees. For those that dont know, the turbo on these cars starts cutting back boost as the engine temp climbs past 95 degrees to almost no boost at all at 110 degrees. This also renders any push to pass useless and is in effect a non-turbo car… but certainly not the same car as one running with full boost. Running at 92 degrees engine temps meant that their two guns obliterated everyone else having a knife fight). Their engines are of course just as hot as the rest as the front cooling ducts and everything should be identical and governed by strict rules(!), but the sensors that speak to the ECU and the temperature numbers being sent to it to determine when to cut boost is where the magic is… only they (and certain people - we also know who you are) have access to that.
Watch the last race event of 2025, these cars fly away from very experienced drivers with exactly the same cars. They can also easily follow each other in dirty air and close proximity (impossible when managing real temps as temps rocket quickly) and they just drive away from everyone like it is a different class of car. Look at their data and then compare to the data of the entire field, and their temps and boost… and then look at a their comparative lap data when the weather is only 10 degrees in winter. They ran cooler than their own cold winter test in 40 degree temps on that day which of course is beyond impossible. This will continue as no lessons learned here as zero consequences and the slippy get slippier… just a hissy fit from them, lame excuses, playing the victim and making people (competitors) like us the enemy. Also no apology whatsoever which is while we are still here asking the questions…. and dropping SupaCup from all public channels in 2025 like a stone which was wildly different from when they were winning. Quite sad state of affairs really.
The same unpunished people are back in charge and ready to do it to you guys all over again, and if you are naive to think this (continued) behaviour only resides where we caught it, you are sadly mistaken. Also, we have seen since that no lessons were learned and literally anything can and will be done to abuse the system and prevail despite the damage happening underneath which is actually the heart of motorsport. SupaCup should be the very best affordable top class series in the country, the cars are amazing, they are affordable (ish) and highly attractive to great drivers and yet the series is left in tatters over the years and this year will be no better with just a handful of cars. There are loads of cars around, but why would you waste your time where cheating is rife at the very top and not dealt with properly, what is the point and what is is teaching our kids part from disappointment and that hard work actually does NOT pay off? Germany’s new SupaCup (Polo Cup) launch with massive grids for 2026 is case in point, there is no history of accusations, nepotism, corruption, cheating or any dirty legacy there yet and I am sure they have not been told (yet) about what happened here. I hope our friends here purely stick to building great race cars for them and stay out of everything else and it stays as strong there run by integrity as should have been (and should be) here.
Anyways, I have written more than I planned here - based on my original article above which raised some ‘points’ for the ‘Governance and Ethics’ committee for me to respond back in writing to them and the MSA CEO…… (I obviously cant share the 2 hour long video conversation I had with the Ethics committee for their privacy, but was around what I just wrote above)…. this is the info I sent them afterwards to clarify some ‘points’ I was asked specifically to officially answer to….. (and to date have never had a single reply, guidance, outcome, report or response whatsoever)
STARTS
(EMAILED TO THE GOVERNANCE AND ETHICS COMMITTEE AND CEO - MSA) - 16th Nov 2025
RE: meeting with Governance and Ethics committee
Without Prejudice
Firstly to confirm that I discussed things at length with the committee with a view on absolute openness, honesty and full transparency. This included mentioning competitors and engineer names that aided our investigations (people much cleverer than I) who may not particularly want to be named. I am also furnishing extra information in good faith. In no way must any of this information be used against myself, or anyone I mentioned who aided in helping to uncover what had happened that leads us to this point.
The points you requested are detailed below. However, for the record, a few of the questions seem to be about my ‘article' which given the facts and evidence that have been made available to MSA (and related parties) throughout the year you through multiple (reliable) sources and many many people that could be spoken to about this and many similar occurrences concerning the same parties, I do feel that that particular focus is a little in the wrong place. The notion in any way that what i wrote is 'not good for motorsport' (and that being of primary concern and being asked to take it down) fades into insignificance in the fact that whilst not pretty reading, it is fact fighting against constant misinformation and lies from the guilty party leading to contempt towards innocent parties further damaging our sport. The article is purely a consequence of where we are in the proceedings and to be brutally honest, if I didn’t have respect for what your team are doing i would instead be actually sharing it properly today for a wider audience out of pure principal.
It is purely there in the absence of any written accountability, apology to competitors and also MSA conveniently not publishing this on their normal (‘he/she' has a penalty) channels that many of us have been victims of, and most certainly not penalised in any way whatsoever for such an infringement which at the very least would be R150,000.00 fine for fuel as per GCRs regarding technical, exclusion and exclusion from 3 further race events (GCR176) or previous events, fine for the entrant of R300,000 and the GCRs allow for more if necessary. Your very own (MSA) code of conduct also stipulates that anyone involved in such things certainly could not be on your board and officially represent MSA? This is all noticeably absent. There may be good reasons for all of that, but none of us know those and have not been published or explained.
