Preview - by Steve Wicks editorial@saracer.co.za

South African karting is riding the crest of a huge wave at the moment and fireworks are expected at the opening round of the 2006 Engen SupaKarts national championship at the picturesque Celso Scribante circuit in Port Elizabeth on 3-4 March 2006.

Once again there is everything at stake and a whopping entry of over 150 competitors from around the country are expected.

As opposed to last year’s 5-round championship, the 2006 season has been trimmed to four events in the interests of containing costs. “It also places a greater importance on each round as there are less events and thus catching up will be more difficult,” said series promoter, multiple saloon car champion Terry Moss more»

With drivers aged between four and eight years old, the 50cc Cadet class sees the likes of Gauteng drivers Clayton Herbst, Joche du Toit and Aedan van Vuuren out to beat Capetonians Philipe Acafrao and Tristan Fassen while Paul-Leon Lourens is the local hero.

Over the years the GP Junior class has deservedly earned its reputation for producing a hard fought racing and there’s no reason why 2006 should be any different.

For obvious reasons, reigning champion Mitchell Licen starts as favourite, but there is a pack of hungry drivers determined to dethrone him. Jordan Pepper, Jordan Williams, Bevan Williams, Devon Piazza-Musso lead the Gauteng Challenge with the local challenge expected to come from Loukea Van Steijn, Justin Allan and Haigh Smuts.

Tasmin Pepper (Gauteng) and Vicki Kemp (PE) will be flying the 'sisterhood' flag.

Moving up the ranks the Rotax Mini-Max class is bound to be interesting as the rookies attempt to assert their authority.

Favourites must be the Gauteng trio of Caleb Williams (PCR), Ritchie Napier (Birel) and Axcil Jefferies (Birel), the latter having just joined the Castrol/Toyota Development team. Opposition will come from Cape Town’s Aidan de Nobrega and KZN drivers Brandon Waugh and Luca Canderie.

With an entry to the Rotax World Finals, the Junior Max class will no doubt be full of surprises. Fresh from two Mini-Max titles, and a win in the wet at Vereeniging, Trent Williams (CRG) will be under pressure from Devin Robertson (CRG), Riccardo Raciti and Kevin de Wit in their PCRs. Also, one would be foolish not to put a small wager on lady drivers Tasmin Pepper and local ace Vicki Kemp.

Gennaro Bonafede, son of multiple champion navigator Vito, will be racing in two classes.

One of the biggest fields will be the Max Challenge and there are at least half a dozen drivers who could go home on top of the points log. Gennaro Bonafede won at Vereeniging ahead of fellow Birel driver Kyle Lawrence.

At this event last year Lawrence became the youngest ever winner of a Max Challenge event. Now armed with a PCR, Durbanite Ralph Odendaal will be a force to be reckoned with. Other favorites are Arnold Neveling (PCR) who won the Euro Rotax Junior Max title last year and Mathew Hodges (Birel) winner of the South African Rotax Max championship. Dean Lester (CRG) is another driver capable of winning as is Willem Botha from the Free State.

Local hero Simon Moss leads at the Rok Junior World Cup in Italy last year

Both Rok classes have an entry into the Rok World Cup later this year. Three drivers who should feature in the Junior Rok are Kyle Mitchell (TonyKart), Chassen Bright (Engen Extreme PCR) and Tasmin Pepper (Sportstar Birel). All three competed in the finals in Italy last year, but will have to keep an eye on Daniel Rowe (Birel) and Andrew Gatland (TonyKart).

The Rok Cup will be hard fought and is the class most likely to produce a local winner. Race favorite must be Michael Stephen (Engen Extreme/Luk/VW PCR) but Christopher Cuyler (Herbcon/CRG) is not the type of driver to accept second place. Both will, however, have to deal with young Simon Moss (Engen Extreme/Luk/VW CRG). He went to Italy last year and put in a brilliant performance to lead the opening two laps of the Junior Rok World Cup and has proved he has the confidence to run with the big dogs.

The fourth driver in with a shout is Gennaro Bonafede (Birel), but will the pressure of competing in two classes prove too much?

Race Summary - by Steve Wicks editorial@saracer.co.za

Some stunning performances characterised the Eibach Springs race meeting which opened the 2006 Engen SupaKart national championship series in PE on Saturday.

Having moved up from the Junior Max class, Free State racer Willem Botha gave CRG a dream result in the Rotax Max Challenge as he took the win in the final to claim the overall victory despite being tied on points with Birel driver Mathew Hodges.

Only one point adrift was Pinetown’s Ralph Odendaal (PCR) who won two races leading up to the final to take third in the final points standings. Kyle Lawrence (Birel) overcame a troubled weekend to win the pre-final and take fourth ahead of Capetonians David Perel (PCR) and Mathew Symonds (Arrow).

Trent Williams (Sportstar CRG) was unbeaten in the Junior Max event as PCR drivers Caleb Williams and Kevin de Wit fought hard for the other podium positions. At the end the pair were tied on 165 points, but it was Williams who got second. Local hero Vicki Kemp took fourth in her Birel as Riccardo Raciti (CRG) and Tasmin Pepper (Sportstar Birel) completed the top six.

Williams was also contesting the controversial Mini-Max class and he won easily, but the big cheer went to Ian Young (Birel) who took second ahead of Olivier Calkoen (Birel). Fourth was Richard Napier (Birel) while fifth went to PCR mounted Sam Tingle who showed a lot of class after retiring from the first heat.

There was no stopping Michael Stephen (Engen Extreme/PCR) in the Rok Cup. He won all three races easily to win ahead of fellow PE driver Christopher Cuyler (Birel) while Capetonian Wiaan Swart (Birel) bagged third.

Simon Moss, son of racing legend Terry, took the Junior Rok trophy with a full house of wins ahead of Engen Extreme teammate Chassen Bright who was runner-up in each race. Third went to Durbanite Alex Jacovides (TonyKart) with Kyle Mitchell (TonyKart) next as Stefan Uys (Birel) and Peter Daley (TonyKart) were tied for fifth.

The biggest field of the day was in the GP Junior class and Aston Hare withstood tremendous pressure from reigning champion Mitchell Licen to win as Bevan Williams claimed third.

Pretoria’s Clayton Herbst took the Cadette class with Aedan van Vuuren and Liam Pienarr completing the podium.

Round two of the Engen SupaKarts championship takes place at CapeTown’s Killarney circuit on 15 April