The KartSport New Zealand Superkart drivers will be having a crack at winning the clubs Tri-Series Championship to be held at the Taupo International Motorsport Park on Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th March. Five classes are on offer; International, KZ2, DD2, Rotax Light and Rotax Heavy.

In the premier International class, Andrew Hall leads the Tri-Series points and is on a high after winning the last meeting held at Manfeild Circuit Chis Amon a few weeks ago. He will be joined by a classy line up which includes Tony Bowden who won the round at Hampton Downs in early February plus our only female International driver Kim Stevens. Stalwart Karter Teddy Bassick will be in the mix after showing good speed at Hampton Downs last month before engine problems side-lined his campaign. These rocket ships develop around 95 horsepower from a custom built twin cylinder 2 stroke engine coupled to a 6 speed gearbox. The all up weight including the driver is about 250kg. This configuration enables them to hit top speeds of around 230kph at the Taupo circuit!

The KZ2 class is always ultra-competitive reaching speeds of around 190kph. Mitch Fraser leads the way from Daryl Currie and Lawrence Wright. They can expect some tough competion from Zane Hills who has recently converted from the Rotax Light class and has showed some blisteringly fast pace at the last few meetings. His performance at Hampton Downs last month’s Super Sprint event was outstanding. Another ex Rotax Light driver, Todd Jolly will be looking for more race wins after winning the final heat at Manfeild a few weeks ago. Brent Gordon who won the last meeting at Manfeild will be looking for another good result along with fellow Hawkes Bay driver John Crossman.

Clinton Fell leads the DD2 class with a 23 point lead over Lee Sefton and Chris Coleman who are tied on points. Carl Hanson who has recently stepped up to the International class after running in the DD2 class will be back in a DD2 for this meeting to try and build on his Tri-Series points tally.

The 125cc Rotax Max Light class always provides close, exciting racing with good size fields. Current New Zealand Champion runner Up Tyler Edney who has just come back from competing at the Australian SuperKart Championships leads the point’s standings with multi New Zealand title holder and former World Champion Ryan Urban hot on his heels. Auckland’s Chris Benton has shown good form at recent meetings and will be competitive along with Casey Lett, Jason Butterworth and multi time Rotax Light New Zealand Champion Tony Kinsman.

Shannon Noble who has also just come back from competing at the Australian SuperKart Championships is top of the heap in the 125cc Rotax Max Heavy Class. Paul Hutchinson is sitting in second place with Bryan and Grant Withers not far behind. Northlands Preston Williams will be looking to build on the good form he has shown recently with help from his father who will be spinning the spanners all weekend.

River Road Kitchen are kindly giving away 2 sets of tyres to some lucky competitors, 1 set of open tyres and 1 set of control tyres. Get your entries in ASAP to be in the draw.

Free practice will be held all day Friday and continue on Saturday morning with qualifying scheduled for Saturday afternoon. Racing will get underway after qualifying and continuing into Sunday.

If you want to build friendships and belong to a friendly engaging club, race hard at high speeds on a full size motorsport track in a safe environment contact us to find out more:

www.sporty.co.nz/superkartdriversclub/Home-1

www.kartsport.org.nz

All Photo Credits: Lara Currie Photography

Article added: Wednesday 06 March 2024