In a drive reminiscent of a young Michael Schumacher, the Formula One ace, Cape Town’s Dino Stermin underlined his driving prowess to claim the DVS Super Rok championship at the weekend.
Port Elizabeth’s Celso Scribante Kart track was the venue for some high-octane karting for the final round of the Rok Cup South Africa national championships on Saturday.
Organised by the Algoa Kart Club, the event included the Rok SA Championship, the Algoa Kart Club Championships, Mini Rok, DD2 EP and the Border Championships.
With only two other racers in his class, Stermin showed his skills in race three in front of cheering Bay karting fans.
Stermin said: “It was amazing out there today. All we needed to secure the championship was finish this race.
“So, I’m happy to pick up the win – and book my ticket to Italy later this year.
“This track is a place where I have had trouble in the past, but we completely turned that around this weekend.
“PE drivers are usually very competitive on their home track, and Chassen [Bright] proved that today.
“But I must also compliment my team, the kart was excellent all weekend.”
In the Super Rok final, Stermin was followed home by Bright, who finished second overall, with Blaine Rademeyer, of Durban, rounding up the class.
Bright said: “I think it was a good day out. The racing was very competitive between Dino, Blaine and I – but Dino showed why he is the champion, so congratulations to him.”
In the hotly contested Mini Rok class, the Bay’s Kenzo Barnard claimed the overall victory on the day ahead of Johannesburg’s Jarrod Waberski and PE racer Tristan Coertze, who achieved his first national podium.
Claiming the championship, Waberski said: “It has been a great season for us.
“We had to conserve a bit in the first two races as we only needed to finish to take the championship.” Local racer Joshua Coertze, racing in the OKJ class of the Motorsport SA Academy championship, claimed the overall class win on the day. Coertze narrowly missed out on the Rok Cup championship, falling just a single point short of eventual championship winner Kwanda Mokoena, after some trouble in race one.
Coertze said: “There were some tough battles out there.
“I’m glad I stuck to my guns.
“Picking up the OKJ class win is great, as this now gives me a lot of confidence for the next championship event.”
The Micro Rok class was won by Luke Hill, ahead of Luan Mostert in second and Ian Joubert in third.
Bay racer Ethan Schultz claimed a fourth place overall.