Buladelah teenager Torey Blanch will be heading to Italy next month (Pic: Coopers Photography)

Aussie teenager (Buladelah, NSW) Torey Blanch has been invited to drive in a shootout to win a place on the grid in a prestigious international go-kart championship.

The 15 year-old from New South Wales was selected by the FIA Women in Motor Sport Committee as one of 11 young racers from all over the world to try out for the drive in the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy.

Torey was nominated by the Women of Australian Motor Sport (WAMS) in consultation with the Australian Karting Association (AKA) as Australia’s representative for consideration by the FIA committee.

She will now fly to Italy to take part in a qualifying program that will take place at Friuli, Venezia in Italy on 2^nd June.

The successful driver from this shootout will be given the opportunity to contest the 2012 CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy, contested by more than 50 of the world’s top young drivers aged between 13 and 15 years.

Torey will follow in the footsteps of Caitlin Wood participated in the same program in 2011. Caitlin impressed judges by qualifying third overall last year in her shot at winning entry to the championship. Torey has been karting since the age of ten and has amassed a number of impressive results, including winning the Junior National Heavy category at the 2012 All Ladies Championships in Lithgow.

She believes this experience will stand her in good stead for her first taste of international karting.

“I’m really excited about heading over to Italy and testing myself against the best young karters in the world” said Torey.

“When I heard the news I was over the moon – it is the chance of a lifetime and I’m looking forward to getting to Italy and making the most of this opportunity.”

Blanch in action during a round of the CIK Stars of Karting Series (Pic: AF Images/Budd)

“My focus now is on preparation; I’m going to speak with Caitlin (Wood) about her experiences as well as working on my fitness and working with a driver training coach.”

Head of the WAMS nomination committee, Leanne Tander, believes Torey has the experience and ability to impress in Italy.

“She was a standout candidate for us to put forward to the FIA,” said Mrs Tander.

“Torey clearly has plenty of ability – she has achieved some really strong results over the past few years.

“However, it was her attitude and maturity towards her racing – the way she approached things reminded us a lot of how Caitlin went about her business last year.

“I think she has everything she needs to represent Australian motor sport strongly.”

Craig Denton, Australian Karting Association National President, believes getting onto the international stage can only be beneficial for Torey.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for Torey,” said Mr Denton.

”She’s going to advance in leaps and bounds when she gets over there and sees the equipment and competition that are part of karting at the highest level in the world.

“I’m sure she will tackle the challenge at full steam in an attempt to demonstrate just how strong Australian karting is on the world stage.”

The Kosmic kart Jake Spencer will compete aboard at the Asia Pacific KF2 Championship in Japan

The Kosmic Racing Department team and I arrived at the track this morning at around 11:00am. Upon arrival, there were around 20 kart sized boxes waiting in our pit area waiting for us to unload. Each box had come from the OTK (Tony Kart/Kosmic) factory in Italy. Inside the boxes were all the team’s karts, tents and spares for the weekend.

Once everything had been unloaded the mechanics started building the karts. In the Kosmic team there are six drivers – two are racing KF1 (Daiki Sasaki and Tereza Gromanova) and four are racing in KF2 (Paulo Ippolito, Nicklas Nielson, Tanaporn Nokkaew and myself). Each driver has two brand new karts and a mechanic assigned to them for the weekend. My mechanic is called Alessandro and he is Italian. He speaks very little English, however it is enough for us to communicate basic things. He has taught me how to say ‘understeer’ and ‘oversteer’ in Italian which should make things easier for the weekend!

The two karts come from the factory as almost bare chassis’. This meant that we had a long day ahead of us building the two karts completely. Alessandro (my mechanic) was surprised that I was able to help build the karts with him, as most the other team drivers went off and did their own thing while the mechanics built their karts. The Kosmic team back in Italy make it as easy as possible for the mechanics through pre drilling seats for each driver as well as doing the front end wheel alignments on all karts before they arrive in Japan.

