South lad is karting champion
Waterstone College pupil Leyton Fourie wins African Open Karting Championship
LEYTON Fourie is a proud Waterstone College pupil who won the African Open Karting Championship which was held at Zwartkops Raceway in Centurion on August 19.
The 11-year-old from Meyersdal in Alberton is currently leading the SA Championship too. Leyton began racing karts in April 2012 at the tender age of six in the 50cc cadet class for competitors aged five to eight years old. In 2013, his first full year in karting, Leyton finished second in the Northern Regions Championship and in 2014 he progressed to the 60cc Vortex Mini Rok Class for competitors aged nine to 13 years old.
“This was a learning experience for me as I faced much older and more experienced competitors in karts which can reach up to 100km per hour but by the end of 2014 I had secured my first race win and finished first overall, making me one of the youngest ever competitors at age nine to win in the Mini Rok Class,” said Leyton.
In 2015 Leyton had many race victories and became a regular front runner in the Mini Rok Class. In 2016 the little speed racer joined the very successful Roos Kart Team and won the SA Vortex Mini Rok Cup. He qualified to compete in Italy against 175 competitors from all over the world. Leyton made his country proud by finishing in the top 50 and in the same year he won his first South African national race.
Thus far Leyton has won 26 out of 51 race heats, he has secured 12 first overall place finishes which include winning three SA National Karting Rounds as well as the Rotax African Open and finishing third in the Vortex Mini Rok SA Championship.
The Waterstone College pupil has finished on the podium an outstanding 20 of 21 events this year. He is leading the Rotax SA National Championship and the Northern Regions Championship in Rotax Mini Max and is in a close second place in the Vortex Mini Rok Northern Regions Championship. If he wins the Rotax Mini Max SA National Championship he will qualify for the Rotax Karting World Finals which will be held in Portimao, Portugal in November.
There he will compete against the 36 best karters in the world to possibly become the World Champion, following in the footsteps of his sporting heroes Michael Schumacher and Valentino Rossi.
“Above all, I thank God for blessing me with this talent and protecting me at all times, I am grateful to my RKT race team, my sister Nicole for always being there to support me on race day and my mom and dad Tasia and Gerald,” he concluded.
Images supplied.
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