Northern Regions Round 2 Race Report

The second race of the MSA ROK Northern Regions season took place at Formula K in Benoni this weekend! The pits filled up early as competitors were keen to take on the second round of the regional series. It was a crisp morning with some clouds in the sky but no threat of the rain that complicated round 1.

The Formula K at 1640m about sea-level is the latest & most advanced short circuit in South Africa and easily one of the most spectacular raceways in the world. Thousands of people visit the circuit to experience race meetings, driving experiences and karting. This world class venue, consisting of various track configurations, can provide for a wide range of competitions and events such as this - the second race of the northern regions karting season. There was an extra element to the race, the track would be run in an Anti-Clockwise direction for the first time in a ROK race.

Many people attended Friday practice at the circuit, and several tests and setup adjustments took place in pit areas all around.

Cadet kicked off the first qualification of the ROK classes for the day.

Qualifying:

With only two competitors Ronald Venter #50 secured pole position with a time of 42.616, with Luhan de Wet #27 close behind, with a time of 42.972, just three tenths short of a P1 start.

de Wet got past Venter at the start of race 1 to bring his kart home in first. De Wet started the next race on pole and lead from start to finish with Venter in second. In the final race it was Venter in front again with de Wet bringing it home in second. De Wet finished the day with a clean sweep and 105 points and Venter in second with 96 points.

Kid Rok Class

Qualifying:

Kayde Cornofsky #17(CRG) secured pole position with a time of 1:19.582, after having his best time, 1:19.490 deleted due to a Nose Cone infringement, he was followed by Logan Billau #68 (Tony Kart) who was 7 tenths behind in second place. In third was Riley van Staden #18 (Praga) with a time of 1:20.583 just two tenths off second place. The rest of the grid was Alanzo Dias #16 (CRG), Bophelo Molathlegi #15 (Kart Republic), Diego Antunes #66 (Parolin) and Omolemo Mfana #12 (Parolin).

Cornofskywon the race by 5 seconds to the next closest competitor, which was Billau in second place and van Staden, making a place on the start in third. Dias, just one tenth behind the top three was followed by Molathlegi (+5s Nose Cone), and Mfana and Antunes who had a close race for the final places.

In race 2 Cornofsky was on the top step again, taking the fastest lap (1:18,379) of the race to boot. Second was Billau who managed to get in front of Cornofsky at the start but was overtaken again on the same lap, followed by van Staden in third. Diaz was fourth followed by Antunes. Moltahlegi and Mfana had a close race with both receiving nose cone infringements and making up the final two places respectively.

Cornofsky won the final race to make it a clean sweep, but Billau kept him honest, taking a place at the start again and getting the fastest lap of the race, 1:18.379. Van Staden was on the final step of the podium followed by Dias, Molathlegi, Antunes, and Mfana.

Cornofsky finished the day in first, showing good pace and race win in every heat earned him 105 points, followed by Billau with 96 points and van Staden in third with 90 points. The final places respectively were Dias on 87 points, Molathlegi on 83 points, Antunnes on 81 points and Mfana with 79 points.

Mini Rok Class

Qualifying:

Tshepang Shisinwana #30 ()secured pole position with a time of 1:15,832, seven hundredths of a second behind him was Declan Jurgens # 63 (Ricciardo) with a time of 1:15.911, Mattao Mason #28(CRG) was in third just two thousand of a second behind second place. Durelle Goodman #247 (Exprit) just missed third position by five hundredths of a second. Sebastien Blignaut #25 (CRG) and Caleb Moss (CRG) made up position five and six, with the top six being separated by just 7 tenths of a second. The remaining gird positions were Emma Dowling #23 (), Sebastian Ferreira #15 (Ricciardo), MJ Thekiso #11 (Kart Republic) and Santiago Frade #61 (Kosmic).

 In Race 1 Mason #28 had a good start jumping up to first place on the first lap, only for Jurgens to get it back on lap two, where he drove out front with Mason less than a tenth behind each lap. Mason got back in front on the last lap getting in front of Jurgens and taking the top step. Goodman #247 also made a place on the last lap to take second and the fastest lap of the race, 1:15.251 followed by Jurgens #63 in third. The rest of the field respectively was Shisinwana, Moss, Mason #29 making up five positions, Dowling, Blignaut, Ferreira, Thekiso and Frade.

Mason #28 made a position on the start of race 2 and led the race till taking the victory. In second place was Goodman, again taking fastest lap of the race, and on the last step, making up three positions in the race was Moss. Jurgens, Shisinwana, Bliganout, Mason #29, Thekiso, Ferreira, and Frade made up the final positions with Dowling down as a DNS.

Mason #28 was fourth at the start but made a position to third on lap 1 and first position by lap 2 from where he went on to win the race. Shisinwana was in second followed by Goodman in third. Moss was in fourth followed by Blignaut, Jurgens, Mason #29, Dowling, Ferreira, Frade and Thekiso.

Mason won the day with 105 points, followed by Goodman who had good pace all day in second with 94 points, and Shisinwana in third with 89. The rest of the field came in as Moss, Jurgens, Blignaut, Mason #29, Ferreira, Thekiso, Frade and Dowling. Great racing by everyone in the competitive Mini Rok class, with the top 8 fastest laps of each competitor being within 7 tenths of each other.