Once all the karts were built I did a track walk with the other drivers in the team. One of the KF1 drivers in the team (Daiki Sasaki) is from Japan and has a lot of knowledge on the Suzuka track. He was happy to answer any questions from the other drivers which was a great benefit to myself in particular as I have never driven on the circuit. The Suzuka circuit is 1,264 metres in length and seems to be very fast and flowing compared to the tracks we have in Australia.

Tomorrow we have our first day of testing. I have four x 15 minute sessions to learn the track and work on the kart set up.

I will keep you updated throughout the weekend,

Jake

Find all the information on the World KF1 Championship and Asia-Pacific KF2 Championship on www.cikfia.com or via the link http://www.cikfia.com/competitions/cik-calendar/2012/suzuka/event-guide.html

In Senior Max, Edward Brand found the pace he needed to take a convincing win in the final as the fastest on track and claim the lead in the European Rotax championship after beginning with a disappointing qualifying session Friday. It was Charlie Eastwood of Ireland who secured pole position by the narrowest of margins (0.001) to start on P1 for all four heats, but Brand who eventually topped the ranking in the 72-kart field at the end of Saturday’s racing to start alongside second quickest in the timed practice, Pierce Lehane, all the way from Australia on his Euro debut.

Fellow British driver Harrison Scott was looking confident to take the honours following his impressive 3-wins-from-4 in the heats, plus victory over Brand in the pre-final. Although last year’s Euro number 3 was caught up in an incident early in the final, Brand chased Scott down and overtook him just after half-race distance, before stretching his lead to almost one second by the chequered flag. It was another excellent Max final, as it was at the opening round in Belgium, which saw class rookie Philip Morin take 3rd and step up for his maiden international senior podium. Bas de Laat was 4th and Thomas Benisri 5th as they crossed the line to win the close battle for minor placing’s inside the first 15.

Another new championship leader arose from the German edition of the 2012 Euro Challenge, when Junior Max Dutch driver Janneau Esmeijer made a totally clean sweep of the proceedings across the weekend to equal the points standing of round 1 winner Harry Webb. He took pole by 0.2 seconds over series newcomer Joseph Burton-Harris during the qualifying, after the young Aussie clocked best lap in the first group. Esmeijer then won all three of his heats to start on grid 1 for Sunday’s pre-final, where the recently-turned 15-year old took a comfortable win.

The final turned on some great racing for the many spectators who travelled to the Bavarian region for the event. Even though the results don’t tell the story as it unfolded, the juniors proved they could also please the crowd. The first five places constantly shuffled until Esmeijer found a small gap to steal the lead from Webb trying to defend his line in the closing laps. He was also overcome by Sam Schippers and tiny rookie Lando Norris, to be relegated back to 4th after leading several of the 14 laps. Apart from Webb dropping two positions, the leading pack consisted of the same five drivers in both finals, with Lars Lamborelle in a close finish for 5th over Josh white, who now sits 3rd overall.

2012 Rotax Winter Cup champ Xen de Ruwe had out-paced series leader Miika Laiho in Friday’s qualifying, but then fell out of the top 10 ranking Saturday in the ROTAX DD2 class following one poor result in the heat races. The Belgian may have appeared to be momentarily out of contention when the likes of Sandro Lukovic new on the scene in the 2-speed gearbox category topped the chart Saturday for pre-final pole, two points ahead of round 1 winner and last season’s vice champion Mathias Detige, who won the pre-final with a gap of 1.68 seconds running his new MOJO tyres prior to most others.

However, De Ruwe came home strongly in the final to take 1st, saying he took no risks on his way through to lead by lap 9 of 18 and has now moved up to 5th in the series points. Detige was clearly 2nd ahead of British champ Lucas Orrock finding his previous race form once again. Rotax International Open title holder from 2011, Antoine Lepesqueux, had the advantage of a last lap incident to gain two places for 4th when Lukovic attempted to pass Patrick Pearce, which also allowed Laiho to make up lost ground for 5th. He’s now 4 points behind Detige in the overall classification with two rounds remaining in the championship – Sweden and France.

