A record entry of over 90 karters from all over New Zealand bodes well for the opening round of this year’s Aarque Group-sponsored ProKart Series at the KartSport Manawatu club’s Manawatu Toyota Raceway in Palmerston North this weekend.

A new, expanded offering of classes to supplement the core 125cc/6-speed gearbox KZ2-based ones, has been particularly well-received, with series promotor Steve Brown especially pleased with the response in the Junior ranks.

“Let me just say for a start”, Brown said this week, “how excited we are to have Aarque Group on board as the main sponsor for 2020. Secondly, I’d like to say how proud we are of two of our initiatives. The first is that Junior Rotax will actually be our biggest class by numbers so far, and the second is that this year, for the first time since 2015, we have been able to add Vortex Mini ROK to our programme.

“With every race counting - and there are 30 of them across five rounds - an Aarque Group ProKart class title is no doubt the toughest one to win in this country. However, our record entry shows that there is no shortage of karters young and older who are keen to try!”

Reigning class champion Mat Kinsman returns to defend his title in the elite KZ2 class, which this year is sponsored by Giltrap Group Racing Ltd, with competition expected to come from fellow Aucklander Graeme Smyth plus a horde of talented youngsters.

Just some of the names to keep an eye on out of this lot this weekend include Riley Jack from Palmerston North, recent City of Sails event KZ2 class winner Joshua Parkinson and fellow Aucklanders Michael Adolph and Sam Wright, Connor Davidson from Hamilton, William Exton from Blenheim, and Australian ace Kye Cavedon. 

Another reigning ProKart Series champion, Jared Makenzie, returns for another year with his eye again on the main KZ2 Masters class prize. Fellow Aucklander Kevan Storr showed strong pace at the recent City of Sails event, however, while joining a host of other older but no less determined drivers (like series promotor Steve Brown) is Auckland-based Vet-class international David Malcolm.

Regan Hall from Auckland, and Aaron Wooley from Hamilton, will again be the drivers to keep an eye out for in the spec/cost-capped KZ4 class. Watch this weekend, however, how Mitch Brown and Clint Beaumont go as they make the move from KZ2 to KZ4.

There is going to be a fascinating match-up, meanwhile, in the 125cc Rotax Max Light support class, as brothers Fynn (the reigning class #1NZ) and brother Clay (who won the Junior Max final at the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Final meeting in Italy last year) go head-to-head in a field which also includes top locally-based internationals Jackson Rooney and Fraser Hart.

The Senior Rotax grid will also see local drivers Ashley Higgins and Brendon Hart join their counterparts, like Marco Giltrap from Auckland and Bay of Plenty driver Darren Walker, in going for Aarque Group ProKart Series gold in 2020.

With over 20 entries alone, it is the 125cc Rotax Max Junior (aka Junior Max) class and added to the ProKart series programme for the first time last year) which is the largest in numbers.

Drivers to look out for here are established class front-runners Dylan Grant and Nathan Crang from Auckland.

However, with so many talented youngsters moving up from the Vortex Mini ROK class to Junior Max this year – a group which includes the likes of Sabastian Manson from Auckland, Emerson Vincent form Pukekohe, Jay Urwin from Tauranga, and locals Kiahn Burt and Jenson Bate – it could be anyone’s round.

Finally, 17 young boys and girls will join the Aarque Group ProKart Series this year in the Vortex Mini ROK class. Aucklanders Ashton Phipps and Jamie Thompson have shown strong race pace already this year but three local youngsters to watch out for this weekend are Blake Dowdall, Judd Christiansen and Hugo Neale.

There will be action on track form 09.00am on Saturday and Sunday at the KartSport Manawatu club’s Manawatu Toyota Raceway on Shirriffs Rd, Awapuni. Palmerston North.

CAPTIONS

Drivers to look out for at this weekend’s opening round of the 2020 Aarque Group ProKart Series at Palmerston North this weekend include Mat Kinsman (KZ2 #30), Jared MacKenzie (KZ2 Masters #54), Regan Hall (KZ4 # 93) and (Nathan Crang Rotax Junior #62). Photo credit: Cameron Lee for Graham Hughes/Sportsweb

2020 Aarque Group ProKart Series

Rnd 1: Manawatu Toyota Raceway, Palmerston North Feb 22-23

Rnd 2: Century Batteries International Raceway, Rotorua Mar 21-22

Rnd 3: Visi Line Raceway Te Puke, Bay of Plenty May 16-17

Rnd 4: Stihl Shop Tokoroa Raceway, Tokoroa Aug 8-9

Rnd 5: Porter Group Park Hamilton Aug 29-30

Prepared by FAST COMPANY on behalf of KartSport New Zealand. Info courtesy Emilee Jane Photography. To find out more about the 2020 Aarque Group ProKart series contact Ross MacKay on 021 677 919 or via e-mail at ross@fastcompany.co.nz

Article added: Thursday 20 February 2020