A solid gold performance

Saturday 30 April saw the AVL Africa / Logisticor 250 Superkart Series head to the dusty plains of the Phakisa Freeway in Welkom for the second round of the 2011 season. The bitterly cold conditions on and off the track would prove to be a challenge for all. The series has also adopted a reverse grid scenario for the 2011 season which has proved to be a popular decision with all competitors.

Qualifying

Once again Veron Pappas (PVP Superkart) set the pace during the early morning qualifying session as he claimed pole position ahead of Sean Moore (Logisticor PVP Superkart). Team mates Andrew Greenslade (AVL Africa Rotax Superkart) and Tyron Davis (AVL Africa PVP Superkart) would line up alongside each other on the second row. Chris O’Neill (PVP Superkart) claimed fifth position ahead of Capetonian Eerik Horn (OTTR PVP Rotax) with Steve Lavender (BRC Superkart) and series rookie Trevor Green (Rotax Superkart) rounding out the top eight.

Race 1 

Pappas and Moore got off to a blistering start with the rest of the field in tow. Horn also had a fantastic start and was hastling Greenslade for third position by the end of the first lap. Horn grabbed third position a lap later with Greenslade remaining glued to his rear bumper. 

Moore grabbed the race lead from Pappas on the fourth lap with a well timed move through turn three. The battle for fifth position was just as close as Lavender was desperately trying to find a way past Davis while O’Neill faded with fuelling issues.

Pappas had to work hard for the Overall win...

Pappas regained the lead on the penultimate lap as he powered his way past Moore down the back straight. He held on to take the win ahead of Moore with Horn doing enough to keep Greenslade at bay to claim third position.

Race 2

Horn made the most of his reverse grid front row position and grabbed the lead heading through turn one. Lavender was relegated to fifth position as Davis, Greenslade and O’Neill all got past him at the start. O’Neill fell off the track through the back sweep after experiencing a lack of grip through the corner, with the resultant damage to the under tray of his kart enough to force him into retirement.

The pace at the front was hotter than ever. Davis grabbed the lead on the second lap with Greenslade and a determined Lavender relegating Horn to fourth position by lap three. Pappas made an uncharacteristic error by spinning out through the hairpin corner coming off of the back straight, but was able to rejoin further back in the field.

Moore had worked his way up to third position by the fifth lap with a recovered Pappas slotting into fourth position later on in the same lap. A determined Pappas grabbed third position from Moore a lap later and then proceeded to claim second position from Greenslade heading onto the back straight.

Pappas then grabbed the lead from Davis through the fast sweep coming off of the back straight on the penultimate lap of the race. He held on to take the win with an elated Davis holding onto second position ahead of Greenslade. Series rookie, Green had a promising debut as he completed both races and brought his personal best time down to within five seconds of the main pack

Lavender’s efforts saw him take the “Driver of the Day” Award…

The third round of the AVL Africa / Logisticor 250 Superkart Championship will head to Zwartkops Raceway in Pretoria on 28 May.

Report & Photography by: Greg Reilly