eBusiness Weekly
Chipo Sabeta
After bossing the track in local and regional karting contest last year, top-notch karter, Zachary Dufty (15) is keen to conquer another year when he begins his 2019 South African Championship campaign in the ultra-competitive Super Rok DVS class later this month.
Zachary, who was a top five contender in the South African MSA Academy class, is expected to compete in the CIK-FIA homologated series, a competition considered as the pinnacle of kart racing in South Africa.
The youngest driver to represent his country at the Rok World Finals in Italy at nine years will compete with top senior drivers in the evenly matched but extremely powerful and fast class competitions.
His father, Kevin, who also doubles as a mechanic and manager said they enjoyed racing in 2018 and can’t wait to race in the Super Rok DVS class in South Africa this year.
“We are looking forward to the new season and this is a big opportunity for him to shine and possibly attract interests from international racing clubs.
“The Super Rok DVS has cemented itself at the top of the tree in terms of high performance. The class is one the fastest in South Africa but more importantly allows drivers to continually chase their aspirations.
“The class places a premium on driver skill, talent and ability as the engines are very evenly matched and are drawn by ballot on the Friday before race weekend,” said Kevin who is the owner of Pole Position Karts in Harare.
And the 15-year-old karter has since intensified his preparations ahead of the potential career-changing tournament.
“Zac is one of Zimbabwe’s most promising young talents who has represented his county in kart racing since he was nine years old. Zac is confident he can challenge the very best .He has been training hard and we are doing our best to assist him. He will be participating in both the South African Northern regions and National championships which will once again take competitors to the corners of South Africa over an 11 race series,” he said.
Kevin also revealed Zac’s different schedule for the 2019 season before thinking their sponsors.
“In 2019, Zac moves up to the new international senior class racing karts that are the fastest in South Africa and will be racing against the best competitors in South Africa.
“In addition, he will be competing in the Dragpro drag racing series in his very fast gearbox kart and will be doing more demonstration runs around the main track at Donnybrook showing spectators some amazing performances. He will also be competing in many of the local kart races.”
He added: “Our 7th year with our fantastic team RKT Racing we want to thank you for everything. A huge shoot-out to our amazing sponsor Motul in Zimbabwe for your unwavering support for Zac.”
Zachary Dufty — Resume
2010 — Started kart racing in the Zimbabwe Cadet class.
2011 — Continues racing in the Cadet class and wins the most improved Cadet Driver.
2012 — Moves to the Mini Rok Class and finishes fourth in the National Championship.
2013 — Qualifies to represent Zimbabwe at the Kart World Championships. He participates in three race meetings in South Africa and joins top South African Kart team, RKT Racing. New sponsors Motor Torque, Transerve and Graphtec come on board to give much needed support for the World finals.
2014 — Races seven events in Zimbabwe, and leads the National Championship which he forfeits due to World Championship commitments. He competes in a full 10-race programme in South Africa and attends the World Karting Finals in Italy. Motor Torque and new sponsor Fawcett’s Security assist in getting Zac to the World Championships.
2015 — Moves his focus completely to South Africa for his last Mini Rok season where he competes in 10 national and regional race meetings. Storm Motor Rentals in South Africa, sponsor Zac with subsidised car hire for all his South African race meetings.
2016 — Races in the very competitive South African Junior Max class and competes in 10 national/regionally meeting and the African Open. Once again Storm Motor Rentals supports Zac for a second year and Motul in Zimbabwe come in as a sponsor with product and some travel costs assistance. In addition we also did cross branding between Motul and our Pole Position Karting business to gain greater exposure.
2017 — A new international class is introduced in South Africa and Zac is offered the opportunity to compete in the new eight race series. He continued to race in the Junior Max class but only competed in a few select races due to budget constraints. Despite that, a best position of 4th overall showed his talent and certainly raised his profile in South Africa
2018 — Concentrates solely on the new international class competing all over South Africa in an eight race series. In Zimbabwe, he only competes in two race meetings due to South African commitments but reveals his new shifter kart at the popular drag racing and completes demo laps on the main circuit at Donny Brook.
