Summarize

Zwartkops' Rotax Max Challenge South African National Karting Finals started well for under-13 Mini Max title leader Troy Snyman as he paced himself through qualifying and the first race before taking the lead from title rival Matthew Morrell and driving home to win Saturday’s first heat of four. But that all changed when Snyman and his kart crossed the weighbridge underweight and he was excluded from the results to lay his championship on the line too...

“My world seemed to come to an end for a few minutes,” Pietermaritzburg lightie Troy explained. “All our hard work and effort was suddenly in jeopardy, we cannot drop a disqualification score from our points and with Matthew on good pace and carrying several low drop points, the only way I could try to claw that title back was to win all three of Sunday’s races. “My mentor Wesleigh Orr and the team calmed me down and we arrived at the track on Sunday with one objective in mind — a perfect day…

“My first challenge was starting from the back in race 2 — I really could not afford any more penalties for bumping or anything like that, so I had to keep it clean. I was up to fourth from 14th by lap 3 and the leaders were fighting it out, so I took my time to pick them off and passed Matthew for the lead two laps later and made off to take the win. 

“The challenge was that I only effectively scored three points as my win replaced a second place and I could not add any more points to my score after that as I had won nine races and lost the one to Saturday’s penalty. "Matthew however still had a few thirds and fourths to drop, which meant that if he won either of the remaining to races, he would win the title too, so while I would not score, I had to win both heats to have any chance to stop him from catching me!

“Uncle Wes prepared me a perfect kart and I drove as hard as I could to win both those races with Matthew second each time, but we were still not sure who was champion after the race. “It was a tough few minutes, but our media guys worked it out and we soon realised that I had pulled it off — I am the 2019 South African Mini Max champion!

“Sunday is a day none of us will ever forget - it was nerve wracking from end to end, but the relief was incredible once the results were confirmed. “I cannot thank my team enough — that was a really tough weekend mentally, but we have learned from it.

“Now we prepare for the Rotax Max Grand Finals in Italy in a month’s time to represent South Africa as we chase that world title. “I have been over to Italy and won on the Sarno track we raced the Grand Finals on twice already this year. I am 100% ready — we just need to be sure that we are on weight every time — Bring it on!”