There also seemed to be some confusion / insinuation in our time together (presumedly from the actual chemical fuel test which was octane based) that it was purely the higher octane found in the results which implied higher performance. All of the data provided previously had showed that there was a fuel ‘additive’ of some sort being used (in Kyalami and practice at East London before I handed out Ethanol testers to the TCS and made a big noise about protesting fuel that weekend) allowing better combustibility and therefore the ecu / engine demanding more fuel = more power. Clearly not the same fuel as the rest of us. The chemical fuel test itself proved that their fuel was indeed wildly different to two other totally unrelated cars (Visser and Bishop) using the regulated fuel which were also tested. Being out of range by that much though is in itself is illegal and clearly demonstrates that their fuel was very different to the Astron pump fuel used by the rest of us. We already knew from the data that their fuel could not be normal pump fuel alone, the test proved it was not and indeed different and not regulation fuel, with no reason not to be especially as their sponsor if Astron, which proved all of our concerns with all of the data provided. The octane number was almost irrelevant - it was not the same fuel and we all know that adding Ethanol or methanol to normal pump fuel would raise octane as a consequence, but the octane is not bringing the power, the ability of those additives to bring more oxygen into the mix brings the power which is what the data showed with increased fuel flow.
Regarding the points asked of me.. I was unable to access the Read.ai report so at the time of writing this I only have my notes which i could not clarify so i will send what I think. You are welcome to ask for further clarification or ask anything that I may have missed.
1: VW contact dates.
I had already looked to everyone involved for help on this matter via email or direct interaction ie. MSA (Vic, Allison), VW Motorsport (Mike, Proff, COC (Arlene), etc. I have lots of emails and recipient lists if necessary that were very precise and were mostly unanswered (including other clear abuses of power and influence) . As my next course of action after these closed doors and zero response I had no choice but to try and contact VW directly.
On the 3rd July 2025 I sent a single email to VW SA (support@vwconnect.co.za) and Germany cc'd io@volkswagen.de simply outlining the sensitivity of the subject and potential issue and that I wanted to give Martina Biene (MD of SA) the opportunity to discuss with me first before this escalated and my full details were provided. In the email I requested her email address or teh chance to have an urgent chat/meetings with her and gave my full details for her to get hold of me if they didn’t want to give that out.
Germany engaged with me immediately and requested details and all correspondence which I did not do until I heard back from SA….
SA replied (Andile Dlamini) stating “Volkswagen has noted your complaint against Volkswagen Motorsport. Our company is not in the position to respond or engage with you until MSA has conclude its investigation of your complaint."
So VW SA slammed all doors which is why I then continued to deal with Germany. Quite a ridiculous reply given I only wanted to chat to them about it first and for some reason they thought that this was just about MSA rules, and not the corporate version of that which is fraud and corruption, not least as I was a paying client.
It would be interesting to know who helped word that reply (and involving MSA strangely??) which I am sure would never had been an official corporate sanctioned action by the larger VW as was ill conceived and frankly stupid. MSA actually had nothing to do with it in this interaction. So VW Germany got the benefit of all the correspondance and data actioned so far, because SA wouldn’t have a simple chat and slammed the door shut. They continued to ask questions and provide documents, emails and circumstances and I supplied them with the facts as I had them including any MSA docs that were released publicly.
2: Stealing podiums and results…… (you can check the official posted result yourselves for this)
Zwartkops (where they were eventually excluded as were cheating). Podium could have been Bishop, Visser, Wally (a rookie with his first podium), Dawie VDM (possibly his highest result of the season). Have these revised results been publicly posted, the awards be redistributed. No they have not.
Kyalami (up to you to see if data correlates there but they did and was not the same fuel as ours but VW was the only one that we had data for. If you investigate then they should have also been excluded for this also) should have been Bishop, Visser, Zafiris (rookie first podium, first race ever!!!!) and then Karah Hill (possibly her highest result)
The latest Zwartkops where a proper engine temp hack on both cars allowing their engine temps to run cooler than the winter data we have made the rest of the field looking stupid and a different class despite Supcaup champions racing in great condition cars (use it dont use it beacuse i frankly dont care any more)…. Vostanis (rookie first win), Bishop, Franco (first ever podium) and then Praji. You could perhaps get an expert to analyse this last race, and then get an explanation how they could do that as is against the law of physics for cars exactly the same or better still go prove it on track on a hot day and then lets take a few things apart (Coz I was not wasting another R10k on the day for doing so as is even more of my time and money wasted and we get enough abuse as it is for wanting to race fairly and on an equal footin). Our car is available for such a test anytime, as well as independent experts that can poke and prod. Would be great to be proved wrong there, but equal cars and same intake temps…. nope…. untouchable and any of you that might have been there and not smelt a rat… frankly ridiculous.
