Round 1 of the 2011 JK’s Engines Top Half Series was held over the weekend – 5th/6th February - at KartSport Mt Wellington.

With a great crowd in attendance and fantastic Auckland weather the weekend was always going to be a great spectacle with 89 karters turning up for practice on the Saturday.

102 Karters from right across the top half entered round 1. This was a very pleasing result given the cluttered race calendar we must all contend with these days.

All 10 classes experienced close racing across all five heats.

The cadet class, proudly sponsored by Another Orange Service Centre, was dominated by BOP’s Reece Hendl-Cox with 3 heat wins. Auckland’s Dylan Smith finished the round in 2^nd position with only 6 points covering positions 2^nd through to 5^th. Connor Wilson (Ham) finished 3^rd, Dylan Bryant (Ham) 4^th, Brad Wilson 5^th (Ak) and Seb Bainbridge (Mtw) was home in 6^th position from a field of 15 who faced the starter.

Junior Restricted, proudly sponsored by Sign2U Ltd, was even closer with only 9 points separating the top 4 positions. Mt Wellington’s Chelsea Herbert dominated with two first placings and two 2^nd placings. Auckland’s Alex Edwards was second with two firsts and a second. Aaron Crighton (Ak) in third place was followed by Caleb Huston (Rot/Tpo), Nathan Reid (Ak) in 5^th position and Jacob Smith (Ak) in 6^th position.

Junior Yamaha, proudly sponsored by Wayne Bryant Plumbing, was dominated by Hamilton’s Rhys Tinney with 4 heat wins and a 2^nd placing. Rhys in fact finished one point short of the 160 points maximum on 159 – the highest points scorer for the round. Rhys was followed home by Joe Ganley (Ak) 2^nd, Thomas McLean (Wr) 3^rd, David Anderson (Ham) 4th, Caleb Hartley (Ham) 5^th and in 6^th place Chris Lee from BOP.

Formula Junior, proudly sponsored by Gabb Associates Ltd, was dominated by Mt Wellington karter’s with Reid Harker winning the round with three heat wins and a 2^nd placing. Luke Dobbs (Mtw) with two 1sts and a 2^nd finished 2^nd followed by Emilee Wright (Mtw), Dion Pitt (Mtw), Jono Buxeda (Mtw) in 5^th and C J Sinclair (Mtw) in 6^th.

The new class in this year’s Top Half Series, Clubsport 120, proudly sponsored by Vehicle Grooming Services, produced some very close and exciting racing. Whangarei’s Charles Hoare dominated with 4 heat wins. Richard Macey – Whangarei Club President, with three 2nds was placed 2^nd, followed by EBOP President Graham Knight in 3^rd, Chris Everitt (Wr) in 4^th, Cassandra Carter (wr) in 5^th and Lesley Rawlinson from Ebop finished in 6^th.

Yamaha Light, sponsored by John Edwards Motors Ltd, was dominated by two karters. Mt Wellington’s Arthur Gabb with three wins and Tokoroa’s Stan Tangaroa-Green with one heat win and three 2^nd placings were tied for the day on 155 points. However, Arthur won the day on count back from Stan. Like many of the classes, there was some very close racing. Arie Hutton (Mtw) finished a credible 3^rd given Arie had a DNF in heat 1. Jason Butterworth (Mtw) finished 4^th followed by Corey Green (Bop) in 5^th and Tony Kinsman (Mtw) in 6^th.

Yamaha Heavy, proudly sponsored by Appliance Repairs Ltd, was highlighted by the first three karters home for the round finishing within four points of each other. Auckland’s Adam Davis with 3 heat wins and 154 points finished 1^st followed by Garry Cullum (Ak) with one heat win and 152 points in 2^nd and Mt Wellington’s Aarron Cunningham with one heat win finished 3^rd with 150. Aarron’s cause was not helped by a DNS in heat 5. Shaun Curran (Ak), Sharn Connor (Ak) and Mtw’s Peter Stacey finished 4^th, 5^th and 6^th respectively.

Rotax Lights, sponsored by Robert Pascoe Carriers, had two karters finish on top with equal 145 points. Mt Wellington’s Ben Drummond won on count back as a result of his 5^th heat win with Nicholas Carpenter (Ak) finishing 2^nd. Sean Sparg (Mtw) finished 3^rd with 135 points. Sean’s result not helped by a DNF in heat 5. 4^th placing went to Mitchell Beach (Ham), 5^th Lance Fisher (Ro/Tpo) and 6^th to Benjamin Kimber (Mtw).

Rotax Heavies, sponsored by Total Property Worx Ltd, and like many other classes, witnessed some exciting and close racing. Mt Wellington karters dominated the first 6 positions with Shane Hodgson and Aarron Cunningham sharing the spoils between them. Both had two wins each however Aaron’s 1^st heat struggles to get to the front of the pack, enabled Shane to finish on top with 155 points and Aarron on 153 points. Scotty the Fountain man finished a credible 3^rd followed by Gary Claxton in 4^th, with two Mt Wellington legends Alan Sherris and Peter Wrightson in 5^th and 6^th place respectively.

Open class, sponsored by Sodi Karts, was definitely effected by the recent CIK race meeting, as only two karters faced the starter. The spoils were evenly shared between Auckland’s Warren Parris and Mt Wellington’s Levi Madsin-Prinn. Both karters had two heat wins each going into the final which was narrowly won by Warren to take the days spoils.

The weekend was a wonderful success enjoyed by all karters, spectators and officials who attended. A special thanks to all sponsors with a particular mention of JK’s Engines for Nicole and John kelly’s generous naming rights sponsorship.

Click here for a full set of results from Round 1 at Mt Wellington.

The next Round is to be held at the Auckland kart Club on Sunday 6^th March.

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