Saturday mid-season WPMC Karting Round 4 thrilled from start to finish despite a wet circuit in the morning
The Western Province Kart Championships reached the midpoint of the 2024 Regional season this past weekend, and the action was nothing short of spectacular. With multiple winners and a few new names topping the results sheets, it’s clear that competition is thriving in Western Cape karting. Early morning conditions were tricky, as a wind-free day left the Friday rains lingering on the track, making warm-up sessions and most of the qualifying rounds a slippery challenge. But as the dry line emerged, the stage was set for a day of epic racing action.
BAMBINO
A titanic battle was expected in Bambino for the top spot, and that’s exactly what it was. This season has been all about the epic fight between Radhi Harris and Caleb Lingeveldt, and this continued throughout Saturday’s Round 4. Harris took early honours with a pole position in qualifying, a mere 0.066 ahead of his rival. Lingeveldt then bounced back with a Race 1 victory by one-tenth of a second over Harris, with Divaaj Govender securing a well-deserved P3.
Race 2 saw Harris claim the win by 5 thousandths of a second—an incredibly close margin, and possibly one of the closest in WPMC karting history! Govender was again in third.
Harris took his second win of the day in the final race, yet again by the smallest of margins, as Lingeveldt challenged him all the way to the finish line. Aleena Doutie narrowly beat out Govender for third spot.
Harris’s two wins to Lingeveldt’s one gave him the overall win for the day, ensuring this championship battle will continue into Round 5 and beyond. Govender rounded off the podium in third, as Doutie took P4 ahead of impressive debutant Lehan Fourie. Lady racer Ashlyn Beaumont was sixth, with other debutants Sebastian Eastwood and Emelee Adriaans rounding out the day’s results.
MICRO MAX
Possibly one of the most exciting and closely fought Micro Max race days this season saw three different race winners on the day. Michael O’Mahoney mastered the tricky conditions on a wet track in qualifying to take pole position by almost a second over the rest of the field before going on to win Race 1 after a closely fought battle with title leader Liam Wharton in second and Ruhan Victor in third.
Victor then impressed in Race 2 as he took his first regional heat win after a titanic fight between himself, Wharton, O’Mahoney, and Jayden van der Merwe. The top four crossed the line covered by less than a second, with Wharton in second ahead of O’Mahoney and van der Merwe. Jake Steyn wasn’t much further back in P5.
The final race of the day belonged to Wharton, who took a narrow victory over Victor, who set a new Micro Max track record with a blistering 44.928. Young star Yaqeen Gamieldien was further back in P3, as Steyn had provisionally crossed the line in third before a 5-second nose cone infringement relegated him to P5.
An epic day of Micro Max action ended with Wharton on top of the day’s overall standings, further extending his championship lead. Victor was second, with O’Mahoney rounding out the podium. Van der Merwe was fourth, ahead of Steyn and Gamieldien. Mia Hermanus won out over Qaanit Doutie after a day-long battle between the two, and Slater Smith rounded out the results, having not scored in the final race of the day.
MINI ROK
Surprises abounded in Mini Rok, starting with Logan Roehrig taking an emphatic pole position on a wet track, leaving P2 rookie Radhi Harris and the rest of the field over 2.5 seconds behind.
Roehrig converted his pole start to a Race 1 victory, but not before an epic fight with Round 3 return winner Rayan Karriem, who took second ahead of an impressive Harris.
Race 2 saw another tight battle all the way to the flag between Karriem and Roehrig, with less than a tenth covering them at the finish line. However, Roehrig was hit with a 3-second penalty for a false start. Luckily, after his penalty, he retained P2 ahead of Jose Slamet in third.
Race 3 was dramatic, with more than half the field suffering nose cone infringements, which mixed up the results. Karriem kept it clean at the front, holding off a stiff challenge from Roehrig to take the win. Slamet secured P2 after Roehrig’s nose cone misdemeanour dropped him to third.
In the end, it was a second overall win in as many rounds for the comeback kid, Karriem. Roehrig was next on the podium, with Slamet third for the day. Harris, hoping for more, took P4 ahead of Ebrahim Khalpey, Zeph Hair, and Aadiv Singh.
MINI MAX
Battles resumed in Mini Max with Max Boshoff seemingly the man to beat, taking pole position early on before driving to three comfortable wins. The real action was behind him as Michael Danks and Ruan Lewis fought it out for P2, with Danks even jumping into the lead in the opening two races before Boshoff made his move.
With Boshoff in the lead, Danks had to settle for P2 in Race 1 ahead of Lewis. Zac Boshoff had a steady race to P4, but an epic battle ensued between Andrew Retter, Zach McAuley, and Zac Hindley for fifth.
© 2024 copyright: Jason Hanslo – Motorsport Fanatix™️Heat two mirrored the first for Boshoff, with Danks in P2 ahead of Lewis, who drove his way through the pack to third. Boshoff then made it three from three, adding to his early morning pole position to take the overall win. Danks was again second, ahead of Lewis, and they finished in that order for the overall results for the day. Fourth for the day went to Zac Boshoff, ahead of Zach McAuley and Zac Hindley, with Zion Hair in P7 and Andrew Retter rounding out the top eight.
OKJ
Ethan Lennon made a spectacular return to Regional karting, blitzing the OKJ field in qualifying to take pole by almost 4 seconds, showcasing his international wet weather prowess. However, Race 1 on a now dry circuit proved different as Lennon faced a fierce challenge from Amani Kinyua throughout the race, narrowly taking the win. Kinyua settled for second, with an impressive Manelisi Nkomo in third.
In Race 2, Kinyua showed he could match Lennon, securing a great victory as the two battled for position. Nkomo wasn’t far behind, finishing in P3.
