National Kart champs - Round 1
Scribante Kart Track, PE
Saturday February 28 2015
PORT ELIZABETH, Eastern Cape - It was a case of experience and age overcoming youthful exuberance during Saturday’s opening round of the SA National Karting championships in Port Elizabeth.
Three-times SA Production Car champion Michael Stephen and SA GP3 exponent Roman de Beer dominated the top steps of the podium of the first National IAME X30 Shifter races.
Former kart star Stephen had little trouble settling back in as he stamped his authority on the X30 field, beating the Tony Kart-mounted De Beer to second in the first two races with Kosmic man Nathan Parkins the best of the regular karters second in the third race en route to third overall. De Beer, Parkins and young Keegan Masters (Tony) shared third positions in the races.
GREAT START TO DEFENCE
The weekend also played host to the opening Vortex Rok class championship rounds in which Cape lad Charl Visser (Kosmic) beat his similarly mounted compatriot JP Hamman and PE local hero Joshua Coertze (Zanardi) in the first Primary School Mini Rok 60cc National round.
SA champion Hamman then took Races 2 and 3 from Topkart duo Blaine Rademeyer and Mikaeel Pitamber each time to get his title defence off to a great start, winning overall from the consistent Aidan Strydom, Pitamber and Coertze.
Bloemfontein lightie Stuart White (Kosmic) beat Jozi rivals Luca Munaretto (FA) and Joshua Dias (Birel) to the first Junior Rok race and returned the same order in Race 2.
White then made it three in a row from Cape Town's reigning SA Maxterino champion Jason Coetzee (Kosmic) and local lad Cameron Kelly (Birel) in the third race.
White took the day overall from Diaz, Coetzee and Munaretto.
TROUBLE FOR VISSER
SA Super Rok champion and another Port Elizabeth hero, Chassen Bright (Zanardi), kept charge of the class by beating Keagan Blanckensee’s TonyKart to second in all three races, while Jason Smith (Tony) was third in the first and third races with Bryn High (Zanardi) third in the second heat.
Little Kyle Visser took one non-championship Cadet race to Sa'aad Variawa's two after Visser hit trouble in Race 2 but fought back to second in Race 3. Tristan Coertze ended second in the middle race and third in the other two.
Round 2 of the SA Karting championship will be at Killarney in Cape Town on April 25 when the Rotax Max Evo classes will join the action alongside the X30 Shifters and Vortex Rok classes.