KARTING | National Top-5 and Fourth in African Open for De Oliveira

Six-year-old karting prodigy Alonzo de Oliveira participated in the South African Rotax MAX Challenge (SARMC) National and African Open held at Killarney Kart Track in Cape Town over the weekend. Despite making his karting debut in 2023, he exceeded many expectations and proved himself a promising young driver. Alonzo was the youngest driver at the event but showed incredible talent and potential as he started his national campaign.

Alonzo qualified fifth on Friday and moved up a position to finish fourth for the opening heat later in the afternoon. After making up three positions, he repeated the result in Saturday's second heat, whereas in the final national heat, he finished sixth, securing a fifth-place overall classification.

Alonzo, racing out of the NBR Racing stable, hails from Johannesburg and has shown glimpses of talent in the few races he competed in during 2023. Eager to stamp his authority on this season's championship, the Portuguese racing talent headed into Saturday afternoon's African Open heat full of confidence. Unable to match the pace of the local drivers, the Karting - It All Starts Here ambassador improved one position to finish fourth, narrowly missing out on the podium.

Alonzo is supported by Y2K Germiston, MSLB Projects, Motorsport Fanatix, Karting It All Starts Here, S.Y. Wholesale Butchery and Amigos Portugueses.

Round 2 of the SARMC National Championship resumes on 3-4 May at iDube Raceway, just outside Pietermaritzburg.