Karting - Karting association adds 10 new karts to its fleet |23 October 2019
Drivers are ready to get going in the new karts
The Seychelles Karting Association with help of the National Sports Council and its main sponsors – Abhaye Valabhji, Penlac, Hunt Deltel and AutoCare – on Saturday revealed 10 new karts from UK supplier Biz Karts.
The 10 new karts will go into the association’s fleet of approximately 20 older karts which have been the lifeline of karting for over the last 20 years or so.
Seychelles Karting Association (SKA) chairperson Liza Rene-Cosgrow, together with the principal secretary for youth and sports Fabian Palymre unveiled the karts in front of the sponsors, members of the press and the SKA on Saturday morning.
Mrs Rene-Cosgrow thanked all those who contributed towards the purchase of the 10 karts, not forgetting the late Gerard Ah-Shung, their long-time treasurer who brought out the idea of creating a special budget to be set aside for this particular purchase. The association has covered 75% of the total amount and the main sponsors have provided the remainder.
Chairperson Rene-Cosgrow also said they will continue with their efforts to obtain new karts, adding that the SKA will work out a similar plan in order to obtain another six to 10 smaller cadet karts for the youngsters, but these would require more and newer sponsors to come on board to make it possible, hopefully before her mandate as chairperson ends in 2021.
It makes me proud to have achieved this under my watch, not forgetting the valuable help from my past and present committees.
Principal secretary Palymre also thanked the sponsors for their help, saying that government, through the National Sports Council (NSC), has always tried to help all sports in any way possible.
He added he was pleased to note that though karting is an expensive sport, here in the Seychelles the SKA has made it possible for anyone who wants to practice this sport to be able to do so, making it something quite unique compared to other countries worldwide where members would require to own their own kart in order to take part.
He also said that it was nice to see a lot of youngsters in the association, especially with their parents also present and taking an active part in monitoring their children’s activities and helping out as officials at times.
PS Palmyre also urged the members to take care of these new karts and wished the association all the best for the future.
Representatives of the sponsors then took to the track for a few laps, testing the new karts which will be put into competition at the season’s Super Final scheduled for Sunday November 17.
The new karts, the Biz Le Mans model, are a new version of low maintenance 200cc four-stroke karts, with an all-enclosing low line body style and robust body protection all round on a heavy duty chassis. It comes with adjustable pedals to accommodate any height of drivers and has the option of switching to belt drive if required.
The SKA is now in a race to try to purchase an extra 10 timing transponders from overseas to fit on the new karts before the final race for electronic timing purposes.
Contributed