The best time in qualifying in the ROTAX DD2 Masters was set by Russian Igor Mukhin, but his podium hopes disappeared in the latter part of the final while attempting a pass on the Masters class race leader Florent Lambert. At the flag, it was Tamsin Germain who succeeded in winning two from two rounds in 2012 now, taking the honours ahead of Dennis Kroes and fellow Dutchman Bart Nuy in 3rd. Lady Luck was with the British driver in Germany to lead the series now by 13 points.

All results from round 2 of the 2012 ROTAX MAX EURO CHALLENGE as well as the current championship standings, latest news and more information can be found on the official homepage of the event – www.rotaxmaxeurochallenge.com

Images courtesy Bas Kaligis / RGMMC Media

RESULTS 2012 ROTAX MAX EURO CHALLENGE – Round 2 (Wackersdorf, Germany)

ROTAX SENIOR MAX
1. Edward Brand (GBR) – Formula K/Formula K Europe
2. Harrison Scott (GBR) – Tonykart/Strawberry Racing
3. Philip Morin (SWE) – Alonso/Dan Holland Racing

ROTAX JUNIOR MAX
1. Janneau Esmeijer (NED) – Intrepid/TKP
2. Sam Schippers (NED) – Intrepid/TKP
3. Lando Norris (GBR) – RL Racing Dept Ltd/Tonykart

ROTAX DD2
1. Xen de Ruwe (BEL) – Formula K/Formula K Europe
2. Mathias Detige (BEL) – Tonykart/Bouvin Power
3. Lucas Orrock (GBR) – Kosmic/Paul Carr Racing

ROTAX DD2 MASTERS
1. Tamsin Germain (GBR) – Gillard/DG Racing
2. Dennis Kroes (NED) – Tonykart /Team Kroes
3. Bart Nuy (NED) – Intrepid/TKP

Click here to view the latest rankings.

Ben Barnicoa in action during the Hyundai Super One MSA Series Whilton Mill (Pic: kartpix.net)

Ben Barnicoat and Martin Kodric starred in the two MSA British Championship classes whilst other favourites faltered. Some huge battles, and huge disappointments entertained in the other classes on what was thankfully a dry weekend with plenty sunshine on Sunday. The Super Cadet class was dropped due to insufficient entries.  Track action was recorded for both Mobil One ‘The Grid’, following the three Indian ‘One in a Billion’ drivers, and for Sedmabrzina TV covering Croatian Martin Kodric.

Comer Cadet
Enaam Ahmed took top spot in timed qualifying from William Pettit, with mixed fortunes for Dean MacDonald, 6^th in his session, and Zak Fulk, 8^th in his. Cameron Roberts won both his heats, whilst Fulk took the other one, putting them on the front row for Final 1. Jonny Edgar from the title sponsors family and the youngest in the class made grid 6 in his second ever national event. Albert Carter was excluded from the third heat for driving standards putting him into the repechage where he achieved 2^nd behind Teddy Wilson.  As Roberts, Ahmed and Sam Faulkner led the pack away in Final 1, Hugo Bentley Ellis was tipped into a big slide onto the grass, followed in by three others. Fulk demoted Faulkner on lap 2 and set off after the lead duo followed and passed by Josh Smith from grid 12. Oliver York stopped when he inadvertently knocked off his ignition. Sean Rudge had made great progress, relieving Ross Martin of 4^th but later falling foul of the battle with an off. Ahmed made his move on the lead, but it was short lived as he got pushed out onto the grass a lap later, Roberts back in charge.  His efforts were not rewarded as he too was run wide, losing touch with new leader Josh Smith, narrowly winning from Fulk.  For the second final Roberts was quick to relieve Smith of the initial lead, the latter having to leapfrog Martin to get back in touch.  Martin faded away to 8^th for an eventual 6^th. Smith was hung out to dry round the uphill Christmas Corner, falling to 4^th as Ahmed took up the lead over a fighting Fulk and Roberts. Roberts was once more eased onto the grass, losing touch and leaving Ahmed blocking madly on the last lap. Fulk took a run out of the last corner and just pipped him on the line, on times a dead heat. “I just planned to stay behind all the way until the last lap, and as Enaam went tight I went wide then undercut him to the line,” said the winner.  York reached a very creditable fifth from the back.

