
The county’s top school-age karters proved their mettle as torrential rain showers lashed the Tokoroa venue hosting this year’s KartSport New Zealand McFall Fuel National Schools’ Championship meeting on Saturday.
Braving what one long term observer of the sport described as ‘probably the worst conditions I have ever seen at a kart race meeting, with very high winds and horizontal rain for most of the day,’ the 103 karters who had entered this year’s event simply knuckled down and got on with representing their school.
At one stage racing was suspended until conditions improved, but bar the resulting time constraints forcing the organisers to cancel the fifth heats and call the results based on the results from the first four predetermined grid heats, the event went ahead as planned.
“For which everybody, from the drivers – especially our younger ones – to all the club volunteers and KartSport New Zealand officials, everyone deserves a big pat on the back for running such an important meeting as our Schools’ one in such extreme conditions,” said KartSport New Zealand President Graeme Moore.
After a COVID-19-enforced break last year, the 18th KartSport New Zealand National Schools’ Championship meeting was certainly well anticipated and supported on the KartSport national calendar this year.
Over 100 school-age karters from as far away as Dunedin and Mosgiel travelled to the Tokoroa club’s Stihl Shop Tokoroa Raceway for the McFall Fuel supported event, sanctioned by School Sport NZ, and hosted by the KartSport Tokoroa club in conjunction with Cambridge High School.
Interestingly, the two sets of brothers who first earned the titles for their schools at Wellington in 2019 (Fynn and Clay Osborne from Cambridge, and Sebastian and Marco Manson from Auckland) repeated the exercise this year.
This time Clay led his older brother Fynn home for a 1-2 finish in the 125cc Rotax Max Light class and enough points to earn the college they both attend, St Peter’s School in Cambridge, the Secondary Schools’ title for a second time.
A win for Marco Manson in the Vortex Mini ROK class and second place for older brother Sebastian in Vortex ROK DVS Junior, meanwhile, earned the Primary/Intermediate title for school they attend, Auckland’s, St Kentigern School.
Winning the Vortex Mini ROK class also earned Marco Manson one of the two prizes of an entry to the 2021 ROK Cup Superfinal meeting in Italy in October plus $2,000 from the KartSport NZ/Lascom Motorsport/Dunlop International travel fund.
The other entry to the 2021 ROK Cup Superfinal meeting in Italy in October plus $2,000 from the KartSport NZ/Lascom Motorsport/Dunlop International travel fund prizes went to the biggest individual winner at this year’s meeting, Matamata ace Jay Urwin.
Urwin, the only driver at the meeting to win not one but two NZ Schools’ titles (in both the Vortex ROK DVS Junior and 125cc Rotax Max Junior classes) made light of the howling wind and driving rain at his home track to just pip Sebastian Manson (by a single point) in the Vortex ROK DVS Jnr class, and beat class North Island title holder Tom Bewley from the Hawke’s Bay to the 125cc Rotax Max Junior class title by five points.
The other two NZ School’s titles won at Tokoroa on Saturday went to William Exton from Blenheim (Vortex ROK DVS Senior) and Henry Fisher from Christchurch (Cadet ROK).
Fisher, the reigning class NZ#1 made no race of adding the NZ Schools’ title to his CV, being the only driver to win all four heat races he started at the meeting.
CAPTIONS
Big winners at the wind and rain-lashed KartSport NZ 2021 McFall Fuel National Schools’ Championships meeting in Tokoroa on Saturday included Jay Urwin (#3 Vortex ROK DVS Junior), Marco Manson (#3 Vortex Mini ROK), Henry Fisher (#1 Cadet ROK) and Clay Osborne (#3 Rotax Max Light). Photo credit: Fast Company/Emilee Jane Photography.
RESULTS
KARTSPORT NZ NATIONAL SCHOOLS' CHAMPIONSHIPS
SECONDARY SCHOOL HONOURS BOARD
2003 Rangitoto College, Auckland
2004 St Kentigern College, Auckland
2005 Palmerston North Boys' High, Palmerston North
2006 Waimea College, Nelson
2007 St Kentigern College, Auckland
2008 St Andrews College, Christchurch
2009 St Andrews College, Christchurch
2010 Palmerston North Boys' High, Palmerston North
2011 Auckland Grammar School, Auckland
2012 Palmerston North Boys' High, Palmerston North
2013 Burnside High School, Christchurch
2014 Palmerston North Boys' High School, Palmerston North
2015 St Thomas of Canterbury College, Christchurch
2016 Palmerston North Boys' High School, Palmerston North
2017 Palmerston North Boys' High School, Palmerston North
2018 Westlake Boys High School, Auckland
2019 St Peters School, Cambridge
2020 (No event held)
2021 St Peters School, Cambridge
PRIMARY/INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL HONOURS BOARD
2003 Rangeview Intermediate, Auckland
2004 Waimea Intermediate, Nelson
2005 Marina View School, Auckland
2006 Russley Primary, Christchurch & St Kentigern Intermediate, Auckland
2007 Albany Primary, Auckland
2008 Waikari School and Kaikorai Valley College, Dunedin
2009 Newbury School, Palmerston North
2010 Taradale Intermediate, Napier
2011 Windsor Primary/Chisnell Wood Intermediate, Christchurch
2012 College Street Normal School, Palmerston North
2013 Medbury School, Christchurch
2014 Palmerston North Normal Intermediate/Newbury Primary School, Palmerston North
2015 Balmacewen Intermediate, Dunedin
2016 Palmerston North Normal Intermediate, Palmerston North
2017 Te Mata School/Havelock North Intermediate, Havelock North
2018 Palmerston North Intermediate Normal School/Winchester Primary School, Palmerston North
2019 St Kentigern School, Auckland
2020 (No event held)
2021 St Kentigern School, Auckland
Vortex ROK DVS Junior
1. Jay Urwin, 2. Sebastian Manson; 3. Zak Surtees. 4. Tom Bewley; 5. William McDonald; 6. Dylan Jessop.
125cc Rotax Max Junior
Vortex Mini ROK
Cadet ROK
Vortex ROK DVS Senior
125cc Rotax Max Light
Prepared by FAST COMPANY on behalf of KartSport New Zealand. To find out more about KartSport in New Zealand contact Ross MacKay on 021 677 919 or via e-mail on ross@fastcompany.co.nz
Article added: Monday 19 July 2021