Summarize

A Mini Rok national championship round will bring extra interest to what can already be expected to be a dynamite day’s racing at Killarney’s fourth round Western Province Karting Championship meeting Saturday 20 May. The second round of the Mini Rok championship can be expected to attract a strong field of upcountry primary school karters, while a handy local grid will be keen on home glory, but don’t ignore the regular regional attraction either.

The 60cc Mini Rok brigade head to Killarney fresh off last month’s first round at iDube in the KZN Midlands, where Jozi kids Leyton Fourie, Jarod Waberski and Daniele Patrizi emerged at the top of the championship table after a fraught day’s racing that saw the form book torn up following a tumultuous day on track as regular frontrunners were rendered hors de combat and the day’s results saw several surprises well up the leaderboard. 

So don’t ignore the likes of local lads Kyle Visser and Tate Bishop from the next installment of that dust-up on Saturday, never mind the likes of capable visitors Kwanda Mokoena, Aqil Alibhai, Nikolas Roos, Sebastian Smith and Elam Modiba, all of whom are well entrenched in that title fight and each with something to prove.

The Mini Rok race makes the Killarney weekend into something of a mini karting fest, with four other classes catering for primary school kids and all of those the focus of tight Cape championship battles.

Tate Bishop (TPB Kosmic) for example holds a slender 9-point title WP Maxterino 60cc title advantage over Troy Dolinschek (Makita Kosmic), with Kyle Visser (Charl Electric Zanardi) keeping a watching brief, but looking over his shoulders to the pursuing Dylan Snell, Jason MacBeath and most impressive rookie, Denis Joubert.

Joseph Oelz (Kosmic) has a slightly stronger 14-point grip on the other primary school Western Province Mini Max championship for power-limited 125cc water-cooled machines over Kai Van Zijl (SAKRA Kosmic), Tate Bishop and impressive newcomer Sibo Solomon on similar machines and Thaqib Meyer and Andre Le Riche not far off. 

There’s a huge tiff in the Micro Max club challenge, where Valentino Hoffman (GP Energy FA Kart), Joaquin De Oliveira (ESA Partner FA), Reza Levy (ALR CRG) and Julius Schwager (FA) split by just seven points and Mischa Williams, Reese Koorzen and Ethan Stier also in close attendance. Micro Max likewise runs even further restricted 125cc water-cooled Rotax engines.

Joshua Smit has a handy 50cc Killarney baby Cadet kart club challenge, but there’s a huge spat for second in the under-8 class with three points splitting Reese Koorzen, Ethan Deacon and newcomer Luan Mostert, while Eric Norman and Yusuf Parker lurk in fifth and sixth, not many points behind.

Saturday also sees four races for full-sized karts, where you can expect a shake-up in the quickest DD2 gearbox class, where form man Umpie Swart (EMR CRG) has the opportunity to make up lost championship ground on class leader Julian van der Watt, who skips the meeting to defend his SA Formula 1600 championship lead on East London’s main circuit. Swart can’t rest on his laurels though with the likes of CRG quartet, Jonathan Thomas, Andrew Rackstraw, Tristan de Nobrega,  and Christopher Vrettos waiting in the wings.

Luke Herring (LHR RKT Kosmic) will however be on hand to deal with Umpie Swart (EMR CRG), Kosmic pair Jason Coetzee and Dino Stermin in the full cream Senior Max 125s, which can as always be expected to deliver dicing of the highest order from a small but high quality field of open class drivers.

The same can be said of the high school Junior Max 125cc gang, where Jason Coetzee (RKT Kosmic) enjoys a 12-point title advantage over Sebastian Boyd (Boyd Boss Freight Kosmic). Simon Simpson-Heath (SAKRA Kosmic and SA FIA-CIK European Kart Academy Championship racer Charl Visser (Charl Electrical FA Kart) are tied in third with Nicholas Sage and Tyler Croy next up in that title chase.

The intrepid Cape Clubmen (and women) round off the meeting as always where Jody van Rensburg and Isabelle Fowler continue their Class A tussle, Andrew Thomas has a strong Class B advantage and Kyle Poulter and Terry Watt are fighting over the Class C championship lead.

Killarney Raceway is on Potsdam Road, Killarney Gardens with the kart track situated across from the main circuit pit complex. 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. 

See you at the Killarney karts!