The first round of the 2019 Northern Regions Rotax Max Champoniship took place at Laserfiche Raceway in Vereeniging on Saturday and Praga South Africa definitely achieved their team objectives with some very impressive results.
Troy van der Laan tackled the surprisingly competitive Bambino field with determination. The young driver set the fastest qualifying lap to take pole position for the first race. After briefly losing the lead in lap one, he got back out front and remained there until the penultimate lap. Although he dropped down to third, it was a tremendous race. Troy finished 2nd in both remaining heats, but definitely has the pace to win races.
There was a particularly strong Praga presence in Micro Max, with no less than 5 entries in the 13 kart field.
Mohammed Moerat stole the show, qualifying on pole position and winning all three races.
Kyle Beukes had a disastrous qualifying session, only setting the 9th fastest lap time. He had a fantastic first race, however, getting himself into a massive three way fight for the lead. He crossed the finish line 3rd. Kyle finished 6th and 5th in the remaining two races.
It was Erich Heystek’s first race with the team and he did well on his debut. After qualifying 5th, Erich finished 4th in race 1, 5th in race 2 and 6th in the final heat.
Kent Swart also ended the day well. After qualifying 4th, Kent struggled in race one, finishing down in 9th position. He recovered well in race two to finish just outside the podium in 4th. He shone in the final race, claiming 3rd place.
Caleb Cotterell had a solid day. He qualified in 6th and stayed in the race one mid field tussle to finish 7th. He took another 7th place finish in race two and 8th in race three.
Altogether, Praga finished 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th in the final Micro Max results for the day.
Taya van der Laan was in the thick of the action in Mini Max. The competitive and consistent young lady qualified 5th and took her Praga to three 5th place finishes.
Godfrey Malumane enjoyed his first Junior Max race of the season as he finds his feet in the class and gains confidence in both his ability and the Praga product. He qualified 10th and finished 9th, 7th and 8th in each heat respectively.
Dane van Heerde raked in the podium finishes in Senior Max. He qualified on the front row of the grid for race one and drove home in 2nd place. He maintained this momentum taking the silver in both race two and three.
Carlo Olivier had some very good pace in DD2, putting himself on the 2nd row of the grid for the first race. Unfortunately, Carlo went off the circuit on the second lap of race one and dropped down the field. He ended the race in 10th. With a mountain of work to do, Carlo drove an impressive second heat to claim 4th position. He ended the day with a 7th place finish in the final heat.