** ALSO you must remember this is not all about podiums, when you are a developing driver (or any driver).... coming 8th instead of 10th is a massive leap so the knock on effect down the grid is huge for up and coming (or those trying hard) drivers. If you guys were serious about finding out the depth of the problem way beyond just zwartkops and dare I say it in previous years and other series…. you have the experts, tools and everything to do that if you wished (and funding to do that if VW themselves actually want to find how wide and deep this goes). That’s your call.
3: What did I mean by ‘machine'…. although actually academic as my article is not important as is a brief synopis of the evidence and occurrences that you have access to, the context of ‘machine’ changed slightly in its use through the article... from 'all involved in the non driver side of Supacup' in the fact that i was emailing and communicating with anyone who is anyone in power or making decisions around the series, which was more about the individual players/stakeholders than the companies. (However some of the important players also have roles in all camps)…. to where i was trying to defend the actual governing body without naming them and referring to as the ‘machine' by saying that they were not to blame, as here a clear separation of the governing body and VW becomes apparent (as why would the governing body not trust someone like that). If you cant trust a public listed company who can you trust? Was trying to be nicer than actually what MSA deserved here. If I had painted the actual truth and detail it would be even uglier (but still factual) article than it is now…. and I still sit in the same position and nothing has changed at all. (Apart from the fact that I now know that there is an investigation of some sort, but I have no idea of any productive outcomes yet that would make me feel any different).
4: My notes say "Inferred / Influenced Decision Making processes and evidence around that". (doesnt make sense without seeing the transcript but i will try).
I would say here that I could only see (as the sponsor of a driver) the ridiculous chain of events and correspondance from the very start, this includes all of my correspondance to MSA and VW regarding my concerns on the data long before Zwartkops which was ignored, the crazy lengths i personally tried such as giving TCs ethanol testers, the fuel bulletins on the day issued by the COC with an obvious outcome of actual testing (with no Digitron in sight) and then the same COC who was in charge of the whole process of fuel control and testing issuing a bulletin saying that the fuel testing was not done right (conveniently). Only you guys can unearth the evidence of the very clear ‘influence and malpractice that lead to these actions under the auspices of MSA communications. I am not party to those conversations I just see the ridiculous output)…. Perhaps ask Arlene who told her to issue the bulletins through the day and all the messing around of sealing, and diligent fuel sampling and putting in jars and then why the fuel test would not have been valid, as she would have to have conferred on that to issue that rubbish. That might lead you in the right direction perhaps. I told you already how a little video and a phone call by a certain someone from parc firm (who swore to me and Vic he has no involvement in any running of things) can have an official MSA bulletin issued in minutes by Arlene! (and this was long after he swore (lied) blind us that in the meeting).
There are many many more when non-action and of course influenced where we are now.. Vic himself was there on the Zwartkops day, and heard in detail from (DELETED FOR PRIVACY) what VW was doing as we all did…. but I had already very clearly alerted the relevant people to it, as had so many other people that I know among them are highly regarded by MSA and are brought in as experts on COE and similar. I actually thought he was there to oversee what I had alerted them to and was given some comfort in teh processes that day. BUT here we sit! You have asked me for evidence here, only you guys can get to that and especially if you speak to the right people as I cant talk on their behalf. You also asked me what MSA could do better… we know some just like to complain (MSA may well have me in that bucket and clearly did as they ignored my concerns), but I don't complain unless there is something wrong… sometimes there is gold amongst the noise, and those that you respect the most might deserve it the least. This might not be the answer or question you wanted, so please feel free to clarify and anything that I have that you dont and cant get, please ask..
5: My Notes say "comment on Resolving the impasse” which i am not sure is correct but will try.
We are here because of what they did then, have done and continue to do so (up to you guys to try and find out the depth of that)…. As discussed at the time if they had put their hands up, issued an apology or taken any kind of accountability (or even made an effort to redistribute their awards), and certainly not make jokes about octane at official prize giving (this is NOT a laughing matter) and make those that were involved in uncovering this stuff feel like lepers and continue to this day feed false, damaging and inaccurate information to the world…. you certainly would not be talking about my article as it would not exist. Instead we are where we are purely here and wasting so much time because of what they did/do/done and also perhaps what MSA did/didnt do…. and still not done.