The showdown in Race 3 saw the top three drivers exchange positions in a thrilling contest for the win. Kinyua drove from P4 to take the lead with five laps to go, but Nkomo seized an overtake opportunity to lead until the checkered flag, only to be relegated to P2 due to a 5-second nose cone infringement, handing the win to Lennon. Aleksandar Praizovic crossed the line in third.
In the end, Lennon did enough on his return to claim the overall win, ahead of Kinyua and Nkomo on the podium. Praizovic was best of the rest in fourth, followed by Onwabile Mcinga and Clubmans graduates Raffaele Musso and Tristan Botha.
JUNIOR MAX
Junior Max lined up on Saturday with genuinely any of seven talented drivers able to fight for the win. Junior Max SA Championship leader Keagan Beaumont took pole position on a quickly drying track despite losing his fastest lap due to a dislodged nose cone.
When the lights went out for Race 1, the action followed. Jordon Wadeley initially took the lead before Beaumont made a move for the top spot and proceeded to drive away. Unfortunately, he suffered his second nose cone bogey of the day, relegating him to P3 as Wadeley inherited the win, with a delighted Anwill April in second.
Race 2 saw the gloves come off as the tightly matched drivers battled fiercely. William Marshall stayed out of the drama to take the win, but chaos ensued further down the order as Beaumont tangled and dropped to P6 before fighting back to P2 at the flag. His day then went from tough to tougher as he received a 10-second penalty, putting him right back down the order. Nicholas Lennox drove a clever race to claim P2 ahead of Sebastiano Human.
Beaumont put his troubles behind him and took a fine win in the final race of the day, ahead of Wadeley and Human, after initial third-placed man Marshall suffered a 5-second penalty for a dislodged nose cone.
A hectic, action-packed day of Junior Max racing ended with Wadeley delighted with the overall win, ahead of Beaumont and Lennox. Human was fourth from Race 2 winner Marshall, followed by April and young rookie Aiden Beaumont.
SENIOR MAX
Saturday saw intense action in Senior Max, starting with one of the closest qualifying sessions of the season as less than two-tenths covered the top six. Championship leader and 2024 dominator Charl Visser took pole by a mere 0.015 seconds.
With such a tight field, the races were always going to be fiercely contested. Luca Wehrli impressed in Race 1 with a win after multiple lead changes and epic duels, finishing ahead of Visser in P2, Ethan Deacon in third, and Jude Stuart.
© 2024 copyright: Jason Hanslo – Motorsport Fanatix™️Race 2 turned everything on its head as the battles continued. Supa Cup driver Tate Bishop returned to winning ways ahead of Cole Hewetson, with Deacon in third.
An unusual day for Visser, who had won every race this season up to this point. He managed to take the win by a narrow margin in Race 3 over Wehrli to get his day back on track, with Stuart coming home in third.
A wild day in Senior Max with three different race winners and a real challenge to Visser. Wehrli took the overall win, with Visser in second and Bishop third. Deacon was next, followed by Hewetson, Stuart, and a struggling Josh Smit.
DD2 & DD2 MASTERS
On a quickly drying track, Joseph Oelz took pole position in the premier DD2 qualifying session, while Roy Gruer claimed the top spot in Masters.
Race 1 saw Oelz drive off to a dominant win, with Sebastian Boyd in second and Matthew Wadeley in third. Behind them, the battle for fourth was tight, with Polo Cup driver Kyle Visser edging out Ethan Stier in his first karting appearance of the season.
In Masters, the race was more hectic. Initial leader Gruer was run wide and dropped to P3 after contact, allowing Conor Hughes to take the win, with Jared Jordan in second.
Race 2 saw Oelz secure another comfortable win. Wadeley inherited P2 from Boyd, who suffered a nose cone penalty after contact while lapping a backmarker. Jordon took a narrow win in Masters, followed by Hughes and Gruer.
Race 3 delivered one of the day’s tightest fights. Oelz, Boyd, and Wadeley crossed the line within half a second of each other, with Oelz taking his third win. Wadeley followed Boyd.
Hughes claimed his second win of the day in Masters, ahead of Jordon and Gruer, as they mixed it up with the regular DD2 drivers all race long.
The final results saw Oelz at the top of the overall standings with three wins, Boyd in second, and Wadeley in third. Stier finished fourth, followed by Visser.
Masters honours went to Hughes after his two wins, with Jordon in P2 and Gruer in third. Michael Jordon was the best of the rest in P4, followed by impressive debutant Jonothan Wiehahn and the returning Niel Lambrechts. Eugene Clark was next, followed by Andrew Thomas.
WP CLUBMANS
Andre Le Riche made a stunning comeback with a fantastic pole position in Clubmans during a wet qualifying session, while Christopher Flack claimed pole in the Silver class, starting third overall on the Race 1 grid.
In the Gold Class, the battle was fierce between pole man Andre Le Riche, Zimvo Majova, and class chairman Sean Le Riche. Majova took the win in the opening two races, while Andre bounced back to clinch the victory in Race 3. Majova ended the day P1, ahead of Team Le Riche, with Andre in second and his father Sean in third.
The Silver category saw intense action, with Flack’s two wins to Jade Smith’s one securing him Silver honours for the day. Smith took the second step on the podium, followed by Reece Ward in third. Next up was Matthew Carter, followed by Christo Cilliers, Alex Iepelley, and Ryan Eastwood.
CONCLUSION
Saturday’s mid-season WPMC Karting Round 4 thrilled from start to finish despite a wet circuit in the morning. The Western Province Kart Championships hit their stride at the midpoint of the 2024 Regional season, delivering spectacular action throughout. With multiple winners and new names shining atop the results sheets, competition in Western Cape karting is clearly thriving.
PUBLISHED ON BEHALF OF WPMC KARTING BY RACEBOOK MEDIA