LOCAL HEROES SHINE IN ROUND ONE OF THE 2010 SOUTH AFRICAN ROTAX MAX CHALLENGE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
05.04.2010
Marc Murray (65) had the "drive of the meeting" at Round One of the 2010 Rotax Max Challenge SA Championships in Cape Town held over the Easter weekend. Here he hounds Ian Young (2) in the DD2 Gearbox Class final. Pic by www.ksdvdcreators.talkspot.com |
Cape Town drivers threw down the gauntlet in the first round of the 2010 SA Rotax Max Challenge National Championship held at the Mother City’s Killarney kart circuit on April 1 and 2.
Undoubted star of the meeting was Aidan de Nobrega driving a new Arrows chassis, who now leads the top-category Senior Rotax Max Challenge. The son of former single-seater ace Mark de Nobrega, young Aidan revelled in his first SA championship drive in the top class, his two wins and two second places in the four-race format being enough to move him to the top of the championship table, ahead of the highly fancied Gauteng drivers Ryan Frost, Ricky Hill and international karting star Caleb Williams.
And in the junior categories Kohen Bam finished second in the hugely successful new Maxterino class behind KZN ace Clinton Bezuidenhout, while Julian van der Watt, also from Cape Town, took the Mini Max category.
While the locals had much to cheer about, they were quick to acknowledge what was undoubtedly the drive of the day in the super-quick DD2 Gearbox class. Late entry from Gauteng Marc Murray in a CRG stormed through from the back of the grid in the two Finals held on the Saturday to score two excellent victories, from the highly-fancied Ralph Odendaal, Sean Frost and Nick Verheul.
However Marc’s lower placings in the two heats run on the Friday, due to a penalty for being slightly underweight, saw him placed fourth overall in the points standings after the weekend’s meet.
In the very competitive Junior Max category, the race weekend looked like being another Cape Town benefit for young Luke Herring, who won the first heat. However, the tragic death of a close relative in a road accident saw Herring withdraw from the rest of the race weekend.
This presumably left the coast clear for KZN driver Mathew Swanepoel to lead the title chase, taking the next two race wins and leading the final race in his CRG until a broken throttle cable sidelined him just laps before the end. This handed a rather fortuitous victory to Birel-mounted Aston Hare who leads the points table from Mathew Swanepeopl, Chad MacIver and Kelvin van der Linde.
Eugene Denysen (535) leads Cape Town's Marco Busi (541) and winner Julian van der Watt (542) in a packed Mini Max first-lap tussle.. Pic by www.ksdvdcreators.talkspot.com |
The famous Van der Linde clan from Gauteng had a rather indifferent weekend. The shock news after the Saturday rounds in the Mini Max category was the exclusion of Sheldon van der Linde and Jurie Swart from the meeting due to technical infringements. Both Van der Linde and Swart were found to be running engines that did not comply with the regulations after post-race scrutineering, and scored no points for the championship weekend.
Features of this South African Championship first-round event – there are still three rounds left to go in 2010 – were numerous.
- In the increasingly-competitive DD2 Gearbox class is the fastest MSA karting class and there were no fewer than five South African Champions competing in the class in Cape Town. Winner Ralph Odendaal is the reigning European DD2 Champion.
- Winner of the two DD2 final races Marc Murray has not raced karts seriously since 2004!
- In the Senior Max category, there were several South African champions competing too, and Caleb Williams is the current World Champion.
- The Maxterino Class provided the most competitive racing in this category seen for many years for youngsters in this age-group (eight years to 12 years). The top six runners were never separated by more than a few metres throughout the weekend, and the entry of 14 karts for this first Challenge race is excellent.
- In 2011 the Maxterino class will enjoy full National Championship status, like the other Rot! ax Max Challenge classes.
- The Masters Category of the DD2 Gearbox class enjoys increasing status this year and is becoming more and more competitive for drivers over 32 years old. The Rotax Max Grand Final event, taking place in Italy this year in November will see the DD2 Masters compete in a separate race for what is effectively world-championship status.
- All four 2010 Rotax Max Challenge South African Championship rounds will be televised on Rapid Motion on DSTV, starting with Round One in Cape Town held over the Easter Weekend. Check programme schedules for details.
Points standings after the First Round of the 2010 SA Rotax Max Challenge.
Cape Town, April 1 and 2, 2010.
Maxterino winner Clinton Bezuidenhout (57) leads Keegan Masters (10) and Henry Bam in the tightly-packed junior class in the SA Challenge event for junior drivers. Pic by www.ksdvdcreators.talkspot.com |
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
DD2 GEARBOX
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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