uMhlanga resident scoops fifth world kart title

UMHLANGA’S Cristiano Morgado was recently crowned the world champ in the Rotax DD2 Masters Grand Final world championships, clinching his fifth world title overall, and first since 2013.

It was a surreal moment for the 39-year-old who faced the prospect of never racing again following a serious aerial crash in 2015. However as he crossed the finish line at the Circuito Internacional Paladino in Conde-Paraiba, Brazil, Morgado said he was filled with a flood of emotions.

Morgado’s win was a record-making fifth World Championship karting title in the annual Rotax Grand Finals.

“I’m incredibly blessed to win my fifth world title. My dream was to travel to the world champs for South Africa. Winning my first world title in 2003 was a dream come true but winning my fifth one is just surreal,” he explained.

Morgado dedicated the win to his father, Rui, who has supported him for more than three decades.

“What made this special was the doctor had told me in 2015 that I had to take a few years off to let my neck heal after I damaged a disc in a crash. The news at the time was devastating because racing is my passion and to be told I wouldn’t be able to do it hurt.

“For two whole years I didn’t race in any format and even normal driving hurt my neck. The turning point for me was making a neck brace that helped take the weight off my shoulders. I used a neck brace I had from when I was a child and used my brothers one as well and pasted them together. I got it upholstered and began driving around and I found it helped me with the pain,” he said.

After experimenting with the brace, Morgado finally took it off near the end of the season.

“I found I didn’t need the neck brace anymore and the pain had 99 per cent gone. So that’s when I decided to give the world champs a try. For me that’s what makes this moment so much more special,” he said.

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