Bloemfontein hosts first kart event
of 2007
17.01.2007
In searing 38’c heat, Bloemfontein
Kart Circuit saw the season opener commence with some
unexpected results. Drivers briefing got underway with
besides the usual local suspects, a strong contingent
from KZN and Gauteng where in the line-up.
First up was the Cadette class which
saw no surprise with Liam Pienaar taking 3 consecutive
victories on the day. He was followed by a persistent
“Purple People Eater” in the form of Gaby
dos Santos who completed 3 consecutive 2nd place finishes.
The “Last of the Mohicans” Daygin Prescott
fought really hard to maintain a clean sweep 3rd place
in all the heats with Justin Wilde and new comer Stuart
White breathing down his neck the whole day.
In the GP Junior brigade we saw a consistent
3 way battle between local ace Eddie Le Roux, Gauteng
graduate Ayrton dos Santos and Victor John Velleman. The
three swapped sticker kits for most of the day. Ayrton
was just unable to take the win for the day in heat 3
when he suffered the loss of the 3 most important things
in racing, and that being enough track to pull of an overtaking
manoeuvre, enough breaks and most of all prevention of
brain fade. This put him back to third with one lap to
go. After regaining most of the 3 important components
he was able to take back 2nd place, giving him a win and
two second place finishes for the weekend, which added
up to a 2nd overall. Travis Do Rego, Henco du Toit and
sister & brother team Saskia & Michael Potgieter
traded blows and positions the whole day eventually finishing
1 point adrift from each other from 4th to 7th place.
The 125 open class saw a few surprises,
which proved to be an All Free State benefit. The expected
winner for the day was formula ford driver Pieter Norval
in his new Super ROK, but it was not to be, besides the
coming together he had in heat three which parked him
with a few critical parts missing on his kart, he was
only able to achieve a 3rd place in heats 1 and 2 behind
eventual winner Justin Alison (Max Challenge) and Megan
Boshoff (Junior Max), because of the DNF in heat 3 for
Pieter Norval, motocross ace Meiring Vermeulen (Junior
Max) finished an eventual 3rd overall with Norval (Super
ROK) 4th , Adrian Wood (Junior ROK) 5th and JC Du Plessis
(Junior ROK) filling the top 6. We believe Megan would
have achieved an even higher finish if she had not run
up front in to two classes on the day, thus giving her
fellow competitors the advantage of fresher legs.
Although the Junior Festival only attracts
competitors under 18 years of age, the 125 GP guys received
an invitational race. This class was dominated by the
KZN drivers with the luck Dennis van der Berg had on the
weekend, I would recommend that no one use him to buy
a lotto ticket. He eventually bagged the “Most DNF’s”
trophy for the day. The eventual front runner on the day
was Adrian Baleta with a clean sweep of victories followed
by Hylton Augustus and Glen Waters 3rd overall. Craig
Askew showed promise most of the day but his habitual
jumpstarts caught the wrath of the CoC, which sent him
tumbling down the finishing order heat after heat.
Overall, BKC put on a fantastic event
with no less than 15 sponsors supplying prizes which has
surely set the standard for 2007, followed by a party
until the wee hours of the morning.
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