Summarize

The 2017 Western Province Karting Championship goes down to the wire Saturday 14 October with eight new champions set to be crowned and several other lesser titles scores settled at the Killarney Kart Track Saturday 21 October, so there’s plenty pride at stake.

Expect no holds barred and no love lost in Rotax Senior Max, where championship leader Luke Herring (FA Kart) and his closest title rival Jason Coetzee (RKT Kosmic) went home with race exclusions and their tails between their legs after the track action got a bit too hot last time out, leaving Andrew Rackstraw to emerge the winner of a dramatic day. Herring has since secured the SA national Senior Rok title and now intends doing the double with a WP title too, but not if Coetzee, who sits just 18 points adrift has anything to do about it, while Rackstraw, Reece Oellerman, Ziyaad Ibrahim and Jarryd Evans are all waiting in the wings to pick up a few more scraps…

Cape town has another SA champion in the form of high school Junior Max driver Sebastian Boyd (Boyd Boss Freight Kosmic), who beat his two WP rivals Charl Visser (Charl Electric FA Kart) and Jason Coetzee (RKT Kosmic) to the SA title. But Coetzee holds a handy 28-point WP Junior championship lead over Boyd with Visser in the WP championship, so all Jason needs do is follow his rivals home to clinch a back-to-back Cape title. Simpson-Heath, Lanfear sisters Gabi and Jade and brother Storm and Nicholas Sage are other kids to watch in this class.

One lad who just has to bring it home to clinch his 2017 title is DD2 gearbox driver Umpie Swart (EMR CRG), who holds a 44-point title advantage, but he’s not the kind of guy who will just drive to finish, so he will be out to trot off to another trio of wins. Jonathan Thomas (Partners Hair CRG) and Andrew Rackstraw (TonyKart) do their usual utmost to stem that Swart tide, while masters' drivers Gary Lennon, Jacques De Bruyn and Roy Gruer can be expected to tussle for the old man’s prize.

Moving on to the primary school classes, Cape Town’s third South African karting champion for 2017, Tate Bishop should add the WP title to his 2017 CV by the end of Saturday's first race. Bishop holds a mighty 71 point title advantage going in to the WP Maxterino 60cc final, leaving the fight there for second between Kyle Visser (Charl Electric Zanardi), Jason MacBeath (Kosmic) and the rapidly closing Troy Dolinschek (Makita Kosmic). Never ignore Denis Joubert, Dylan Snell, Paul Malcolm, Lucas Royston, Mikhail Fernandez, Reza Levy or Luca Wehrli from this under-12 spat.

Joseph Oelz (Kosmic) is another driver in a strong championship lead with a 42-point under-13 Mini Max title over Kai van Zyl (SAKRA Kosmic) going into the final. Tate Bishop (TBP Kosmic) and Sibo Solomon (Kosmic) are next up in that title chase, with Thaqib Meyer, Andre and Kyle Le Riche, Luca Wehrli and Luke Oellerman also in the mix there.

One WP championship that certainly is still up for grabs is the Under-11 Micro Max club title, where Joaquin De Oliveira (FA Kart) heads to Killarney with just 9 points in hand over Reza Levy (ALR CRG). Valentino Hoffman, Ethan Stier and Mischa Williams next up, but there are wildcards aplenty among this lot, like African Open Reese Koorzen (FA Kart), the star of the last meeting Denis Joubert (SAKRA Kosmic) and Lucas Roysten ready to mix up the championship chase, so this one should be a cracker.

The Cadets are the smallest kids in WP karting, but never expect anything but the best action from these under-8s, where Joshua Smit is on the verge of clinching this club title. There is however an intriguing three-way spat for second there as just nine points separate Reese Koorzen, Ethan Deacon and Luan Mostert heading into the final of the Cape karting kindergarten, so it’s all to play for on Saturday.

The closest 2017 Cape karting title battle will however go down among the Clubmans, where just two points separate overall and Class A title rivals Jody van Rensburg (Star CRG) and Andrew Thomas (Blake brothers Intrepid). Also watch out for Kyle Poulter, who has already clinched the B title, while Class C champion elect Terry Watt will still fight it out for the win with Charles Matthewson and Rob Peche.

Find Killarney Raceway on Potsdam Road, Killarney Gardens — the kart track is situated across from the main circuit pit complex and accessible via the circuit’s southern gate. There’s always a cool atmosphere at the track with entertaining commentary and great grub and drinks at the clubhouse in the pits. Entry is R60 per adult, R20 for under-16s and under-12s are free.