Round 2 of the South African Rotax MAX Challenge national championship round concluded at the Zwartkops Kart Raceway this past weekend, where Senior MAX driver Mikel Bezuidenhout claimed a top-eight finish in an incident-filled three heats.
With the team battling to find the right setup on Friday, Mikel was rather frustrated ahead of Qualifying later in the afternoon, which saw the Johannesburg driver finish 14th.
Saturday, however, saw improvement. Despite making up seven positions in the opening race to cross the finish line in seventh, a Nose-Cone Infringement Penalty (NCIP), which adds five seconds to a competitor’s race time, saw him drop back to ninth.
The MTN Cosmo-Net / Vivo Mobile-backed driver bounced back in Heat 2 to take the chequered flag in fourth. Unfortunately, another NCIP ruined his result, and he finished ninth. Starting sixth in the final heat, Mikel’s bad luck would continue with the teenager on the receiving end of an aggressive heat. He would again finish ninth.
“It was not an easy weekend at all. It was pretty frustrating, to be honest. We couldn’t get on top of the setup on Friday and were on the back foot the entire weekend. While the kart’s handling improved throughout the heats, another frantic few races saw me pick up penalties, which rather ruined the progress we made. It’s unfortunate, but it happens. Still, I’d like to thank the team for the effort and to my sponsors for their support,” said Mikel.
Mikel returns on 17-18 May to compete in another round of the Investchem Formula 1600 Championship at Zwartkops Raceway.
Published by: Motorsport Fanatix
Picture Caption: Mikel Bezuidenhout
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