KARTING | Double Red Star Podium for Bezuidenhout

Mikel Bezuidenhout secured two podium finishes at the newly added Red Star Raceway short circuit, resulting in a fourth-place overall finish at Round 3 of the Northern Regions ROK Kart Championships.

The new circuit just outside Delmas in Mpumalanga was constructed in recent weeks. It connects with the main circuit and features fast sweeping bends before entering a slower, more technical section. This circuit is set to become the home of ROK Cup South Africa.

After completing a few sessions on the circuit on Friday, Mikel performed well in the qualifying session and secured a third-place starting position, narrowly missing out on pole position by 0.093 seconds. During the race, Mikel initially challenged the leaders before finding his pace and eventually finishing in third place despite a five-second penalty for a nose cone infringement.

Heat 2 saw the Investchem Formula 1600 rookie involved in an opening lap incident that saw him go off-circuit before he stopped in a cloud of dust. Unable to receive assistance from marshals, Mikel push-started his kart and joined the race, albeit from last place. A few blistering laps saw him make up some ground to pass the driver ahead and claim sixth over the finish line. The final heat would see the MTN CosmoNet-backed driver finish third again after losing a position in the race's early stages.

"Not a bad weekend by any means. We had a good pace but just didn't quite capitalise on it. I was a little unlucky, too, with the Heat 2 incident; fortunately, the penalties didn't have any significance on my results. The circuit is fun to drive, although a little bumpy. When we return here in two weeks, it will have improved," stated Mikel.

Round 4 of the regional competition will resume on September 7th following the final round of the National ROK Cup South Africa Championships, which will take place on August 23-24 at Red Star Raceway.