Summarize

Leap year Rotax karts star on new FK track

A little karting history went down when the Northern Regions Rotax Max Challenge season kicked off at the brand new FK Raceway in Benoni on leap year Saturday. Gauteng’s top karters delivered the expected spectacle too, with close racing and multiple winners in several classes, as well as a few dominant performances and some surprise winners along the way, as every karter to a man or woman thoroughly enjoyed racing on the new track for the first time.

Nicholas Verheul made a double move on Wayland Wyman and Jonathan Pieterse to take the opening premiere DD2 gearbox win from those two. Wyman then led the way in the second heat, only to stop after 7 laps shortly after Pieterse pulled off a double move on him and Bloemfontein racer Justin Allison to take race 2 as Ian Allnutt pipped Verheul at the post for third. 

Pieterse made race 3 his own as he charged to a lights-to-flag win from Allison, Eugene Brittz, Verheul and Wayman as Pieterse won the day from Masters winner Verheul, Allison who left FK with a 1:07.393 DD2  lap record. Allnut was third from Wyman, second Master Philippe Chapat, Nicolas Spanoyannis, another over-30 Master driver Carlo Gil, Tinahe Ncube, the troubled Brittz and Divan Braak.

A familiar name was back in the saddle as Cameron O’Connor returned to karting with a splendid triple win off pole position in Senior Max with the fastest lap each time too, to leave the new circuit with a new 1:08.057 lap record. Tahier Ramlall and Tyrone Sterne shared out the seconds, while Ethan Coetzee popped up in third in the final to nick fourth for the day from Hamza Jassat, Kgalema Mngadi, Erwin Sterne and Andrew Hill. It will be interesting to see how O'Connor now fares against a strong Cape contingent come the first Rotax Max national at iDube end March.

Aqil Alibhai enjoyed an untroubled run to all three under-15 high school Junior Max wis to leave class rookies Nikolas Roos and Troy Snyman to tussle for second. Roos set a FK Junior Max lap record at 1:09.958 as he came from behind to pip Snyman for second but he would drop to third due to a nose cone penalty, but Nikolas made no mistakes to take second behind Alibhai in race 2. Roos however went out on the first lap of the final, leaving Snyman to take second in spite of a nose cone penalty to clinch second for the day behind Alibhai and ahead of Jordan Brooks, who took three fourths, Tyler Robinson who popped up third in the final and Roos sixth from Thando Mathebula and Joao Magalhaes.

It  was high jinks as champion Troy Snyman fought Ghazi Motlekar off two races to one to take the day in under-13 Mini Max. Motlekar won the first race in dominant style before Snyman took a damp second heat as Motlekar nicked second from Luviwe Sambudla on the final lap. Snyman then wrestled Motlekar off early in the final, but Ghazi set a new 1:13.149 lap record as he fought back to again pip Sambudla at the post for second. Snyman took the day from Motlekar, Sambudla, Erich Heystek, Wian Boshoff, Nathan Shana, Ashton Repsold and Mathlori Mabunda, with Kgabang Mngadi and Jedda Bartholomew closing off the top ten from Berlin Robinson and Alexandre Magalhaes.

There was a surprise in under-11 Micro Max as Ntiyiso Mabunda qualified on pole position and reeled off three dominant race wins as he set a new 1:18.846 lap record on the way to keep the fancied Mohammed Moerat in second for the day. Moerat took two seconds to Reagile William Mailula’s one to clinch the runner-up position overall from Mailula, Hriday Pooren and Enzo Rujugiro.

MJ Thekiso fought off Mattao Mason for the first baby Bambino race win among an encouraging grid of karting newcomers, before Manelisi Nkomo held the charging Cristian Verheul and Thekiso off for the second win. Thekiso bounced back to set a new 41.839 FK Bambino lap record as he won the final from Mason and Matthew Shuttleworth after Verheul stopped from second. So Thekiso took the day from Nkomo, Mason, Shuttleworth, Rafael Da Silva, Verheul, Santiago Frade, Shayaan Mohamed, Maddox Mason, Ruald Hartzenberg, Bophelo Motlahlegi and Aiden Beaumont.

Llewellyn Sutherland took the Clubmans win for the day ahead of Robert Fulton and Michael Hawcroft. The South African Rotax Max Challenge now prepares for its first national championship races of the season 29 March, at iDube near Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu Natal, when the top karters from the various provinces come together to fight for those prized national titles in each class and the right to race for South Africa at the 'Olympics of Karting’ Rotax Max Grand Finals in Bahrain in October.


ENDS

Issued on behalf of Rotax Max Challenge

What:Northern Regions Karting Round 1 Report
Where:Formula K Kart Track, Benoni
When:Saturday 29 February 2020
Community:Gauteng Regional

For further information please contact jennifer@kart.co.za

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