Summarize

2016 Mini Max international karting champion Jayden Els made it three titles in three years when he added a second Northern Regions Junior Max championship to his resume of local titles at Vereeniging’s Laserfiche Raceway on Saturday. It was not as easy as it may have seemed though after rival Kwanda Mokoena found great pace on Saturday to draw even on points after the final race, only for Jayden to take the title on a count-back of wins.

"We lost the battle this weekend, but we won the war,” a delighted newly crowned champion Jayden admitted. “We've scored a hat trick of championships for the last three years — Mini Rok in 2016 and Junior Max the last two years in a row. “The weekend started out well — I was quickest on Friday and Saturday up to qualifying, but it turned into a pretty stressful day. 

“Kwanda borrowed a quick engine from the first race and was flying and I dropped back to fourth after a confusing race 1 start and had to be super careful overtaking and by the time I was back to second, Kwanda was gone. “Race two was all Kwanda again so I hung on to second and it all came down to the last race. “I had the pace to attack but opted for the safer option and stayed far enough behind Kwanda not to cause any trouble knowing that we had a very close title in the bag.  

“It’s been a tough season - especially in the nationals, but I am super-happy with three titles on the trot! "Big thanks to our sponsors King Price Xtreme and to Leeroy Poulter and our Xtreme Racing team for the effort and support."