15-year-old Mikel aims to be the best in go-karting

Having an interest in fast cars and growing up watching Formula 1, Mikel Bezuidenhout fell in love with car racing.

According to the Sandton-based 15-year-old, after watching Formula 1 he told his dad that he wanted to be a racing driver, and that was his first step in karting.

“It was arranged for me to try out a real race kart as I had been beating my friends in rental karts, and since then, practising has been on another level.”

He said the journey had been good at the ESCA sports school in Wanderers and has had a few highlights during his first year of racing, but the Formula K Rotax National was his best highlight.

“It was a field of 23 drivers, and it was my first time driving my Tony Kart chassis in a Rotax event. Even though I struggled in the first days of practice, adapting to the chassis and engine, soon after I found rhythm and was on pace during the competition.”

He added that because he started racing at a much older age compared to his competitors, he had to do a lot of catching up and he hoped to progress as fast as possible.

“In the future, I hope to win the Formula 1600 championship, then compete and do well in Formula 4, and hopefully get to F1.”

Mikel pointed out that some of the challenges in the races he had faced have been mental fitness challenges as it was one thing to be physically fit but another to maintain perfect focus and not crack under the pressure of a long race.

“Especially with only eight months of racing experience, I must play catch-up to get on the level of my competitors; it has been straining mentally but fun at the same time.

“The best competition for me so far has been the Formula K National but a few others have also stood out like the Rok Cape Town National.”

Related article:

https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/331576/thrilling-racing-for-youngtimers/

https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/330570/another-south-african-ready-for-international-racing-stardom/