Odendaal Fights to the Front at Zwartkops, Finishes Second Overall
Three-time national karting champion Caleb Odendaal delivered another strong performance at Zwartkops Kart Raceway for Round 3 of the 2025 Northern Regions Rotax Karting Championship, finishing second after a competitive day in the Junior MAX class.
Coming off a strong start to the season that included an overall win at Formula-K and a solid points haul at Vereeniging, the Eastern Cape talent arrived in Gauteng looking to claw back the ground lost as a result of a technical penalty in Round 2.
Despite consistently showing pace during Friday's practice, Odendaal could only manage seventh on the timesheets during Saturday's qualifying session. His best lap of 43.149 seconds placed him just 0.336 seconds off the pole in a tightly contested session, setting the stage for a fightback.
In a thrilling opening heat, Caleb quickly got into a rhythm and sliced through the field to take the lead by Lap 3. From there, he held off challenges from Reagile Mailula and national rival Emma Dowling to cross the line first.
Heat 2 proved more tactical as Caleb climbed from sixth to third by mid-distance. A hard-fought battle at the front saw Jack Moore and Mattao Mason lead the early exchanges, but Odendaal remained within striking distance.
The final race of the day presented some challenges. Caleb was battling heavy midfield traffic after losing out at the start and dropping back a few positions. While the top five fought for the win ahead, he stayed consistent and claimed sixth across the line to claim the runner-up result for the day.
"We were fast all weekend but had to work hard for every result. Race 1 was perfect, but Race 3 didn't quite go our way. Still, I'm happy with the points and the fight we showed. Big thanks to my team, Kart Republic Africa, and Legend Motors for their continued belief in me."
Caleb's next outing will be Round 3 of the South African Rotax MAX Challenge, hosted at iDube Raceway, Camperdown, KZN. The second half of the Northern Regions competition will return to Zwartkops in August.
