50% MORE RACE LAPS FOR DRIVERS AT THE 2014 AKA NATIONALS

The Australia Karting Association, in conjunction with the Newcastle Kart Racing Club and Karting NSW, has released an exciting new format for the 52nd Australian National Sprint Kart Championships.

The event, to be hosted in Newcastle on April 18-20, will see the number of racing laps for each competitor increase by 50% on the corresponding event in 2013.

The event has been reduced to a total of four days with practice commencing on Thursday April 17. At the same time, competitors have been provided with more racing laps for their time spent at the circuit.

There will be a sole six-minute qualifying session on the afternoon of Friday April 18. The 14-lap repechage races for oversubscribed classes and the three ten-lap heat races for all classes will follow this.

The pre-finals will be contested on Saturday April 19 across 14-laps with the championship finals to be decided in an 18-lap race on Sunday April 20.

At the 2013 event, comparable racing laps totaled 41 laps for each class.

A complete event timetable will be issued shortly after the close of entries on Thursday March 27.

“The Board’s objective is to create racing formats that deliver more value for the racing dollar for all competitors.” said AKA Chief Executive Officer Kelvin O’Reilly.

“Together with the Board of Karting NSW and the Newcastle Kart Racing Club, we want the 2014 National Sprint Kart Championships to set the benchmark for what karting events in Australia could start to look like in the future.

“More time on the race track and less time sitting around in the paddock is the objective.

“The organising Committee lead by Stephen King has been working tirelessly to ensure that they are prepared for the event. We’re looking forward to making it a memorable event for everyone involved.

“Practice begins on Thursday morning and right through until Sunday afternoon the entire event will be time specific. There will be three heat races, all of which have been increased in length from previous years and the finals are also longer.”

The Supplementary Regulations are available on www.karting.net.au