Summarize

Seven Southern African karters battled through Friday’s decisive 26th Rotax Max ‘Olympics of Karting’ Grand Finals Qualifying Heats to book their places in Saturday’s winner-takes-all deciders at the in Portimão, Portugal. With Wednesday’s storm washing out the traditional Pre-Finals, Friday’s ruthless heats directly set the final 36-kart grids across a cruel Kartódromo Internacional do Algarve bill.

Team South Africa’s electric E10 Mini contingent led the charge as all four regional entries comfortably secured Saturday grid slots. Michael O’Mahoney starred on Friday, slicing past 19 karts from 27th on the grid to finish eighth in his final heat and claim a strong ninth on the grid for Saturday’s E10 Grand Final. 

Namibian twins Mandume and Nande Kaiyamo both moved forward in Heat 2 by taking 13th and 17th respectively, to secure 13th and 19th on the Final grid. Thursday pace-setter Ruhan Victor endured a tougher second outing in 33rd, but his opening-heat fifth ensured he will line up 14th alongside Mandume Kaiyamo on row seven.

Luhan de Wet emerged as Southern Africa’s sole finalist across the four fully subscribed 72-kart divisions, backing up Thursday’s eighth place with solid 20th and 21st-place finishes on Friday to qualify 28th for the under-13 Mini Max Final. Compatriot Luke du Toit stormed to ninth in his second heat, only for a final-heat 34th to leave him 44th overall and out of the top-36 cut.

In the 36-kart classes, Bloemfontein’s Justin Allison climbed eight places to 20th in his second DD2 Masters heat to book 25th on Saturday’s grid, while under-11 Micro Max youngster Alonzo de Oliveira will line up 33rd for his Grand Final after a 34th-place Heat 2 finish.

Heartbreak struck in Senior Max, where Kian Spies fought back strongly from Thursday’s wet retirement with 14th and 13th on Friday, only to miss the 36-kart Final cut by an agonising two points in 38th, while teammate Keagan Beaumont ended 67th. 

Late-day misfortune also denied the DD2 squad: Jamie Smith in 43rd, and Charl Visser who ended 46th, despite charging to 17th in his final heat, both fell just short of the cut. Regional neighbours Kian Fussell in 68th, and 70th placed Gabriel Figueiredo. Junior Max duo Brodi Dowling in 47th and Ronaldo Koen, 61st also bowed out after the heats.

Saturday’s seven Grand Finals get underway after morning warm-up in Portimão to crown the 2026 Rotax Max world champions. Follow live timing and streaming at grandfinals.rotax-racing.com or via www.kart.co.za.