ODENDAAL LOOKS TO EXTEND HIS LEAD by Stuart Johnston
04.06.2010
South African Rotax Max Challenge 2010 Round Two
iDube Kart Circuit KZN June 11/12
Durban-based international karting champion Ralph Odendaal will be looking to extend his lead in the gearbox class of the 2010 South African Rotax Max Challenge when the second round is held at iDube Raceway near Pietermaritzburg on June 11 and 12.
Odendaal is the 2009 European Rotax DD2 Gearbox champion in Max Challenge, and after Round One of the SAMRC held in Cape Town early in April he leads the South African DD2 championship by a slender three-point margin from Gauteng’s Sean Frost, with fellow Gauteng DD2 exponent Nic Verheul just three points behind Frost.
The challenging iDube circuit, with its tight hairpins, long uphill hauls and fast sweeps, is pretty much a happy hunting ground for Odendaal, and those in the know reckon he’s all but unbeatable here.
Another KwaZulu Natal driver who’ll be looking to build on the success enjoyed in Cape Town a month ago is Mathew Swanepoel. Swanepoel lies second in the highly competitive Junior Max category after two race wins in Cape Town and he was unfortunate not to be leading the category as a broken throttle cable thwarted his efforts in the last race of the day. This left the coast clear for Aston Hare to head up the Junior Max Championship table, from Swanepoel, Chad Maciver and Kelvin van der Linde.
However, Cape Town’s Luke Herring was quickest of all the Junior drivers in Cape Town before withdrawing due to a death in the family and he’ll be back with a vengeance.
Traction will be at a premium on iDube’s unique topography located on what is effectively the side of a mountain, with a super tight hairpin at the circuit’s lowest point being followed by a steep climb uphill. Here the senior Max Challenge competitors will be relishing the new super fast Mojo D3 compound tyres recently introduced for the Rotax series’ top classes.
Series leader Aidan de Nobrega will be going all out to extend his slender two-point lead he logged at his home circuit in Cape Town in April, with the highly fancied Ryan Frost, Ricky Hill and Caleb Williams snapping at his exhaust pipe in the super-quick 21 kW category.
Another Capetonian, Julian van der Watt leads the equally-competitive Mini Max category with a healthy 11-point advantage over Marco Busi and Aedan van Vuuren who are tied for second place. However a DNF or poor result in just one of the four races making up the race weekend can have a huge impact on the points tally, and with iDube’s mix of super fast sweeps, long straights and hairpin bends, the track has a reputation for throwing up “surprise” results.
A driver looking to re-establish himself in Mini Max after a zero points score in Cape Town will be Sheldon van der Linde. Young Sheldon entered Mini Max this season after dominant performances in the less powerful GP Junior category in 2009. Fortunately for the likes of Van der Linde and Luke Herring, the structure of the Rotax Max Challenge series allows competitors to essentially score their best three out of the four championship rounds over the season (while points scored in regional events also count a small percentage to the overall tally). Thus it is vital for serious championship contenders to amass as many points as possible throughout the year, to act as a buffer should bad luck strike in the later rounds of the series.
The 2010 championship in all Max categories is run over four rounds, and after iDube there are championship rounds in Port Elizabeth and the final round at Zwartkops near Pretoria in October.
The DD2Masters class (drivers over 32 years) sees George Dos Ramos with a slender lead over John van Wyk. The Masters series winner will also enjoy a sponsored drive at the Rotax Max Grand Finals 2010 at La Conca, Italy in November. This is the first time this will be a standalone category for a world title along with Junior Max, Max Challenge and Rotax DD2.
For 2010 the new Maxterino category enjoys South African Challenge status, but next year it is likely to be awarded full SA Championship status, such has been the success of the category so far. Over 20 young drivers are expected for the Maxterino class in iDube, headed in the points log to date by Clinton Bezuidenhout. The reliability of these small 60 cc engines has been excellent so far and low maintenance costs have put a smile on the faces of the dads keen to launch their sons and daughters on a career in motorsport.
The Maxterino Challenge series is being run as the official junior class for 8 to 12 year olds at all four rounds of SARMC 2010.
South African Rotax Max Challenge 2010 Points Table after Round One:
MAXTERINO
1.Clinton Bezuidenhout 172 pts
2 Kohen Bam 168
3. Chadley Swartz 165
4. Delano Fowler 162
5. Keegan Masters 159
6. Henry Bam 154
MINI MAX
1. Julian van der Watt 172
2. Marco Busi 161
3. Aedan van Vuuren 161
4. Chad Daniel 160
5. Thomas van der Merwe 153
6. Mark Swanepoel 153
JUNIOR MAX
1. Aston Hare 172
2. Mathew Swanepoel 162
3. Chad Maciver 161
4. Kelvin van der Linde 155
5. Raoul Hyman 153
6. Dewald Brummer 149
MAX CHALLENGE
1. Aidan de Nobrega 174
2. Ryan Frost 172
3. Ricky Hill 156
4. Caleb Williams 152
5. Tom Lautenbach 148
6. Kevin de Witt 148
ROTAX DD2
1. Ralph Odendaal 166
2. Sean Frost 163
3. Nicholas Verheul 160
4. Marc Murray 159
5. Eugene Britz 153
6. Devon Tame 151
DD2 MASTERS
1. George dos Ramos 174
2. John van Wyk 170
3. Ernst Viljoen 163
4. Gary Marais 160
5. Wayne Masters 156
6. Brad Hall 142
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