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In Search Of the Grand Prize
28.09.2009
THE 2009 SOUTH AFRICAN ROTAX MAX CHALLENGE FINALS
ZWARTKOPS INTERNATIONAL KART RACEWAY, OCTOBER 3 & 4
On the afternoon of October 4, 2009, six of South African top karters will win themselves places in the ROTAX MAX WORLD FINALS in Egypt in December.
That's the ultimate reward for the coming weekend's SA Max Challenge finals at Zwartkops International Kart Raceway, after a gruelling season of amassing points in the regional max championships.
The top two karters from the hotly-contested Max Challenge and the Junior Max categories will each represent South Africa in Sharm El Sheikh on December 9-12. And in the super-quick DD2 gearbox Max class, the top overall driver and the top senior driver each get a slot in their championships under the Middle East sun.
The prize provides all accommodation in Egypt, as well as a brand new kart complete with engine, these being drawn out of a helmet at the World Finals. The only expense to our local heroes will be air fare.
South Africa has a proud record to uphold in the Max Challenge world finals. Gavin Cronje won it in 2000, Claudio Piazza-Musso won it in 2002, Marc Cronje in 2003, Christiano Morgado in 2004, while Wesley Orr and Leeroy Poulter have both won a number of Max titles between them.
Most of these drivers have gone on to achieve notable success in other racing formulae, and the incentive to win a slot in the world finals will be as great as having a national South African title behind their names. Most importantly, the Max Challenge, Junior Max, Mini Max and DD2 classes all carry MSA National Championship status.
THE 2009 SA CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
Judging by the final regional round of the Rotax-engined championship which took place at Zwartkops on September 19, the big dice for the premier division in SA karting, the MAX CHALLENGE, will be between Johannesburg drivers Sean Frost and Shau Mafuna.
Most of the country's top drivers were in action at the last regional championship event, and Shau Mafuna was the class of the field. The Jo'burg youngster romped to a first heat win but then knocked a chain off a sprocket in the second heat, which put him out on the spot. But he is not likely to make that mistake in the first weekend of October.
His close rival, and overall winner for the day was Jo'burg's Sean Frost, a neat, quick driver. He'll be looking to capitalise on any mistakes over the National Final weekend.
However, the karters all take their regional series points with them into the finals, these counting for a third of the total points that make up the championships, the other two-thirds being scored in the two pre-finals and two finals run at Zwartkops.
Leading the points chase is Chad van Beurden of KZN on 95,6 points, followed by Sean Frost on 94,2. Cape Town's James Ryan on 90,6 and Shau Mafuna on 87,6. The winner could come from any of these four, and the organisers are expecting a field of between 25 to 30 karts for this top event.
Another karter to watch is Jason Georgio, just 17 points adrift, while international single-seater star Arnold Neveling will also be in the mix for a race win, even though he hasn't done enough 2009 regional races to be a top championship contender.
The JUNIOR MAX class for drivers 16 and under sees the top 10 drivers separated by a mere 10 points. Cape Town's Aiden De Nobrega (son of former single seater star Mark) is leading on 94 points, followed by fellow Capetonian Luke Herring on 92 points. Aston Hare from Jo'burg is just a tyre-tread behind on 91,2, and he also won the Junior Rok 2009 title, an alternative karting series to the much-more competitive Max Challenge category.
Durban's Michael Taylor and Jo'burg's Liam Venter are tied on 90,4, while Naomi Schiff, the impressive black female karter from Sandton, is also right in there on 90,2 points. Kelvin van der Linde is also in with a shout despite being dogged by bad luck in the regional's, but his showing at the last Zwartkops regional was impressive.
Caleb Williams is not only the top DD2 GEARBOX class driver in the Rotax fraternity, many punters feel he is quite possibly the most talented driver in karting at the moment. He leads the DD2 class on 96,2 points, followed by Ian Young on 94, while last year's DD2 runner-up Justin Allison will be looking to go one better in 2009, being still within striking distance of 89 points.
In the DD2 MASTERS category, for drivers 32-years-old and older, the fight will be between George dos Ramos and Gary Marais.
The MINI MAX class is the entry-class into Rotax Max racing, for drivers 14-years and younger. The SA Championship winner is likely to come from four drivers, these being Dewald Brummer (95,4 points), Morgan McCall (the top development driver on 93,8 points), Raoul Hyman on 91,8 points and Cape Town's Jurie Swart (91,6 points). The South African champ also wins a new Arai helmet valued at R7 000.
The GP JUNIOR class is for drivers 12 and under, and here KZN's Clinton Bezuidenhout is leading on 95,6, followed by Sheldon van der Linde on 93,2 and Julian van der Watt (93,0). The winner of this class will walk away with a brand new ROTAX Mini Max engine worth R25,000!
New MAXTERINO 60: On Sunday Rotax distributor for South Africa Ed Murray Racing is also launching a new 60cc junior engine at the SA MAX CHALLENGE FINALS, This engine is an Italian-built Maxter engine, already used successfully in several countries for junior racing is proving to be powerful and ultra reliable. The South African Kart Racing Academy also used these engines for the last year with great success. In 2010 the Maxterino class will become the entry level to the SA ROTAX MAX CHALLENGE series.
The two day SA Finals on October 3 and 4 will be run at the Zwartkops International Kart Racerway, located south west of Pretoria on the R55 road between Sandton and Laudium. Saturday will see qualifying being held, with the pre-finals and finals run on the Sunday. Entry fee is R30 for adults while children under 12 get in free. This event will be televised on Rapid Motion.
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