Kiwi karters revelled in the return of National-level Sprint Championship competition at this year’s North & South Islands meetings at Hastings and Blenheim over Labour Weekend.

Both meetings saw spirited racing across all classes, with defending title holders, Ryan Grant (KZ2) from Auckland heading the winning roll call at the Napier City Council-backed North Island meeting and local driver Willian Exton (125cc Rotax Max Light) doing the same at the Cresswell Electrical-backed South Island meeting.

The pair led a mixture of defending Island title-holders and up-and-comers to claim class wins at the two meetings.

Class title winners at the KartSport Hawke’s Bay club’s Carter’s Tyres Raceway at Roy’s Hill on the outskirts of Hastings were;

KZ2 – Ryan Grant (Auckland)

Vortex ROK DVS – Rianna O’Meara-Hunt (Wellington)

125cc Rotax Max Light - Michael McCulloch (Kapiti Coast)

125cc Rotax Max Heavy - Campbell Joyes (Hamilton)

Junior Rotax - Thomas Bewley (Havelock North)

Vortex Mini ROK - Judd Christiansen (Palmerston North)

Cadet ROK - Grayson Stowe (Hastings)

Class title winners at the KatSport Marlborough-organised Cresswell Electrical South Island Sprint Championhsip title meeting at the club’s Cresswell Electrical Kart Raceway on the outskirts of Blenheim were;

125cc Rotax Max Light – William Exton (Blenheim)

125cc Rotax Max Heavy – Matthew Butchart (Richmond)

Rotax Junior – Chris White (Christchurch)

Vortex Mini ROK – Zach Tucker (Christchurch)

Cadet ROK – Jackson Culver (Rangiora)

Two non-championship support classes were also contested at the South Island titles meeting for drivers running Briggs & Stratton 4-stroke engined LO206 karts.

They were won by;

ClubSport Briggs LO206 Light – Tony Dyer (Nelson)

ClubSport Briggs LO206 Heavy – Anton Rasmussen (Nelson)

Ends

CAPTIONS

Class title winners at the Napier City Council North Island Sprint Championship kart race meeting titles at Hastings over Labour  weekend included Ryan Grant (#64 KZ2), Michael McCulloch (#8 Rotax Max Light), Rianna O’Meara-Hunt (#6 Vortex ROK DVS), Thomas Bewley (#4 Rotax Junior) and Judd Christiansen (#GS Vortex Mini ROK). Photo Credit: Fast Company/Emilee Jane Photography. Class winners at the 2020 Cresswell Electrical South Island title meeting at Blenheim, meanwhile, included William Exton form Blenheim (#SI 125cc Rotax Max Light), Mathew Butchart (#33 125cc Rotax Max Heavy, Chris White (#88 Rotax Junior), Zach Tucker (#33 Vortex Mini ROK) and Jackson Culver (#17 Cadet ROK). Photo credit: Fast Company/Ferghus Meighan.

Results

2020 Napier City Council KartSport NZ North Island Sprint Championships KartSport Hawke’s Bay – Carter’s Tyres Raceway Hastings Sat-Sun Oct 24-25

KZ2

Final

1. Ryan Grant 28  laps; 2. Graeme Smyth + 0.416; 3. Regan Hall +0.961; 4. Joshua Parkinson +1.714; 5 . Riley Jack +2.343; 6. Nathan Craig + 2.829

Vortex ROK DVS

Final

1. Rianna O’Meara-Hunt 28 laps; 2. Jacob Cranston + 0.154; 3. Jamie van den Berk +8.458; 4. Ben Stewart +8.748; 5. Tyler Edney +8.854; 6. Jacob Smith 11 laps

Rotax Max Light

Final

1. Michael McCulloch 28 laps; 2. Zac Stichbury +2.169;  3. Josh Richmond  +2.994; 4. Jackson Rooney +5.866; 5. Ryan Crombie +8.356; 6. Riley Spargo +9.954.

Rotax Max Heavy

Final

1. Campbell Joyes  28 laps; 2. Darren Walker  + 6.293; 3. Adam Bell +9.227; 4. Ashley Higgins +9.582; 5.  Aaron Tahu +13.442; 6. Brendon Hart +20.491.

Junior Rotax

Final

1. Thomas Bewley 28 laps; 2. Logan Manson +0.295; 3. Jay Urwin  +1.016; 4. Luke Thompson +2.200; 5. Ryan Hancock +4.788; 6. Tayler Payne +5.099.

Vortex Mini ROK

Final

1. Judd Christiansen  22 laps; 2. Jamie Thompson +0.530; 3. Marco Manson +2.982; 4. Jacob Bellamy +3.361; 5 . Maxim Kirwan + 6.722; 6. Cole Turney +10.866.

Cadet ROK

Final

1. Grayson Stowe  22 laps; 2. Aryan Lala +13.338; 3. Cooper Insley +21.425. 4 Seth Comer +21.854  

2020 Cresswell Electrical KartSport NZ South Island Sprint Championships KartSport Marlborough – Cresswell Electrical Kart Raceway, Blenheim Sat-Sun Oct 24-25

Rotax Max Light

Final

1.  William Exton   20 laps; 2. Scott Manson + 8.487; 3. Harry McDonald  +9.699; 4. Cameron Hay  +10.911; 5. Findlay Dixon  +12.857; 6. Luca Burns +19.225  

Rotax Max Heavy

Final

1. Matthew Butchart 20 laps; 2. Arron Black + 0.213; 3.  Kevin Barker + 7.521; 4.  Thomas Emmerson + 8.055; 5. Ian Carter +13.891; 6 . Tony Rankin +15.823  

Rotax Junior

Final

1. Chris White 20 laps; 2. Blake Knowles +0.083; 3. Bo Hill  +2.410; 4. William Neale  +4.141; 5. Kiahn Burt +5.289; 6. Dylan Jessop +5.504      

Vortex Mini ROK

Final

1. Zach Tucker 17 laps; 2. Arthur Broughan +3.645; 3. Jacob Earley +7.049; 4. Zavier Harvey +11.090; 5.  Levi McMillan +11.981; 6. Archie Botham +16.255  

Cadet ROK

Final

1. Jackson Culver 17 laps; 2. Charlie Botham + 0.130; 3. Aston Walker +0.408; 4. Jaxon Waugh +9.830; 5. Robbie Batt +10.271; 6. Henry Fisher + 10.298  

Non championship ClubSport LO206 Light

Final

1. Tony Dyer 17 laps; 2.  Cory Crossan  +0.561; 3. Shaun Croskery  +2.476; 4. William Chronis +5.815; 5. Brent Melhop +12.137; 6. Rob Frans +12.541.

Non-championship ClubSport LO206 Heavy

Final

1.  Anton Rasmussen 17 laps;  2. Mike Kendrick +0.840; 3. Alex Chronis +1.021; 4.  Kevin Barker +1.057; 5. Thomas Batt + 5.009; 6 . Paul Cambie  +10.395.

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 at [email protected]

Article added: Tuesday 27 October 2020