The engines roared to life at the Formula-K Raceway track in Benoni for the seventh round of the South African Short Circuit Series (SASCS) on Saturday, October 4, and despite the chilly conditions, the racing action was blazing hot.

EDF’s racing sensations Ethan de Freitas and Marnitz Otten were geared up to compete in the SM65 Class on their 65cc motorbikes, ready to battle for the top spot in the championship. Both racers, unfortunately, faced some technical issues at the beginning of the race, where his front brakes malfunctioned as he exited the pits. While the team quickly resolved the problem, a crash involving Marnitz resulted in him not qualifying.

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Mario de Freitas, head coach of the EDF team, ensured his team kept their heads up and remained focused despite the complications in the beginning. The first heat saw a lightning comeback, with Ethan wasting no time making a statement to his competitors. He blasted past four racers in one turn while effortlessly overtaking his teammate Marnitz on the first lap and never looked back. Ethan proudly finished with an incredible gap of 25.14 seconds over eight laps, locking the fastest lap of 1:25:40, and took the first-place win dominantly.

Ethan once again launched off the starting line in the second heat, taking the lead and effortlessly controlling the race from start to finish.

“He was such a star in the second heat, and you could see that he wanted to redeem himself after such a tough start. He pushed even harder, setting a new fastest lap of 1:22.18 and taking the chequered flag with an 8.79-second lead,” Mario proudly explained.

Both EDF riders had strong starts, with Marnitz taking an early lead. Unfortunately, Ethan experienced another brake malfunction, forcing him to adapt his riding style and slow the bike manually through corners. Despite the setback, he pushed through to secure third place in the third heat.

With 66 points earned, Ethan was crowned the Round 7 winner, while teammate Marnitz secured a strong second place overall. Ethan also set the best lap time of the day in the second heat as the SM65 Class Champion, leading him to the Grand Finale at GT Raceway Vereeniging on November 1.