MAX CHAMPIONS TO BE CROWNED SATURDAY 2014 SA Rotax Max karting championships come to a head at Zwartkops on 4 October The South African Rotax Max Karting Championships come to a head at the Zwartkops Kart Track outside Pretoria on Saturday 4 October with six new SA champions to be crowned and five prize seats on offer to the Rotax Max World Finals in Valencia Spain later in the year. Five drivers have already earned wildcard drives in the World Finals in Spain after taking winner-take-all victories in the recent African Open at Zwartkops. If any of those drivers win their SA class championships too, the World Final tickets will go to the man who ends up second in the championship chase. As always, expect the wildest action to go down in the high school age Rotax Junior Max 125cc class, where a huge interprovincial brawl will go down between Natalian Jordan Sheratt, (Birel), Cape Town driver Kohen Bam (SAKRA RKT Kosmic) and Gauteng-based Natal lad Clinton Bezuidenhout (RKT Kosmic) and that trio split by just six points going into the finale. Bam has already won his wildcard ticket to Spain at the Rotax Max African Open, but he still wants that Number One plate, while Sheratt and Bezuidenhout want both the plate and the second ticket. So expect war. Don’t discount Bloemfontein lad Stuart White (Kosmic) and Capetonians Delano Fowler (Suprocom TonyKart) and Henry Bam (SAKRA RKT Kosmic), all of whom are in with a strong mathematical chance of snatching the title at a meeting where anything can – and will happen. A swarm of drivers including young ladies Brittany Cohen and Isabelle Fowler and a gang of 2014 Junior Max rookies among others, local lad Joshua Dias, Namibian Adriaan Nel and Cape visitors Dino Stermin, Sebastian Boyd and Giordano Lupini are all ready to steal the class thunder. The open age group Rotax Max Challenge 125cc championship has been a Cape benefit so far this season, with reigning champion Luke Herring (RKT Kosmic) in a strong championship lead over WP rivals Jonathan Aberdein (TonyKart), Eugene Denyssen (SAKRA TonyKart) and Julian van der Watt (Zanardi). Deneyssen already booked his ticket to Spain with an upset win at the African Open, so Herring will be looking for a good weekend to secure his trip to Spain as SA champion. He will however have to keep an eye on Zwartkops specialists Richard Upton and Wesley Vosloo, who ought to be quick on home ground, while KZN driver Michael Buchholz is out to impress. The biggest battle of the day should come from the quickest class in Rotax Max karting – the DD2 125cc Gearbox gang where Natalian Benjamin Habig (TonyKart) goes into the finale on a good wicket with a handy 20-point championship advantage over Gauteng Birel driver Bradley Liebenberg, although Gauteng trio Eugene Brittz, Ryan Frost and Arnold Neverling are still all close enough to pull off an unlikely title upset. Liebenberg is another driver to have won a ticket to the World Final, but he too would like to head there as SA champion. Other DD2 hopefuls in a giant grid include KZN lad Mitchell Licen, Cape duo Luca Canderleand Jonathan Thomas and Gauteng gang; Ewan Taylor, Adam Burns, Nicholas Verheul, Justin and Darren Oates and the lovely Ivana Cetinich. The DD2 Masters for elder drivers runs to a heavier weight limit and not only has Cristiano Morgado (TonyKart) already booked his ticket to the finale at the African Open, but he’s in a handy championship lead too. So the race for second is a pretty pertinent one between Erwin Sterne and Richard van Heerde, who go to Zwartkops a point apart with the remaining World Final seat to play for and René Baumann and Jacques de Bruyn both close enough behind to still pose a threat. The baby national championship class, the primary school Maxterino 60s are always guaranteed to produce the most entertaining of racing as a this swarm of eight to thirteen-year olds fights it out for national glory and here it’s once again a matter of beating the kids from the Cape with a trio of them heading the top of the championship table. Charl Michael Visser (Battery Energy Kosmic) holds a slender seven-point championship lead over JP Hamman (RKT Kosmic) going into the Zwartkops National finale with Jason Coetzee (Zanardi) a further nine points adrift. Little Kwanda Mokoena is Gauteng’s best-placed challenger just five points further back with a little gap to a gaggle comprising Dillon van Vuuren, Tristian Losch, Joseph Oelz, Zaeem Goolam and Aidan Strydom, all of whom also happen to be well within striking distance. While all SA karting classes travelled together to blockbuster combined away SA championship rounds through 2014, their respective finals stand alone with Rok class titles settled this past Saturday in Vereeneging where Chassen Bright, Kashen Naicker and JP Hammann were crowned, before this Max SA Final at Zwartkops. Of course there is everything to play for with those five Rotax Max World Final seats there for the taking, so Saturday guarantees a dramatic day’s racing. The Zwartkops kart circuit is situated at Zwartkops Raceway on the R55 heading toward Pretoria. Practice is all day Thursday and Friday with qualifying just after nine Saturday morning before racing starts at 10:30am.
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 05:38:41 +0000
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