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Round three of the four-leg Engen Supakarts National Championships took place at the demanding Idube circuit nestled high in the hills outside Pietermaritzburg on Saturday 8 July.
There was a thrilling threeway fight in the GP Junior final and Aston Hare (Harvard Empowerment Solutions) took the win ahead of reigning champion Mitchell Licen (Mica).
But with two wins to his credit, the overall winner for the day was Licen with Hare five points behind having lost ground by finishing third in the opening race. Next up was Jordan Williams (Alfano) with Richard Upton only one point adrift. Haig Smuts bagged fifth as Skye de Nobrega bagged sixth.
Sam Tingle, another local ace, steered his TonyKart to three comfortable wins in the Rotax powered Mini-Max class. The Mooi River driver was never seriously threatened and was a comfortable 14 points clear of Caleb Williams (Alfano/Red Bull/PCR).
Axcil Jefferies, a product of the Toyota Development Karting programme led one of the races for a couple of laps but couldn't hold off Tingle and eventually claimed third place in each race to take the final podium step while Richard Napier (Harvard Empowerment Solutions/CRG) was fourth ahead of Olivier Calkoen (Autoquip/Birel) and Chad van Beurden (Birel).
Once again Caleb Williams (Red Bull/PCR) was a busy boy as, in addition to Mini-Max, he also contested the Junior Max class. It was a hard day's work work, but it ultimately paid off as he won the day ahead of Devin Robertson (Big Boss/CRG) and Trent Williams (Sportstar/PCR). Championship contender Kevin de Wit (Magnum Paving/PCR) had a torrid time, but a gritty drive say him bag fourth ahead of Vicky Kemp (Birel) and Tasmin Pepper (Sportstar/Birel).
With a field of 24 karts on the twisty track, the Max Challenge was busy, but at the end of the day local ace Ralph Odendaal (PCR) emerged as a comfortable winner as his championship rivals faltered and stumbled.
Willem Botha (PG/Marlim/CRG) claimed the runner-up slot with Arnold Neveling (PCR) third ahead of former champion Wesleigh Orr (CRG). Orr's appearance was a one-off race in South Africa as visa problems have prevented him from returning to his role as a works CRG driver in Italy.
Mathew Hodges' season of bad luck continued and he watched his title hopes almost vanish as a lack of resulted in fifth ahead of fellow Birel driver Rory Atkinson.
Simon Moss, son of Touring Car legend Terry, dominated proceedings in the Vortex engined Junior Rok class by calmly winning all three heats in his Engen Extreme sponsored PCR. Teammate Chassen Bright was runner-up while local driver Alex Jacovides (TonyKart) pipped similarly mounted Kyle Mitchell for third despite the pair being tied on 88 points. Daniel Rowe (VW/Birel) snatched fifth ahead of Brandon Waugh.
Local beauty Jamie-Lee Rossiter (Engen Extreme/Birel) produced the drive of her life when she beat teammate Michael Stephen in a thrilling final in the Rok Cup, but she was an innocent victim of a first heat accident which cost her dearly and the win for the day went to Stephen.
Brandon Auby (Birel) put in a good showing to end the day with second place ahead of Rossiter while Nicholas Toner (Birel), Christopher Cuyler (CRG) and Gennaro Bonafede (Birel) made up the top six. The final was marred by a serious accident at one of the fastest corners that left TonyKart driver Keagan Blanckensee with a badly broken arm.
On a perfect day and in front of a large crowd young Clayton Herbst continued his domination of the Cadette class by winning all three heats easily from Liam Venter. Third overall for the day was Joche du Toit as Clinton Bezuidenhout and Gabby dos Santos rounded up the top five.
The final leg of the Engen SupaKarts National Championship takes place at the Bridgestone Zwartkops circuit on 30 September. |
