Habig's Brilliant Season Opener

A new year, a new season and a brilliant start for KZN's Benjamin Habig both at Idube and at Zwartkops Raceway. Last weekend at Idube, the opening round of the 2018 SARMC and Natal Regional Championship, the premier class of Karting, the hotly contested DD2/DD2 Masters class saw 23 driver on the starting grid. With the return to the fray this year of multiple world champion, Cristiano Morgado, visitor Daniel Duminy, and defending DD2 Masters title holder Jonathan Pieterse, Habig had his job cut out. 2017 DD2 Champion, Habig, who finished 2nd in the 2017 SA DD2 title race and representing Team SA at the Rotax Grand Finals in Portugal, has reverted to his TonyKart for this season. After putting the TonyKart on pole, he set a blistering pace, winning all three heats convincingly, leaving Pieterse, Morgado, Whiting and Duminy to battle it out for the remaining podium positions. He opened his 2018 SARMC challenge with maximum points.

17 February saw the first round of the Northern Regions Championship being held at Zwartkops Raceway. Benjamin entered the Regional to compare notes behind the wheel of his Tonykart after his last outing in the final National of 2017 when he bagged two out of three heat wins. The Northern Regions DD2 class has also seen the return to the track of Eugene Britz and a couple of newcomers and karters who have graduated into this premier class. Habig did not disappoint - and qualified 2nd behind Four times SA DD2 title holder Bradley Liebenberg by a mere 0.108 seconds.

Benjamin quickly found his rhythm in his TonyKart and clinched the first heat by pipping Liebenberg to the finish line by 0.098 seconds with Britz a further 5 seconds adrift. A fired up Habig posted very quick lap times in Heat 2 taking a convincing win of 8,444 seconds over Eugene Britz with Anton Pommersheim in 3rd. The final heat of the day was an exciting dice between Habig, Liebenberg and Britz, with Habig taking the lead only to fall prey to a broken battery cable. Liebenberg went on to win the heat with Britz in 2nd place overall and the overall win for the day. Habig finished 2nd overall with Pommersheim in 3rd and Liebenberg in 4th.

The 2nd round of the KZN Regional Series will be held at Idube Raceway near Richmond on 18 March and a number of out of town competitors are expected in preparation for the for the first SARMC National which will be held at the Idube track at the end of March.