The wet weather that has beset the country for the last week came into play last weekend as Vereeniging Kart Circuit played host to the opening round of the six-leg Rok Northern Region Karting Championship.
In the very competitive Mini Rok class, Jeffreys Bay youngster Sebastien Blignaut was on pace, having qualified a mere 0.114 seconds off pole position where he lined up alongside Maddox Mason on the front row of the twenty three kart grid.
Unfortunately on the first lap of the race a back-marker spun off the circuit in the tricky conditions and was assisted back onto the circuit by the track-side marshals just as the charging pack came through. Blignaut had just pulled off an overtaking move to take the lead when he was struck by the recovering back-marker as it crossed in front of him leading to an unfortunate retirement from the race for Blignaut.

Photo by Motorsport Fanatix
After running repairs to his kart were carried out Blignaut then started in eleventh place for race number two, where he put in a momentous drive to storm through the field to snatch second place behind race winner Declan Jurgens, with race one winner Maddox Mason in third place. Having set the quickest lap time in race two meant that Blignaut was in pole position for the third and final race and he lined up alongside Jurgens with Mason down in fifth place on the grid.
From the moment the lights went out it was all about Blignaut as he romped home to take the race win in the pouring rain, winning by 2.728 seconds with Declan Jurgens in second and Maddox Mason in third. Once all of the points had been combined it was Mason who was declared the overall winner with 95 points followed by Jurgens with 92 points and Blignaut recovering from the early disaster to bag fourth with 88 points.
In the OKJ class, Gqeberha’s Jack Moore qualified in fifth place just 0.449 seconds off pole position but he was unfortunately involved in a mid-field spin from which he recovered to finish in fifth place. In the second race he put in a masterful performance to take the race win with Sebastian Dias in second place. Race three was abandoned due to heavy rain which meant that Moore secured third overall behind Mattao Mason in second and Sebastian Dias in first.
The next round of the Northern Regions Championship will be back at the Vereeniging Circuit on the 18th May.