Jason Goliath’s reign at the top of the Speed Stars leaderboard didn’t last very long at all when Chris Bertish not only won his head to head battle with Bianca Buitendag, but his time of 1:27.13 saw him claim the top spot, 0.4 sec faster than Jason in second position.
But Chris didn’t have it all is own way in Episode 3. After missing the lights and getting off the line late, Bianca had her back against the wall from the start. But she thrives under pressure and did what she does in her heats on the World Championship Tour – dug in, focused and came out blasting! Her fastest lap time of a 1:28.59 was 1.4 sec off the season’s quickest time and only 0.2 sec off of third position!
It’s easy to see why Chris and Bianca excel at the very top of their sports – they are driven, dedicated, focused and above all, humble! Chris faces his biggest challenge yet as he attempts a solo crossing of the Atlantic on a Stand Up Paddleboard at the end of the year and Bianca has three rounds remaining in this year’s Woman’s World Championship Tour – and as things stand, we could be seeing them both back on Speed Stars for the finals at the end of November!
But he wasn’t the only winner. Congratulations to Lezaan Very who has won an Advanced Driving Course with Opel for correctly predicting Chris Bertish would come out tops in this battle.
Don’t forget to enter every week for a chance to win our Grand Prize at the end of the season – a trip overseas with Michelin & the winner of Speed Stars as VIP guests at their 2017 Pilot Sport Experience.
Michelin is also donating R30 000-00 to charity this season, with our stars battling it out in a variety of charity challenges to win the R2500-00 up for grabs in each episode. Speed Stars is supporting two charities this season, Ark Animal Centre and The Sunflower Fund, and Chris and Bianca along with teammates Jason Goliath and David Levinsohn won the Gymkhana Challenge. That victory saw them winning R2500-00 for The Sunflower Fund.
Jonathan Boynton-Lee
IT’S MAPS MAPONYANE AGAINST JONATHAN BOYNTON-LEE IN OUR NEXT EPISODE
Maps Maponyane could have followed in his famous father’s football boots but instead chose to do it his way. Modeling, acting, television, fashion and business, Maps has excelled at all he gets involved with, building a powerful brand and establishing himself as the ‘it’ guy. Most impressive is in the cutthroat world of entertainment and celebdom, he has earned himself the reputation as one of the good guys.
We may have only got to know his name pretty late in the game when he won the 2012 Top Billing Presenter Search, but since then Jonathan Boynton-Lee’s name is everywhere! With a background in theatre and a career in modeling, of course he is very comfortable in front of the cameras as an actor and presenter, but it’s his work behind the lens as an award winning commercial and movie director that makes him happiest.
Seriously, is there anything these two can’t do? We about to find out if driving will be the kryptonite for these two entertainment supermen! Catch them as they go head to head on Speed Stars, broadcast on Ignition DSTV 189 at the following times:
24TH SEPTEMBER @ 19:30
25TH SEPTEMBER @ 07:30
26TH SEPTEMBER @ 01:30
27TH SEPTEMBER @ 09:30 & 21:30
28TH SEPTEMBER @ 06:30 & 18:30
29TH SEPTEMBER @ 13:30
30TH SEPTEMBER @ 15:30
Speed Stars is also available on DSTV Catch Up.
WINNING IS EASY WITH SPEED STARS
Predict who you think will win when Maps Maponyane takes on Jonathan Boynton-Lee and you could win an Advanced Driving course with Opel. At the end of the season, the winner of our grand prize in the Predict the Winner competition will be joining the winner of Speed Stars on an international driving experience with Michelin!
Traditionally held at a world famous Formula One circuit like Sepang in Malaysia, the Michelin Pilot Sport Experience will see our winners take to the track in a variety of racing cars for a taste of what it’s like to be a racing driver for a day!
