Round 2 of the South African Rotax MAX Challenge (SARMC) saw the return of Carlo Gil to the national race calendar after an absence of nearly 12 months. While he doesn’t plan to be a regular competitor in the national DD2 Masters Championship due to work commitments, the Benoni-based businessman has returned to karting in recent weeks, having competed in the recent Northern Regions Rotax Karting Championships held at the Formula-K Kart Circuit.
A promising return ended with Gil being excluded from the final heat results due to a technical infringement which ruined what could have been a decent result considering the lack of seat time and the level of competition he faced. After qualifying was postponed on Friday afternoon due to fading light, Gil recorded the sixth-best time in class. He started Saturday’s opening heat from 13th on the grid with the Masters’ grid and the DD2 runners combined.
His day started with a trip to the grass after a DD2 runner who had qualified behind him accidentally pushed him off the circuit. This dropped the Ricciardo kart driver to the back of the field, leaving Gil with a mountain to climb. Able to catch one of the back runners, he had to settle for sixth in class. In Heat 2, he would bounce back with a solid performance to finish ninth in the combined results while claiming fourth in class. The final heat would see several competitors, including Gil, excluded from the results as they were underweight on the scales.
“It was great to be back racing at the national level,” said Gil. “Though I was off the front runner’s pace today, I look forward to making up the gap to them with regular practice. The results could have been better if one considered the Heat 1 incident and the exclusion. But that’s racing, and we learn and move forward. I’m hoping to make it to the Cape Town national this season, where hopefully, we’ll be a little quicker. Thanks to my team today and everyone who came out in support.”
Round 2 of the Rand Kart Club Championship is scheduled for 13 May at Zwartkops Raceway before the third national round of 2023 is scheduled for Killarney International Raceway on 30 June to 1 July.
Published by: Motorsport Fanatix – Raymond Cornwell
Picture Caption: Carlo Gil
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