Canterbury’s annual marquee event, the Garden City Champs, is set to take place this weekend with a host of drivers looking to take home the crown. Held over two days, competitors will tackle both directions of the track across qualifying, two heats, a pre-final and final each day. Only points from each day’s Final race will determine the overall weekend result, with qualifying times sorting any ties.

In the sport’s youngest class, Cadet Rok, National Champion Iver Spence will head in as favourite, looking to add to his already impressive year. He’ll face tough competition from a field of nine starters, with the likes of Hamish McGrath and Charlie Clark in the mix.

In the 9–13-year-old Vortex Mini Rok class, current South Island Champion and New Zealand number two Henry Fisher will look to use his home track knowledge to his advantage. His field of competitors includes highly travelled Bradon Watson and former New Zealand Cadet Rok champion George Tucker.

Easily one of the sport’s most fierce classes, the Rotax Max Junior category will once again be one to watch. Three-time New Zealand Vortex Mini Rok Champion Zach Tucker will look to add a Junior Rotax title, having moved up age groups earlier this year. Fans can expect a heck of a battle, with FIA Academy driver and reigning South Island Champion Arthur Broughan, plus a current National Schools Champion in Mac Templeton also looking to take the win.

National Kartstars series and National Championship winning Rotax Light driver Caleb Cross will lead a strong field of senior drivers. He likely won’t have it easy however, with multi-time South Island Champion Chris Cox in the mix. Both drivers have plenty of local track knowledge, so expect to see them at their best. They won’t be the only ones chasing the title with both Dylan Jessop and Myles Findlay expected to be in the pace.

Rotax Max Heavy will see the Kartstars series champion Aaron Tahu make the trek to Canterbury in hopes of taking the win back up north with him. Kevin Barker will provide tough competition, in a twelve-strong field. Expect some surprises in this class, with a range of drivers likely to provide a challenge.

Rounding out the competition will be both grassroots Briggs LO206 classes, in Briggs Lights and Heavy. A whopping 18 starters will compete for bragging rights in Briggs Light, with the win being anyone’s guess. Riley Price and Myles Findlay are always front runners in the class, but this weekend they’ll be joined by both Caleb Cross and Chris Cox who both bring years of top-level racing experience with them. Briggs Heavy will also provide a tough fight with Mainland Series champion Taylor Gray likely to lead the way in a 10-strong field.

A final exciting edition to the event will see it act as a KartSport New Zealand approved officiating trial, with some tweaks to the standard judicial system. Canterbury’s sweeping array of on-track cameras will be heavily used to make judgement calls, with plenty of feedback to be taken away and combed through post-event.

Competition action gets away on-track from approximately 10am each day and wraps up around 4:30pm.

Article added: Friday 22 September 2023