Karting   Penlac answers karting association call for support |10 March 2023

From left to right: SKA chairperson Liza Rene-Cosgrow, SKA secretary George Delcy, Penlac MD Gafoor Yakub, junior drivers and committee members (Photo: Contributed)

With the opening of the 2023 kart racing season last Saturday, the Seychelles Karting Association had a restoration plan for the Champions Park race track, considering its non-activity during the off-season from December to the end of February.

With the Palais des Sports being renovated, the Seychelles Karting Association (SKA) wanted to clean up, update and brighten its own venue to match the renovation on the neighbouring venue.

As part of the updating conducted, the works carried out included the restructuring of the safety barriers of tyres and the widening of the run-offs, particularly on the main straight race track and certain corners of the track.

The final part of the update was the repainting of all the infrastructure around the circuit and the remaining tyre barriers, and when the SKA reached out to its friend and partner Penlac for support, its chairman and chief executive Gafoor Yakub did not hesitate in providing the vital supplies of paint products to complete the job.

Despite his busy work schedule, Mr Yakub was in fact happy to lend a hand once he saw what the SKA had been planning. He is a great supporter of karting because he says this competitive sport somehow manages to bring parents and their children together and he feels karting has hhealth benefits like strength building, improved reflexes and reaction time, and even burning of calories. It must be noted that Penlac has always helped the SKA in the past and on every occasion that SKA has knocked on its doors.

Mr Yakub was on hand on Saturday afternoon at the opening round of the Cadets and Juniors karting championship to present the donation of paints to the SKA executive committee including chairperson Liza Rene-Cosgrow, secretary George Delcy, and all the youngsters who took part.

He also took time to inspect the venue to see how the donations had been used. During the time spent at the Junior championship race, Mr Yakub said he started to appreciate that karting allows you to learn how to manage power-to-weight ratio as well as all key aspects of vehicle dynamics ‒ over steer, under steer, weight transfer, and so on.

The Seychelles Karting Association has thanked Mr Yakub and Penlac for their keen interest and valuable contribution yet again to this competitive sport. The executive committee hopes that everyone using the updated venue, not just the young drivers themselves, would appreciate the cleaner and brighter environment. At the same time, the SKA chairperson, Liza Rene-Cosgrow, is appealing to the non-karting individuals using the venue during week days, mostly for mobility exercises, to respect the venue and to help keep it safe and clean and in the same condition as it is now.

Contributed