SA drivers battle in Portugal
by Steve Wicks
In a day of mixed fortunes, it was the
quartet of drivers in the Rotax Junior Max class who fared
best…………..or had the least dramas.
Caleb Williams drove with a cool head
and starts the Pre-Final from fifth place with Kevin de
Witt in tenth. Tasmin Pepper drove a storming race to
bag third place in a very wet qualifying race and earn
herself a start from 19th after a poor result in one of
Thursday’s races proved costly as Devin Robertson
claimed 24th on the 34 kart grid.
In the Rotax Max Challenge, Arnold Neveling
took a controlled win in the morning to earn himself a
fourth place start in the Pre-Final. Durban driver Ralph
Odendaal also went well to earn a start from fifth.
Race favourite, Wesleigh Orr escaped
the last chance race by the skin of his teeth after an
incident at the start of the final qualifying heat saw
another kart fly over the top of him and break the top
of his carburettor. From then on he operated the carb
manually and the resultant one handed drive was much talked
about.
Mathew Hodges worked hard to take fourth
in the ‘Last Chance Race’ after a huge accident
on Thursday resulted in a dnf, which sees him sees him
start from 32nd.
Claudio Piazza-Musso, this year’s
Rotax Euro Masters champ had his hopes dashed by being
forced off the track twice in the final qualifying heat
and he failed to make the top six in the last chance race.
After his earlier drama, Orr had a much
easier time in the DD2 class and starts from pole position
while Capetonian Wiaan Swart starts from eighth after
a consistent run.
Almost unnoticed, George dos Ramos put
in a good performance to line up ninth ahead of Arnold
Neveling who had mechanical problems yesterday. Leeroy
Poulter is in 12th but overcame huge odds. He was fastest
in qualifying, but then had his times disallowed for a
minor technical infringement and had to start each heat
from the back of the grid. “It was more of a misunderstanding
than breaking the rules,” commented Poulter.
For Rocky Gush it was a day of disappointment.
He was an innocent victim of a first corner accident in
the final heat which put him into the last chance race
and although he did well to claim 15th, it wasn’t
enough to make it to the final.
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