Bridgestone Adrenalin Raceway – Vereeniging – 09 August
Issued on behalf of Engen Supa Karts by Steve Wicks
The final round of the 2009 Engen Supa Kart national championships at Vereeniging's Bridgestone Adrenalin Raceway was packed with action and full of controversy from beginning to end.
The Junior Rok battle was a nail biting affair as anyone of four drives had a good chance of leaving Vereeniging as champion.
Aston Hare (Head2Head/Birel) emerged as king, but it was thanks to a mature, calculated performance where he ignored the pressure and looked at the big picture. He won the opening race, but then a fuel pipe 'mysteriously' came loose at the start of the second race. Knowing he couldn't afford a poor result, he was runner-up in the third and final race - enough to win the day and take the title.
Pietermaritzburg's Mathew Swanepoel (CRG) had a consistent day, but lost the win with a poor result in the final where there were often more karts on the grass than on the track. Escourt's Mitchell Licen (TonKart) took third on his debut with the Engen Xtreme/Southern Sun.
Fourth went to Nicholas Surguladze (The Kart Shoppe/Birel) ahead of Roman de Beer (Propshaft & CV Centre TonyKart) and Jordan Pepper in the PG Glass backed TonyKart.
Super Rok is the fastest class in the Engen Supa Kart series and the championship was delicately poised.
Simon Moss (Oakley/Southern Sun TonyKart) arrived with a five-point lead, but it meant nothing after a first lap clash with Chad van Beurden (Birel) saw the pair rejoin at the back of the field with Moss protested for cutting out a corner.
That left Birel's Ian Young in the lead, but he also had a moment on the grass. All that left an on-form Keagan Blanckensee (Digilogix/Aerox TonyKart) to take an effortless win. To prove it wasn't a fluke, he won the next race as well which gave him his first overall win at national championship level.
Runner-up, appropriately on Womans Day, was Fabienne Lanz in the Engen Xtreme/Southern Sun TonyKart ahead of Shaun la Reservee (Alpine Motors/Tonykart).
Young went on to win the final, but was excluded from the opening race for a technical infringement which left Moss credited with fourth. Tasmin Pepper (PG Glass/Pepper Racing Birel) was next ahead of van Beurden.
The results are under appeal, but it's likely that either Moss or Young will emerge as champion.
The GP Junior class was also bathed in controversy. No fewer than six front-runners, including reigning champion Sheldon van der Linde, Keegan Masters and Shayur Harpal were excluded for technical infringements.
Aedan van Vuuren avoided all the controversy to claim the win ahead of Bradley Liebenberg and Divhan du Preez. Fourth was Clinton Bezuidenhout followed by Clinton Bezuidenhout and Cape Town's Hilton Pieters.
Like the Super Rok class, a Junior GP Champion will only be announced once appeals and protests have been dealt with.
