Summarize

Locals show upcountry rivals the way

Local kart racers gave race fans something to smile about when Kwazulu Natal drivers dominated the fourth round KZN Rotax Max Regional at the iDube raceway near Camperdown in spite of competition from a strong upcountry contingent on Sunday. The Jozi visitors were down to prepare for the Rotax Max National at iDube coming up on 4 September. But the locals took the finest silverware home.

Dynamic local DD2 duo, Robert Whiting and his Masters wingman Jonathan Pieterse shared out the premier DD2 gearbox wins for the day. They kept upcountry brothers Jamie and Brandon Smith off the top steps of the podium. Whiting took the DD2 day win from Jamie, Brandon and Brent Walden. Shane Foley made it a KZN final heat 1-2-3 after Jamie Smith picked up a nose cone penalty. Foley ended second in Masters from Alistair Mingay, Bev van Heerde and Chris Grobbelaar.

Local Senior Max duo Riley Horner and Jack Rowe served notice of their national intent as Horner won two and Rowe was third in all three races. But Jozi lad Kian Grottis’ steady improvement through the day to a final heat win proved that the locals cannot afford to be be complacent come September. Nic Wuite came out fourth after an epic midfield scrap with Olerato Sekudu, Yifan Li and Juandre Nel, with Johnathan Pieterse and Nikheil Kulkaparsad also in the mix.

Another KZN hot shot, Troy Snyman also served notice of his under-15 high school Junior Max intent with a two race to one victory over upcountry arch-rival Muhammad Wally. Local upstart Nicolaos Vostanis made for further KZN joy when he sneaked second place overall over Wally with a workmanlike effort through the day. Two more locals, Corban Spies and Maahir Wahab were next up as they kept their KZN championship efforts in line.

In primary school action, Travis Mingay beat Travis Yeld to under 13 Mini Max honours. Fellow KZN locals Kyle Spies and Harry Rowe kept top upcountry visitor Rafael da Silva honest in under-11 Micro Max ahead of two more local hopefuls, Troy Pieterse and Busani Sithole. The Bambinos were mostly academic as upcountry lad Matthew Shuttleworth took a triple win over local Kayden Pistauer in preparation for that national. 

In other races, Richard Van Heerde was untroubled over Richard Horner and Allan John Rice in Max Masters and Peter John Garbutt did the triple as he left Byron Campbell and Andrew Nivison to fight over the 4-stroke second place.

There is still a wealth of regional Rotax Max racing around the country before the third round SA Nationals back at iDube on 4 September. That starts with the Cape Rotax Max Regional round at Killarney this Saturday on 21 August, where Joseph Oelz picks up his epic WP DD2 battle with national championship leader Sebastian Boyd and Jason Coetzee and Conor Hughes, Andrew Thomas and Jared Jordan lead the Masters charge. 

Another National leader Tate Bishop, Andrew Rackstraw and Storm Lanfear will duke it out in Senior Max, and Reza Levy has Matthew Wadeley to deal with in Junior Max. Joaquin de Oliveira and Sabelo Ntuli fight it out in WP Mini Max, brothers Keagan and Aiden Beaumont take on Dale Hobbs in Micro Max and Siyabonga Ntuli, Michael Danks and Liam Wharton will do Bambino battle.

ENDS

Issued on behalf of Rotax Max Challenge

What:KZN Rotax Max Challenge Report & WP Preview
Where:iDube Kart Raceway, Camperdown, KZN
When:Sunday 15 August 2021
Community:KZN & WP Regional

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

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