adminJane Telling Sports Correspondent
TOMORROW sees the opening of the 2014 karting season at Donnybrook Raceway in Harare. From 11am, kart drivers will commence their quest to be the best in the 2014 season, in a contest that will see members of Harare Karting Club start their kart engines and race around this challenging track which was built and is maintained to international standards.
The day will open with the youngest kart drivers racing — kids aged from six-years-old will battle it out along the 770m track at speeds of up to 60km per hour.
Luke Rousseau is sure to be one of the leading drivers. Rousseau will be joined by Sam and David Mliswa, novices who only started racing karts towards the end of last year. More Cadet drivers’ are due to start racing as the season progresses and they gain their race licences.
Tightly contested, the MiniRok class produces some amazing racing — highly competitive and tactical, the karts are all powered by 60cc engines, which can reach a top speed of about 85km per hour. Cameron Revolta and Zac Dufty will continue their tussle for supremacy over each other.
The pair were proud winners of the “Spirit of Karting” award in 2013 for the way that they closely battled each other on the track but managed to remain the very best of friends off the track.
Danica Hockey moves up to this class after racing in the Cadet class for six months last year. They are joined by Kurt Gilbert, another promising young driver.
The Junior class sees three drivers graduating from last year’s MiniRoks to this powerful class and take on the faster engines and bigger chassis karts.
It is hard to say who will take the lead here — will it be Isabella Savo, who raced a couple of races in this class last year and showed that she was more than able to take on existing drivers? Or will it be “young gun” Ben Ferreira? Will Keegan Davie, last year’s Zimbabwe MiniRok champion, take the lead? Or maybe one of the more experienced drivers in the class, such as Rogan Hoffman, Daniel Lanca or William Hartnack will put the newcomers in their place?
Next on the track will be the Senior and Master drivers.
Ale Savo, who has just turned 15 and was the 2013 Junior champion has moved up to Seniors and is itching to teach the older drivers a lesson.
A close rivalry betweenMichael McConnell and Brett Olsen will continue to play out. In the masters class (who race alongside the seniors) watch out for Muller Ferreira who won the class in 2013. Rob Weston could threaten him, as could Brendon McConnel.
With squealing tyres and billowing exhaust smoke, the start of each kart race is very exciting. Every race begins from a “rolling start” – the karts travel two laps around the track to “warm up” before crossing the start line — it is always a tense moment in both the stands and on the track when the start flag is waved.
Will someone cross the line out of place, forcing a re-start? Who will get to the all-important first bend in a good position? What psychological tactics will the drivers use against their rivals? Will there be a disastrous mechanical failure in one or more of the karts, forcing a withdrawal from the race?
Any of these outcomes are possible — as is a “perfect start” where the karts make it safely through this dangerous phase of the race, to battle it out over anything up to 16 kilometres of heart-stopping bumper to bumper racing.
Over this distance, it is possible to see race tactics and different driving styles evolve. Is it best to be a very fast, aggressive driver and risk making a mistake and spinning off? Or will it be better to drive more consistently and hope for others to make errors?
Race preparation and mechanical issues are important too
Standing by in the pits are the mechanics that have been preparing and tuning the karts during the “off-season”.
Some will have completely re-built their karts from the ground up.
Carefully calibrating carburettors and selecting sprockets, many will have spent hours setting up the kart to suit the driver’s personal style and the track conditions on the day.
Drivers will not have had time off during the rainy season, either. Many of them, even from the very youngest, will have possibly driven several hundreds of kilometres in practice sessions since the end of last season in November.
Shortening braking distances, finding new lines around corners, learning when to put “peddle to metal” and when to be gentle on the throttle . . . all in the pursuit of that extra ten thousandth of a second that could make you the one to win the race!
The Donnybrook motorsports complex is on Arcturus Road, past the Cleveland Ranges and diagonally opposite the new filling station on the left.
Entrance is $10 per car so bring your kids!
Full bar and catering are on offer, but spectators are also welcome to bring meat and braai at the trackside stands.
There is a fenced playground for the little ones and plenty of grandstand seating; or pull up your bakkie at one of several excellent vantage points around the track.
Make a day of it and watch the practice and qualifying sessions which start from about 9am. Feel free to come to the pits and talk to the drivers and mechanics to get the real “trackside experience” — right here in Harare!
Online Reporter