Greenstone resident Rafael da Silva took to the track where he was crowned the winner of the Rotax 2022 SA Kart Championship in the U11 Mirco Max category.
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Rafael won his title on September 4 at the championships held at Zwartkops.
Following his victory, Rafael will compete in the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals. The event will be held in Portimão, Portugal, between November 19 and 26.
The winners from each country’s Rotax championship will compete.
Rafael will race in a Birel ART Rotax 125 Micro Max Evo.
“I’m feeling very good, there were some hard races but I am happy that I get to race in Portugal,” said Rafael.
Rafael started his karting journey in 2019 on his uncle’s birthday and has since excelled in the sport.
In recent years he placed third, second and, most recently, first in the nationals.
He said what he enjoys most about the sport is setting up the kart, and getting into the slipstream of other racers.
The karts that Rafael races have an eight-horsepower engine that can reach speeds of 106kmph.
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While in Portugal, Rafael hopes to do well so that he can become a world champion and make his dad Mitchel proud.
“I hope to win because I have been trying to qualify for the grand finals for a while,” explained Rafael.
Mitchel explained that leading up to the SA championships there were four events. which included one race.
He said the racer with the highest number of points won the championship.
Mitchel said from a young age Rafael had always shown an interest in motorsports. He said as a child Rafael could identify the type of car he saw just by looking at its badge.
“Rafael has always had a passion for cars and when we took him to the track for the first time it only grew in intensity. The nice thing about go-karting is that it is more than the racing,” explained Mitchel.
“It’s all about good quality time with the family.”
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One of Rafael’s motorsport role models is SA’s Cristiano Morgado who also raced at Zwartkops.
Rafael said he likes the driving style and way in which the five-time world champion presents himself.
He hopes to one day be as good as Cristiano.
“I dream of racing other go-karting champions and see if I can go faster than them,” said Rafael.
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