You can enter on the Speed Stars website: www.speedstars.co.za
But your chances of winning don’t end there, as both Opel and Independent Media will be running their own Predict the Winner competition. So keep a look out for details on the Opel social media pages – opelsa – and in the motoring supplements of The Star, Pretoria News, Daily News, The Mercury and Cape Times.
ABOUT SPEEDSTARS
Speed Stars is a television show conceptualized, produced and owned by Marius Roberts, and his company M.R Productions.
The shows’ first season was broadcast on Ignition, a dedicated motoring channel on DSTV 189, as well as on DSTV Catch Up. The 13 episodes were split into 2 parts, with the first 6 shows broadcast during November and December 2015 and the next 7 shows broadcast through February and March 2016.
Each of the 24min episodes featured 2 high profiled individuals from the world of sport, music, television and entertainment, who were first given professional driving instruction, before being unleashed on the racetrack to set a timed lap. The star with the fastest lap time was deemed the winner.
Road Safety and Driver Education forms an important part of the entire Speed Stars experience, so each episode had a key road safety message. Not only are we educating and improving the driving abilities and awareness of our stars, but also those of our viewers.
Stars who featured in our first season:
- Lalla Hirayama – TV Presenter
- Boity Thulo – TV Presenter, Actress
- Catherine Constantinides – former Miss Earth SA & Environmental Activist
- Melinda Bam – former Miss South Africa
- Gilan Gork – Mentalist
- Larry Soffer – Magician
- Bridgitte Hartley – SA Canoeist & Olympic Bronze Medal Winner
- Sanani Mangisa – SA Hockey Goalkeeper
- Rob Forbes – 5fm DJ
- Darren Simpson – Highveld Stereo DJ
- Siv Ngesi – Actor, TV Presenter, Comedian
- Tumi Morake – Comedian, TV Presenter
- Jack Parow – Musician / Rapper
- Kurt Darren – Musician
- Elana Afrika Brendenkamp – TV Presenter
- Jeannie D – TV Presenter
- Ross Learmonth – Musician (lead singer, Prime Circle)
- Leanne Manas – Morning Live Anchor
- Reuben Riffel – Chef
- Kamini Pather – Winner, Master Chef
- Trevor Gumbi – Comedian
- Katlego Maboe – TV Presenter, Singer
- John Smit – former Springbok captain, RWC 2007
- Jonathan Kaplan – former international referee.
And the winner of Speed Stars Season 1: Jonathan Kaplan
Not only did he earn the boasting rights as SA’s speediest star, but his charity, Animal Allies, received a R30 000-00 donation from Michelin. As the winner, a trip to the world’s greatest endurance race, the 24 hours of Le Mans, as a VIP guest of Michelin. With Jonathan becoming a Dad for the first time, it was runner up Rob Forbes who attended the event in June in his place.
Jonathan also received a Fortis timepiece valued at R28 000-00 as the winner of the show.
Clermont to Le Mans: The Michelin Story covered Rob’s trip to France with Michelin and was broadcast on Ignition as a 24 min special. You can view the show by clicking on this link:
Speed Stars is sponsored by Michelin, with support from the following partners:
- Opel
- Force Fuel
- Greensky Creative Branding Solutions
- Zwartkops Raceway
- The Fairway Hotel
- ION Action Cameras
- Fortis Timepieces
ABOUT THE CHARITIES
Ark Animal Centre – www.arkanimalcentre.co.za
As the leading puppy shelter in South Africa, this NGO has a no suffer policy. They specialize in the rescue, rehabilitation and re-homing of puppies, pregnant moms and small breed dogs.
Their aim: to change the attitude of people towards animals through education and awareness and to promote animal welfare and animal rights.
The Sunflower Fund – www.sunflowerfund.org.za
As a National Non-Profit Company, they aim to create awareness, educate and recruit a viable source of ethnically diverse bone marrow stem cell donors in an effort to save the lives of those suffering from life threatening blood disorders. Higher numbers on the registry increase the chance of finding matching bone marrow stem cells donors in order to undergo life-saving bone marrow stem cell transplants.