Summarize

Johannesburg kart racer Aqil Alibhai endured a baptism of fire as he raced to 21st overall on his European Rotax Junior Max Winter Cup karting debut at Campillos on Spain’s Costa del Sol over the weekend. In a hard fought weekend, Alibhai suffered a few nosecone penalties that cost him dear through the weekend, but the youngster came home happy with his performance.

“The weekend started well enough when I qualified fifth in my group out of 52 drivers. “The first race was already tough and I ended up ninth after a hard battle at the back of the front group and went one better in the next heat. “Things really got rough in the third heat, but I fought hard to end eighth — maybe a touch too hard because I dislodged my kart’s nosecone and took a five second penalty to end up 17th...

“So I had to fight like hell in the final heat and I made it up to seventh, but there was a bit of argy-bargy on the way and I took another 5-second penalty that dropped me to 17th. “After all that, I still qualified 21st for the Finals, which I managed 17th in the first but yet again, I took a nosecone penalty to drop to 24th. “I had a clean run at last in the second Final and ended up to 19th to place 21st in the Winter Cup. 

“It was rough and tough in that mid-pack and I paid for it in nosecone penalties, but I had top-ten pace, which is good — I need to work a bit on that close-combat racing and keep the nose intact, but we really had a lot of fun. “That was also great preparation for this coming weekend’s Gauteng NR Rotax Junior Max championship opener and the new Formula K track in Benoni, so I can’t wait to get back home for that!”