OKJ CLASS

Qualifying:

Dhivyen Naidoo #98(Kart Republic) qualified on pole with a time of 1:07.648, followed by Sebastian Dias #25 (Kart Republic) less than one tenth behind  with a 1:07.746. Nine thousand of a second behind Dias was Ntiyiso Mabunda #29 (Kart Republic) with a 1:07.755. Amani Kinyua #45 (Lando Norris) was three hundredths behind third followed by Christopher Tait #43 (OTK) just five tenths off the lead, then Luke Hill #57(RD), Ricardo Tebutt #88 (), Torben Roos #75 (Ricciardo), Ndzalo Khoza #82 (), Mahlori Mabunda #23 (Kart Reublic), Anesu Maphumulo #33 (Kart Republic) and Caleb Cupido #11 (Kart Republic).

Mabunda #29 took the win followed by Naidoo in second and Dias in third. Kinyua took fourth followed by Tait in fifth with a 5 second Nose Cone Infringement. Next was Mabunda #23 followed by Hill, Roos and Maphumulo each with a 5 second Nose Cone Infringement. Cupido finished in tenth with Tebutt, also with a 5 second Nose Cone Infringement in eleventh with Khoza down as a DNS.

In Race 2, with some complications still being worked out as it relates to the OK-J and OK-N class there was some issues getting the race started. Issues which are sure to be ironed out by the officials for upcoming races. This meant that there were plenty penalties handed out. Naidoo got away clean and won the race convincingly. Mabunda was in second a lap down, followed by Kinyua who received a 3s Start Infringement penalty. Dias was in fourth followed by Hill, and Khoza. Mabunda in 7^th, with a 3s Start Infringement penalty, Maphumulo in 8^th; Tait, Roos, Tebutt and Cupido closed out the field with each of them receiving a 3s Start Infringement penalty, whilst Tait and Tebutt had to another 5 seconds for a Nose Cone Infringement.   

Mabunda #29 won the third race of the day, followed .3 seconds behind by Naidoo and then Tait on the final step of the podium. They were followed by Dias, Mabunda #23, Khoza, Kinyua with a 5 second Nose Cone Infringement, and Maphumulo. Hill, Tebutt, Cupido and Roos are all down as retired having not completed any laps.

Mabunda won the day with 102 points, followed by Naidoo on 99 points and Dias on the final step with 88 points. The remaining positions respectively were Kinyua, Tait, Mabunda, Hill, Maphumulo, Khoza, Roos, Cupido, and Tebutt.

OKN Class

The new OK-N class qualified and raced with the OKJ class. As mentioned above with this being a brand-new class there were some issues with this format, but a learning curve for all.

In Qualifying Michael Pringle #14 (Tony Kart) secured pole position with a time of 1:07.447. Nicolaos Vostanis #24 (Lando Norris) was just two tenths behind in second with Kian Spies #229(Kosmis) in third. Rudi Schussler #127 (Kosmic) was in fourth with a time of 1:08.608.

In race one, Vostanis took the win, followed by Zafiris and then Pringle on the final step of the podium. Spies was in fourth. Schussler received a DQ for being underweight.

Vostanis took the win in race two too, followed by Zafiris, who set a fastest lap of 1:07.164, in second and Pringle in third. Spies finished fourth and unfortunately Schussler was out on lap 3 and received a DNF.

Vostantis made it three for three winning the third race of the day too and clawing back the fastest lap too. He was followed by Zafiris, Pringle and Schussler in fourth. Spies was demoted to fifth with a five second Nose Cone Infringement.

Vostanis won the day with 105 points, followed by Zafiris, Pringle Spies and Schussler respectively. Although there are still some teething issues, OK-N is still the class to watch out for with the world cup in 2024.

KZ2

Qualifying:

The shifter karts ran together as three classes, KZ2, FKR and FKR Masters. These karts are always exciting to watch and with 18 karts on the grid Saturday was no exception. Jamie Smith (KZ2) qualified on pole with a 1:24.461 followed by Jimmy Auby (FKR) one tenth behind, Michael Pringle (KZ2) was in third just 3 thousands behind Auby. The rest of the field was respectively; Tristan Pelser (FKR), Deon Auby (FKR Masters), Paul Dias (FKR Masters), Kurt Bakewell (FKR), Martin Ordel (KZ2), Craig Koekemoer (FKR Masters), Albert Mans (KZ2), Wesley Roberston (FKR), Rynhardt Illman (FKR), Dylen Smith (KZ2), Waldo Seeger (KZ2), Cungu Kamau (FKR), Michael Fridberg (FKR Masters), Rob Bakewell (FKR Masters), and Benjamin Piek (FKR).

In race one it was Pringle who crossed the line first but received a 5-place penalty for a nose cone infringement, promoting Auby to first place. Ordel in second was the first of the KZ2 class, followed by Dias in third. Pringle could at least take the fastest lap as a consolation prize.

Auby won race two, followed by Pringle 1 tenth behind and then Smith on the final step of the podium. Mans in fourth took the final step of the KZ2 podium.

Smith won race three, followed by Auby and Pringle. Mans in seventh on the track took the third place for the KZ2 class.

In the KZ2 class, Pringle won the day with 99 points, followed by Smith in second. Ordel took third place with 93 points, just one behind second place. Mans, Seeger and Smith took the remaining KZ2 positions.

In the FKR class, Auby won the day, with Bakewell in second and Robertson in third. In the FKR Masters class, Dias won the day, followed by Auby in second and Koekemoer on the final step of the podium.

Fans were on the edge of their seats at numerous crucial moments throughout the action-packed and dramatic racing. It will be fascinating to observe how these races' outcomes affect the remainder of the season. One thing is for sure De Wet, Cornofsky, Mason, Mabunda, Vostanis, Priongle, Dias and Aubey have all improved their chances heading into the third leg of the Northern regions championship. Of course a huge thank you goes out to the official that organized the event, the marshals for ensuring everyone was safe, the timekeeper and everyone else involved.