Summarize

Cape Town’s karting community simply cannot wait to race at this weekend’s Western Province Finals — not only are all eight titles still there for the taking, but Saturday 10 November will see the first races on the Killarney Kart track’s splendid new world class tarmac surface. The track was ripped up six weeks ago and has since benefited a fresh layer of bitumen to bring it up to top standards and everyone who races there is raring to get out on that slick new surface in anger, especially since this meeting was postponed for two weeks to allow the circuit to be 100% ready.

Of course there is still the matter of a few WP titles to settle, starting with the flaship DD2 gearbox lot, where Umpie Swart is well on his way to clinching it this weekend, with teammate Jason Coetzee still in with a mathematical chance. Both will need to keep an eye on an on form Jonathan Thomas, while Jarryd Evans will be back with a vengeance. The DD2 Masters chase is however far closer, where Gary Lennon holds a slender 15-point advantage over Roy Gruer, with Ernst Viljoen and Conor Hughes keeping a watching brief and Jacques de Bruyn running interference.

Jason Coetzee is the man to beat in open class Senior Max and while Andrew Rackstraw has beaten him a few times this season, he arrives at a 20 point deficit, so it’s all to do. Andrew Thomas has quietly built up points to sit third in that chase, but he has Reece Oellerman well within fighting distance, while Storm Lanfear, Tristan de Nobrega and Ziyaad Ibrahim are all capable of tossing that cat among those pigeons.

It's close in under-15 Junior Max as Joseph Oelz heads into the high school class finale just ten points clear of Troy Dolinschek, while Kai van Zijl and Tate Bishop fight over third. Simon Simpson-Heath and Sibo Solomon have newly crowned SA champion Charl Visser closing down fast from behind, while Storm Lanfear, Luca Wehrli, Tristan Galp and Mikaeel Moolla are all serious mid-pack factors.

Another newly crowned SA champion, younger brother Kyle Visser has one hand on the under-13 Mini Max title but Mikhail Fernandez and Joaquin de Oliveira both have a mathematical chance of a shock upset, while brothers Andre and Kyle le Riche are both improving by the race. All of them need to keep an eye on the increasingly competitive Denis Joubert, who is out to stake his third generation claim to that Killarney fiefdom.

Kyle Visser has every chance of making it a triple-title year as he also leads the other under-13 WP Mini Rok title chase, but he has both Jason McBeath and Lucas Royston well within striking distance and Joshua Smit, Paul Malcolm and Conner Rensburg in hot pursuit.

It's also close in under-11 Micro Max, where another well-known third generation Cape racer Reza Levy leads the way with Reese Koorzen perhaps too close for comfort. Joshua Smit, Ethan Stier, karting lass Mischa Williams and the two Ethans, Lennon and Deacon are all most capable of an upset among this lot, where racing is tight in spite of the drivers’ remarkably tender age.

They are still older than the Cape karting kindergarden, where it should be a formality for Ian Joubert to wrap up the under-8 Bambino title early in the day. It's a very different story for second however, as Eric Norman and Luan Mostert go into the final tied on points and do not ignore Rayan Karriem and Matthew Smit, both of whom have made significant progress through the season.

Another driver with one hand on a trophy right on the other side of the karting spectrum, is wine farmer Johan Hamman, who came back to make the Cape Clubmans class his own this year. Harry Georgiou sits second in that title chase ahead of Andre Steenkamp, Robert Peche and brothers Jared and Michael Jordan, while Mario Ras has long proven he has more than enough pace to upset the whole applecart.

It’s all going down Saturday 27 October, so well worth the trip to the Killarney Kart Track for the WP Finals. The Kart Track is on the infield, there’s good grub and refreshments available in the Karting Clubhouse, informative commentary and a cool atmosphere in the kart pits — certainly worth the visit…