Tale of two Ryans at Latest Rotax/Shifter Kart Series - Rnd 3

It was a tale of the two Ryans at the latest joint round of the Gen-i Rotax Max Challenge of New Zealand and Steward Motors Formula S 125 Shifter Series at KartSport Auckland's Pallet Company Raceway over the weekend of 23/24 May 2009.

Ryan Urban leads Kane Taylor
Photo : Fast Company/Championship Digital

Recently crowned New Zealand Sprint champion Ryan Urban was the man to beat in TotalSpan 125cc Rotax Max Light, while namesake Ryan Grant extended his winning streak in KZ2.

Heading into the round the TotalSpan 125cc Rotax Max Light class points standings were being led by Christchurch's Matthew Hamilton but it is now Urban who is in front after an almost perfect weekend in which he won both heat races as well as the pre-Final and Final.

Second in class after a typically strong showing on his home track was Kane Taylor, third another young Auckland driver, Mason Armstrong.

Multi-time former champion Hamilton found he had his work cut out after qualifying an uncharacteristic 11th but put in one of the drives of the meeting to work his way through the pack from eighth to fourth in the Final.

Round two winner Simon Evans also found the going tougher than at the first two rounds of the series, qualifying fourth and finishing fifth in the Final.

Ryan Grant, meanwhile, made every post a winning one in KZ2, qualifying quickest and winning his heats, pre-Final and Final. The category's recently crowned New Zealand Sprint champion, Graeme Smyth, pushed him all the way however, particularly in the Final where he led Grant for the first ten laps then again on laps 11 and 16 before the latter took control for the last time and crossed the finish line in front.

Ryan Grant leads Graeme Smyth.
Photo : Fast Company/Championship Digital

Jason Farmilo ended up best of the rest from young gun Richard Moore and the experienced Karl Wilson, though early on it was Grant's brother Matthew who was the one with the pace to shadow Smyth.

In the other classes, Arai Formula Junior turned into a battle royal between series pace-setter Daniel Kinsman and Aaron Hodgson with Hodgson breaking through to win the Final and close to within two points of Kinsman after the latter was an early casualty of contact in the Pre-Final.

Kinsman set the fastest lap of the race on his way back up to the front in the Final but try as he might he couldn't find a chink in Hodgson's armour, crossing the finish line just 0.181 of a second behind.

There was also a change in the order in Formula 125 S where Kevin Storr finally managed to turn the tables on arch rival and Rnds 1 and 2 class winner Mark Swetman, Storr winning the first and third heats as well as the Pre-Final and Final, the latter from Snow Mooney, Swetman, Mike Browning and John Steward.

The result means Storr has now taken the lead in the F 125 S class points standings with 331 points, eight more than Swetman and 17 more than Mooney.

Auckland's Bradley Alexander still leads the points standings in the third Gen-i Rotax Max Challenge of New Zealand class, Strata Networks 125cc Rotax Max Heavy, with Dunedin's Paul Booth second and Palmerston North's Brendon Hart third.

On Sunday it was former North Island champion Aarron Cunningham who emerged as his greatest threat however, Cunningham winning two of the five heats to end the day with the same number of points as Alexander but second overall on countback with Hart third.

Finally, in the new KF3/JICA Junior class which is supporting the Steward Motors Formula S 125 Shifter Series, New Zealand Formula Junior champion Arie Hutton was again the class of the field, even coming back from a mechanical problem which saw him slow then stop in the Pre-Final to win the Final and retain his series points lead over Bradley Hicks, Callum Quin and Paul Blomqvist.

The jointly run Gen-i Rotax Max Challenge of New Zealand and Steward Motors Formula 125 S Shifter Series now takes a break until the fourth and penultimate round at Hamilton over the August 29/30 weekend.

The 2009 Kartstars Gen-i Rotax Max Challenge is brought to you with the support of Gen-i, TotalSpan, Arai Helmets, Strata Networks and Right Karts. And the Formula S 125 Shifter Series is brought to you by Steward Motors.

2009 Gen-i Kartstars Rotax Max Challenge of New Zealand/Steward Motors Formula S 125 Shifter Series Rnd 3 Pallet Company Raceway Auckland Sat/Sun May 23-24 2009

Click here for the series points.

Results

TotalSpan 125cc Rotax Max Light
1. Ryan Urban 2. Kane Taylor 3. Mason Armstrong 4. Matthew Hamilton 5. Simon Evans
6. Richard Oxton

Points after Rnd 3 of 5:
1. Ryan Urban 252 points; 2. Matthew Hamilton 247; 3. Kane Taylor 244; 4. Niki Urwin 226; 5. Mason Armstrong 222; 6. Charles Hoare 208

Arai Formula Junior
1. Aaron Hodgson 2. Daniel Kinsman 3. Daniel Connor 4. Andy Schofield 5. Tom Alexander
6. Mitchell Keys

Points after Rnd 3 of 5:
1. Daniel Kinsman 257 points; 2. Aaron Hodgson 255; 3. Andy Schofield 241; 4. Tom Alexander 232; 5. Shaun Morris 228; 6. Bramwell King 221

Strata Networks 125cc Rotax Max Heavy
1. Bradley Alexander 2. Aarron Cunningham 3. Brendon Hart 4. David Waldmeyer
5. Paul Booth 6. Aaron Woolley

Points after Rnd 3 of 5
1. Bradley Alexander 25 points; 2. Paul Booth 40; 3. Brendon Hart 43; 4. David Waldmeyer 58; 5. Daryl Currie 76; 6. Teddy Bassick 90

KZ2
1. Ryan Grant 2. Graeme Smyth 3. Jason Farmilo 4. Richard Moore 5. Karl Wilson
6. Daniel Dufty

Points after Rnd 3 of 5
1. Ryan Grant 333 points; 2. Karl Wilson 318; 3. Graeme Smyth 315; 4. John Lovich 307; 5. Richard Moore 306; 6. Jason Farmilo 306

Formula 125S – Provisional Result
1. Kevan Storr 2. Snow Mooney 3. Mark Swetman 4. Mike Browning 5. John Steward
6. Keith Warwick

Points after Rnd 3 of 5 (Provisional)
1. Kevin Storr 331 points; 2. Mark Swetman 322; 3. Snow Mooney 314; 4. John Steward 311; 5. Keith Warwick 306; 6. Daniel Samuelson 302

Shifter Series – Formula Junior
1. Arie Hutton 2. Bradley Hicks 3. Callum Quin 4. Mitchell Brown

Points after Rnd 2 of 4:
1. Arie Hutton 222; 2. Bradley Hicks 211; 3. Callum Quin 210; 4. Paul Blomqvist 209; 5. Mitchell Brown 207; 6. Aaron Wilson 103

Click here for the series points.

CALENDAR
Rnd 1 Feb 21 Manawatu Toyota Raceway Palmerston North
Rnd 2 April 25-26 Fagan's Valley Raceway Bay of Plenty
Rnd 3 May 23-24 The Pallet Company Raceway Auckland
Rnd 4 August 29-30 RV Wholesale Supplies Raceway Hamilton
Rnd 5 September 26-27 Rotorua Karters CIK Circuit Mamaku Rotorua

Prepared by FAST COMPANY on behalf of the 2009 Gen-i Kartstars Rotax Max Challenge of New Zealand and Steward Motors Formula S 125 Shifter Series. To find out more about the annual Challenge and/or 125 Shifter Series contact Ross MacKay on 021 677 919 or via e-mail on ross@fastcompany.co.nz