Marnitz races to the top
The first win of the year came as no surprise as the local lad finished third overall last year.
Brakpan’s Marnitz Otten is striving to achieve his dream of being a motorcycle great.
The six-year-old pushes his parents to make sure that they help him work on his bike racing so he can be like his hero Brad Binder.
This hard work seems to be paying off as he recently won the first leg of the South African Short Circuit Series in Vereeniging. The youngster competes in the PW50 class.
The Laerskool Dalview Grade One learner was impressive throughout the event as he obtained pole position in the qualifying rounds.
He rode a personal best time of 50.781 seconds in the second qualifying round. This is a mere two seconds slower than the track record.
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This helped him as he pushed on to win the race. Marnitz has been racing since last year and seems to have taken to the sport comfortably.
“I enjoy being out on the track with my friends,” he said.
After the victory in Vereeniging, the youngster is looking forward to the next race. This will be on March 25 in Pietermaritzburg.
The first win of the year came as no surprise as Marnitz had finished third overall on the circuit in 2022. This year he’s going for the number one spot. His father, Willem, is proud of his son.
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“There are only 50 riders in the various classes that are younger than the age of eight,” he said.
“He wakes me up on a weekend asking when we can go and practice. I must say for his age he’s very committed.”
Willem believes his son can go all the way in the sport.
“The way he’s been going on I think he has a good chance of becoming the South African champion this year,” said the proud father.
With nine more races this year, it will be interesting to see how the young Brakpan lad develops this season.
