Summarize

The Rotax Max African Open will not only crown Africa’s 2025 karting champions at Zwartkops this Saturday 5 July, but it will also qualify them to represent the continent at the Rotax Max ‘Olympics of Karting’ Grand Finals at Bahrain in December. On top of that, this year’s wildcard races have also drawn a truly representative African entry list to Pretoria from as far afield as Zambia, Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Namibia.

The winner in each African Open class finale other than Bambinos this weekend will join Rotax Max’s South African champions in the National team to race in December’s Rotax grand Finals. But with none of those national seats settled yet, Saturday may well be the simplest way for drivers to grab an ‘Olympics of Karting’ seat. So don’t expect any holds to be barred this weekend. 

There’s also no guarantee that only South Africans will progress, with so many quick drivers from those other African countries also in the mix this weekend. The African Open comprises registration before practice on Thursday and Friday with qualifying that afternoon before racing on Saturday, which sees a couple of qualifying heats before the all-important winner takes all African Open Finals in each class.

Cape veteran Jason Coetzee starts as favourite in premier Rotax DD2, but the African Open is probably a bigger deal for everyone else, should Jason take the title. His Cape compatriots Sebastian Boyd, Matthew Wadeley, Anwill April and Ethen Stier will be chasing that ‘Olympics of Karting’ seat on offer. They however have a hometown roadblock by the name of KC Ensor-Smith, backed by Dusan Radojevic, Jamie Smith, Shrien Naidoo and Tony Auby to contend with. And add a troop of Namibians including Zain Beuthin and Kobus Reynecke.

Masters class hero and multiple Rotax Max world champion Cristiano Morgado has a mix of locals and internationals to contend with in the over-30s DD2 Masters. Mozambican Cristian Bouché, Cape lad Jonathan Pieterse, Gauteng driver Justin Rogers among them.

With 25 karts already confirmed for Senior Max and a tight National championship chase, there will be no holds barred in the Senior Open, where Jozi karting girls Gianna Pascoal and Georgia Lenaerts will be out to steal that seat off the lads. They include experienced Cape lad Charl Visser and his compatriot Jordon Wadeley, KZN wildcards Troy Snyman and Travis Mingay and local hotshots Jonno Wilson, Kent Swartz, Matthew Carter, Ethan Bostander and a lot more, with Kenyan Krrish Vadgama adding international spice.

The high school Rotax Junior Max African Open will be another hotly contested affair, with Jozi karting lass Emma Dowling and her compatriot lads Cristian Verheul, Keenan du Plessis, and Jack Moore up against Eastern Cape lad Caleb Moss and top Cape Town driver Sebastiano Human among others. Their African opposition comes from Zimbabweans, Yaseen and Zaidan Savania.

Under-13 Rotax Mini Max is a monster sell-out that may even require heats to race to slim the field down, considering the prospect of more entries than available grid slots. A splendid showcase of African karting, Mzansi’s Mini finest have not only their home rivals to contend with, but also the best from across the subcontinent. The local contingent includes Jozi flyers Brody Dowling, Rafael de Souza and Rafael de Silva, Declan Jurgens, Christian Naidoo and Cape challenger Max Boshoff. But with a huge field including several drivers from Mozambique, Namibia as Zimbabwe, the pre-teen African Open is set to deliver a blockbuster of note.

Jozi kids, Luhan de Wet, Luke du Toit and Adriaan Steyn not only have their regular Cape under 11 Rotax Micro Max rivals, Yaqeen Gamieldien, Radhi Harris and Michael O’Mahoney to deal with at the African Open, but a team of Namibians too. Gury dos Santos, Russell Josephat and Kristopher Koudelka will be out to show the Saffers a thing or two, too.

And finally, the baby Bambino Rotax African Open is a melting pot of future karting talent. Local lot, Alonzo de Oliveira, Sebastien Shuttleworth, Yerhu Malaba, Sean Arde and Yinhla Makhubele have Mozambican lass Teresa Bettencourt among a varied field including the best from Namibia and Zimbabwe to take care of in the kindergarten of motorsport.

“The African Open is always among the highlights of the South African Rotax Max season,” Rotax SA CEO Ed Murray concludes. “This year the event races on its own, rather than as part of a National weekend for the first time in a while, but that has done nothing to detract record entries from far and wide to Zwartkops for what promises to be a karting weekend to remember. Bring it on!”

The 2025 South African Rotax karting champions will form the basis of the National team alongside the winners of the African Open to travel to the annual Rotax Max Grand Finals ‘Olympics of Karting’ in Bahrain in December.