As I mentioned before, this isn’t me that is needed to be appeased. It is every one of the drivers, their families and not least motorsport as a whole who deserves the truth. Better still uncovering the other truths (from allegations) that so many people in motorsport already know but is just quickly pushed under the carpet like this by VW and I am afraid, MSA for the details I explained before, above and below. That has to be your guys job and not mine, but the outcomes of a full and thorough investigation there will make my article look like a children’s play and least of our worries.
As an aside, as i mentioned that many many others were severely upset about this and still are because of all of the above and no accountability or any kind of proper punishment at all (that is handed out to us mere mortals oh so easily). Of all of the people talking that I have heard (there are so many, and i am just the one with the biggest mouth), no one has ruled out the possibility of a class action suit against VW around this which I for one would support wholeheartedly and is obviously nothing to do with MSA at all. In the corporate world this is a very different thing (corruption) and people go to jail for it. The amount of money I have spent with them to try and keep pace, and the money invested over the years on the premises of fair and equal racing would not surprise you all as racers. I (and my article) am the least of the worries here though I can assure you of that and I am sure people will start popping their head above water.
Taking their points away was no punishment whatsoever for someone of their calibre and power and especially given what you (MSA) already knew and had been provided. They were way behind in points anyway and were already beaten this season despite what they were trying to do. That’s why also I feel that this is certainly not at all about me or my son, as we still beat them regardless.. everyone else has a huge reason to be very very annoyed and as I said, although beyond the scope of your investigations you can continue to ignore parents and competitors of their other series at your peril. I hope you are talking to some.. that’s what MSA can do better before adding their stamps to series and rules. After just investing a huge fortune on a racing Academy here in CT next to Killarney to help bring karters and youngsters over to develop proper talent, unlike some I cant look parents in the eye and promise them something I don't actually believe in. We have stalled this in the meantime as discussed.
6: My article I wrote (not shared in anyway, not available on social media, but it's there if you are lucky enough to find it in its not very pretty reading state).
(Board Member) you mentioned this was not balanced as did not show the ‘punishment' and of course as I have tried my very best to be factual all the way through (and left out lots and lots of very juicy facts so as not to have been even more ugly). I am more than happy to take input from you as to where I can balance it with further facts that you guys suggest and i would seriously consider changing it. You specifically mentioned that I did not mention that they lost there points, but I see it referenced in there twice and also as you will see above, them only getting that as a punishment is frankly embarrassing. I should have perhaps laboured that point a little bit more as so many people have felt the full force of MSA but VW certainly didnt.
You have asked me to consider removing it because you believe that is it is not 'good for motorsport’ and I very much respect you and your wishes, however i will not be doing that until such time as it becomes irrelevant and necessary to do so. The facts are clear and Motorsport is "not good” if this carries on (or not) as it has. I didn't do or cause any of this, I made every effort to use ever channel (and correct people) properly to try and head this off at the pass before it became a problem, even at a VW level. It was done politely, professionally and diligently from the start and I followed correct procedure all the way through. As stated before, I am willing to potentially make guided amends (not untruths) or add clarity where needed under your guidance. I will state again, that the article is only there in absence of proper procedures around the penalties, the lack of accountability and apology (to make right), to counteract the lies and ridicule that VW paid members of staff still persue (even at prize giving) and the subsequent prejudice that those responsible for uncovering this still receive to this day. We are not ‘haters’ for no reason. We hate cheats and being cheated.
More importantly, making sure to prevent people with trusted power continue to abuse it even post the measly penalties they get. When that is all fixed, my article becomes wholly irrelevant and would look nothing less than some old idiot ‘harping on’. I am not harping on (I am old ;) , and this article is important right now, because people are emailing me every day telling me no ends of other things I had no clue about (but not surprised about) and also people who had no clue about any of this this year (apart from the BS they were fed and also in the absence of anything from the MSA usual channels). It is actually the only mark in the sand right now that goes anyway to actually getting any accountability or correct action and future proofing of our sport from any of the stakeholders otherwise it would be long swept under the carpet like it looks like was previously hoped for. Perhaps it is a further catalyst for your team to do what it is doing, I dont know. It’s not fixed and people only know what the VW people are telling them and accusing us of being the bad guys. I look forward to that day when I can take it down, because the correct people have told the story and there are proper consequences and more importantly a framework to make sure this can never be left to get this bad ever again…. because it is still going on as things are right now. Only other people have the ability to make this article irrelevant, I only have the power to keep it factual.
Feel free should you need anything specific (evidence?) that only I would have access to, or you would like any more pertinent people that would be interesting to you around this.
All the Best
Tim
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