MARK CRONJE THE “WILD CARD” IN SA KARTING TEAM

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Mark Cronje, production car racer and the 2001 ROTAX Max Challenge karting champion in South Africa, has been drafted into the South African Max team. The Roodepoort flyer will compete in the 2003 ROTAX Max Challenge Grand Finals at Zwartkops in January 2003 against 70 of the world’s best karters.  

“It’s fantastic news, and this time I’m going all out for the win,” said Mark, after fighting from the back of the field in the 2002 Grand Finals held in Malaysia this year, to place fifth.

The 25-year-old’s first Grand Final weekend started disastrously in January this year (2002) when a Swedish karter lost control of his vehicle and crashed into Mark’s Birel. In the pit lane, just 10 minutes before the start of the first qualifying session. Cronje was lucky to escape serious injury, but from that moment he was playing catch-up as he and his brother Gavin – a former Grand Finals champ and on the Malaysian island of Lankawi to mechanic for Mark – battled to replace the radiator and broken steering gear resulting from the crash.

In the South African ROTAX Max series held this year, Mark was also a strong favourite to take the title, being way ahead of the competition in the Cape Town finals until rain washed the circuit free of rubber, which suited the set-up used by his rival, Michael Stephen.\

“I don’t take away any credit from Michael’s win. He’s a great driver and like me, he has also come up the hard way in karting, with minimal budget. Anyway, I owed him one, as when I won the 125 Promo championship a few years ago, I pipped him for the title in a similar way. It’s going to be a great fight between us in the international in January.”

Despite having competed in karting since 1991 it is surprising to learn that Mark Cronje has only completed in four full seasons in the sport, due to budget problems. Having grown up in Roodepoort, the former Princess Primary and Princess High scholar was motorsport-mad from an early age, only dabbling in soccer at primary school before the karting bug bit.

But finance to compete in this expensive sport was always a problem, until his father, Henry, started his own kitchen fitting business and could afford karting machinery for his sons. However, things changed when Mark was spectating at the track on a practice day and assisted a newcomer to the sport, Mike Warren, who was battling to get a few karts sorted out.

“I could see Mike was battling so I began helping him and then we got chatting. Mike asked me why I wasn’t racing and if I would like to, and that was the start of a long relationship in motorsport, where he has helped me with the best equipment.”

With strong personal support from his long-time girlfriend Kirsten, Mark’s career has taken off in other directions. He has a class championships in the South African Production Car Championship and has proven to be a front-runner in the 2002 Class B championship this year, as a member of the Toyota factory team. He has since become a director of the successful karting business, The Kart Shoppe, which supplies Birel chassis and motors to many competitors.

The 2003 ROTAX Max Challenge Grand Finals takes place at the new Bridgestone Zwartkops International Kart Raceway on January 16-19, with 70 drivers competing from 35 countries. This will be the third running of the international event, and South African drivers have won both events so far.

In 2003 Gavin Cronje took the title in Puerto Rico, while the current title-holder is South Africa’s Claudio Piazza-Musso.