07 Apr RACE REPORT BY HAYLEY – ROK National rocks Killarney’s Karting Circuit – 05 April 2025
Round 2 of the ROK National Karting Championship on Saturday 5 April got off to a swift start as a few spins wiggled their way into the Warm-Up session. Namibian Mini Rok competitor Cecil Koorts, hit the tyre barrier inside the 180s in a cloud of dust, to be followed by the abrupt stop of Logan Billau right next to him, a lap later.
Pushing, shoving and clipping was the order of the day in the back of the pack on the first lap of Race 1 as the OKN category made their way through the first corner causing both Zimvo Majova and Jean-Hendrik de Villiers to retire, while Wyatt Jones went out on lap six due to mechanical failure.
Gianna Pascoal took the win with a best lap time of 40.319 seconds, with Ethan Bostander (40.655) second and Onwabile Mcinga (40.556) third.
The Cadet Category ran a smooth if somewhat uneventful Race 1 before lunch; Caleb Rodgers won with a best lap time of 1:00.76 seconds, from Emelee Adriaans (1:03.008 seconds) in second and Grayson Venter (+1:06.755 seconds) in third.
OKJ’s Race 2 had a troubled start as Matthew Adrimbelo spun off just before entering the 180s on the warm-up lap, this caused the rest of the field to slow down but Aleksander Praizovic didn’t quite get the memo and clipped the kart of Jordan Klaasen as they came on to the main straight. Klaasen was slightly injured but okay, while Praizovic dodged the rest of the field and made a U-turn into the infield before Turn 1, as the red flags came out.
The restart was marred by another collision as the pack entered the 180s, involving Aaryan Singh and Jack Moore. Singh retired while Moore rejoined the pack with a skew number plate. The winner of the race was Spice Reagile Mailula with a best lap time of 40.859 seconds, followed by Praizovic (40.665 seconds) in second and Jack Moore (40.886 seconds) in third.
The Mini Rok U/10 category had few hiccups in their second race, other than a blind spotted incident in Golf Club on the first lap, Radhi Harris (45.778 seconds) came home first with Logan Roehrig (45.976 seconds) second and Riley van Staden (46.193 seconds) third.
Diego Antunes started Mini Rok Race 3 with a penalty for exiting the tramlines too soon as the lights went out, which dropped him from sixth to seventh when the results were tallied. The winner, however, was Max Boshoff, having posted a best lap time of 46.003 seconds, with his brother, Zac, in second place on 46.073 seconds and Logan Billau third with a best lap time of 46.049 seconds.
Be sure not to miss the next round of regional karting on Saturday, 3 May. See you then!
Text and Image by Hayley Zaayman