Rok round 3 at Redstar Raceway set Delmas alight this past weekend. Team Worr brought the largest contingent of drivers so far this season. This was the best outing for the team with the introduction of the academy category and the introduction of the sensational William Marshall in OKN. Only missing an entry in one category, team Worr was well represented by competitive drivers for the weekend.

Team Worr entered Worr Academy drivers in the Rok round 3 in a new category especially designed for learner drivers. Worr had 7 drivers taking part which included 2 team drivers looking to learn more and get their pace back to competition levels. Oatlehile and Zehnya were poised to set the pace but an electric performance by academy star Lulama dominated the days proceedings. Siya came back from a disastrous first session to qualify ahead of the speedy Fish and Phineas then secured himself a first podium. Fish joined Siya and Lulama on the podium due to his consistent runs in heats 1-3 narrowly ahead of Phineas. Karen tested well and completed an encouraging weekend without incident and looks forward to the next outing with the academy in a few weeks’ time. Read More about the academy race here.

Ethan joined the cadet category for Rok Round 3. From warm-ups it was clear that the battle for P2 was going to be one for the ages. The Redstar crowd was glued to the live times as blows were exchanged during qualifiers with Ethan improving with every lap to best his competition by hundredths and sometimes thousandths of a second. Qualifying in P2 the gap was too close for comfort throughout the exchange. The pace continued to be frantic for our young legend as he begun race 2 in P3 and had to chase down the competition under the race leaders slip stream. As they entered heat 3, Ethan had had enough of the back and forth. He put distance between himself and P3, increasing it to such a point that he lapped a fellow driver in the process. Ethan ended the day in P2.

Now becoming a frequent occurrence, Lwashu enjoyed another great weekend with no incidents. Qualifying P4 with an impressive 59.450 Lwashu stayed in the mix for the lead in Heat 1. An incident between P2 & 3 gave him the ideal opportunity to jump ahead and Lwashu obliged to take P2. Having to continuously defend his position delayed his chase for P1 but ultimately secured P2 for his efforts. A slow start from P4 in heat 2 lost Lwashu precious seconds and 2 positions. But the “never say die” Mathebula gained both back the next lap. Unable to catch up to P3 he finished back in P4. The last heat of the day was more straightforward for our young driver. Starting in P4 he kept pace with the leaders and allowed no space for the kart ahead to make any errors. He finished back in P4 with little difference between karts 1-5.

A 59.698 earned Kiyaan a P5 start from a frantic qualifying session. Staying out of the traffic, Kiyaan set this time driving uninterrupted outside of the trains ahead and behind. Now fully stretched and engine warmed up; Kiyaan entered heat 1 with patience as he only gained 1 place at turn 1. He never let the leading bunch slip away from him and upped the pressure in the final 2 laps. On the last lap, milliseconds behind the battle for P2 he took advantage of the turmoil to grab P2 at the final corner. Heat 2 had fortunes swopped. Kiyaan started in P2, lost a position before the first corner and an incident in lap 2 dropped him to P5 where he stayed for the rest of the heat. A calmer session awaited him in heat 3. Kiyaan put pedal to the metal in lap 2 to take 4^th spot and daylight between him and P5. He chased hard after P3 but unfortunately the race concluded with him not gaining enough to make up the difference.

Before we start, I would just like to put a disclaimer that I have only mentioned drivers outside of Worr in a weekend round up once before. This is the second occasion I plan to do so because this driver has once again become the nail in our tires. But let’s find out more about William Marshall, the newest member of Worr first with Gianna Pascoal.

Worr’s magnificence in the OKN category has been apparent all year. Anchored by Gianna, Worr has made huge strides with the inclusion of special talents in Cape Town and abroad. This weekend Worr welcomed another special talent to the team – William Marshall, newly dubbed Will2Win. This fantastic pairing set incredible laps during warm-ups and followed it up with a P2 and P3 qualification. Surprisingly, both qualified behind Ethan Lennon driving deep within the field to set the fastest time.

In awkward rolling start Ethan confused William to allow Gianna an upgrade to P2 before the first turn. She maintained her pace driving a very well-rounded heat ahead of teammate William. Will2Win found himself needing to defend more often to fend off charges from behind and focus on catching the front 2. The gap between Ethan and our drivers just kept getting bigger and the race ended in a Worr P2 & P3.

Heat 2 had our drivers at P2 for Gianna and P4 for William. Another awkward start helped P3 and P5 surge ahead of our drivers placing them in P4 & 5 after the first turn. Will took over from his teammate as they worked together to climb back up to where they should be. By lap 4 all was back in order, but Will2Win still had to fight for P3. The fight went down to the wire. Will lost 2 places in penultimate lap and managed to come back 1 with 3 turns to go to finish P4.

The mind games from Ethan started again with Will back in a P2 start and Gianna just behind Ethan in P3. A stutter before the start line took William off the pace and gave Gianna P2, boosted P5 to P3 and had the line behind second all trailing. Will2Win came back very strong. After a long day on track Will2Win made quick work P3 to take it in the 3^rd lap. It seemed the only way our drivers could catch Ethan was with a rope and a horse as he gathered a monster lead. Our 2 drivers worked tirelessly to make gains leaving the rest of the field far behind, but it was not to be. It finished with a Worr P2 & 3.

Coach Mox was happy with the results all round with good placements and plenty of podiums for the team adding “Rea vaya bra.” Meaning : we are moving now, as he expressed appreciation for the efforts of the entire team for the weekend.