Young go-karters make their mark in SA

Four Namibian go-kart racers gained some valuable experience this past weekend when they participated in the Open Africa Cup Go-Kart Championships in Johannesburg, South Africa (SA).

The event, the first of six such events for this year, took place at the Swartzkops Race Track outside Johannesburg.

Cecil Koorts from Cema Racing says the youngsters did well throughout the different heats, despite high temperatures contributing to minor technical issues.

“Everything went well through the first two heats, and we experienced minor problems during the races. Due to the tracks that were extremely hot, Cecil Koorts Junior started to fall back,” Koorts senior says.

“Due to the heat the tyres had more grip, so we had to improvise and put on other rims that do not heat up so fast, hence reducing some grip, and then Koorts Junior raced faster,” he says.

The young racers, aged between eight and 15 years, included Koorts, Darius Kotze, Kristopher Koudelka and JP du Plooy.

They got some valuable experience as they raced against 64 other racers from 15 countries, including SA, Kenya, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Madagascar.

Koorts ended in 13th place against 25 other racers, while Kotze ended in 12th place racing against 20 other racers in his class.

Koudelka finished 19th against 25 other racers, and Du Plooy managed an 18th place.

Koorts says they are proud of the team for standing their ground and are grateful to all their supporters who followed them on YouTube during the races.

The championships will be held at various places throughout the year, and Namibia is likely to host one of the events at the Tony Rust Raceway outside Windhoek.