KARTING | Rookie Bezuidenhout Bounces Back for Top Seven Finish

Senior MAX debutant Mikel Bezuidenhout finished in a remarkable seventh overall on Saturday at the opening round of the 2023 MSA Northern Regions Regional Rotax Karting Championship at Zwartkops Kart Raceway.

Having started karting three months ago, the fourteen-year-old made his third visit to the only circuit he has raced on. Racing out of the Neil Basilio Racing stable, Bezuidenhout qualified in seventh and was the top-placed rookie in a star-studded class. His day, however, started disastrously after he dropped down the order to last (13th) on the opening lap. Not content to finish at the back, Bezuidenhout put his head down and made up several positions over the 15-lap heat to take the chequered flag in an impressive seventh position.

Heat 2 would see the CRG driver again lose out on Lap 1, falling down the order from seventh to 11th before making up one position as the race ended. However, Bezuidenhout, a Johannesburg resident, would save his best performance for the final heat. He made his best weekend start, losing only one position on the opening lap. From 11th, he gradually worked his way up to seventh before moving back to eighth as he fought tooth and nail for the place. He made another two passes with four laps remaining to end the final heat in sixth, his best finish on the day.

“Today was a steep learning curve,” said Bezuidenhout. “The biggest lesson for me was to realise how vital the starts are. Except for the final heat, my starts were not great, and it cost me valuable positions, positions I had to fight hard for to make up. All in all a satisfactory day but we’ll debrief fully after with my coach Neil (Basilio) and will be putting in some hard work over the next few weeks to improve. Thanks to the team for the effort today.”

Bezuidenhout will be back on the circuit on 18 February as he competes in the opening round of the MSA Northern Regions Regional ROK Karting Championship hosted at the Formula-K Kart Circuit, Benoni.