Junior TKM
A close timed qualifying had 23 our of the 29 drivers blanketed by under a second, and headed by Sam Randon, Jake Campbell-Mills, Matt Davies and Jack Partridge. It was Partridge who took the first heat, Randon the second but Campbell-Mills consistency with two seconds earned him pole for the first final and it was he who led Davies, Ryan Gray, Partridge and Jordan Irvine – who had fallen back in a heat when his spark plug cap came off. Partridge battled to the front of the group, throwing off a strong challenge by Randon, but then Randon came back at him having re-passed Campbell-Mills and this time it briefly stuck. Partridge recovered the lead, but was hung out to third, and became embroiled in a dice with Randon letting Irvine escape to the win, Partridge second. Partridge vaulted past Irvine for the second Final lead, until halfway through when Randon overwhelmed him and he fell to fourth. Rapidly taking back Stephen Letts, Partridge found Daniel Baybutt and new leader Randon too far ahead and he had to settle for third. “I needed to do Jack in a corner where he would suffer and not come back at me, so I ran him wide and after that is was plain sailing,” explained Randon.

TKM Extreme

Ashley Crossey was victorious in TKM Extreme (Pic: kartpix.net)

Phil Smith had the edge on Simon Vercoe and Daniel Burton in timed qualifying, and went onto win both heats with Will van Es sharing the Final 1 front row, defending champion Joe Porter and then Simon Vercoe on the second row. But Vercoe and Ryan Cole collided at the start, putting them out of contention, Cole later penalised. Smith eked out a cushion on Porter with van Es and Josh Waring strung out behind. Waring fell back behind Ash Crossey but then at scrutineering Smith’s engine was found to be under the limit on head volume and he was excluded from the meeting, gifting Porter the win. So it was altogether a much tighter fight in the second final, Porter, van Es and Daniel Burton all vying and trading the lead. Porter fell away to fifth, and later to finish seventh. Ash Crossey leapfrogged van Es and Burton for the lead, and managed to hold to until the flag. “I just got a bit of a break with four laps to go and managed to break the tow,” he explained. He was greatly aided by Burton and van Es swapping second repeatedly but coming out in favour of Burton. “I wanted to work with Dan to push us forward but he wasn’t up for it but I’ll take a third place any day,” said van Es.

Formula KGP
Tom Healy and Denis Gorman competed with each other for top dog all weekend, although it ended in tears. Pipped in timed qualifying, Gorman only managed fifth in the first heat – won by Jonathan Davis over John Pike – whilst Healy non-finished, but Gorman just beat Healy in the second heat. Scott Allen and Robert Shield collided in that second heat.  So it was Gorman on pole from Davis in the first final, as they led off in that order, with Luca Hirst nipping past Bobby Game for third, soon followed by Healy on his recovery drive to the front. After a brief battle with Hirst, who faded to eighth, Healy sliced under Davis at the Christmas Corner and rapidly narrowed the gap to Gorman, finally slipping underneath on the way into the Boot complex.  Gorman stayed close but no gap was offered.  Davis was a lonely third whilst Jake Hughes came out on top of the battle for fourth whilst Shield stopped on the track. Allen snatched seventh from James Gornall on the last lap but then suffered another penalty. In the second final, Healy escaped at the start with a big lead over Gorman who had fought hard to keep second over Davis through the first turns. Davis settled into a dice with Hughes, joined by Pike until he pulled over with engine issues. Gorman gradually closed down on Healy, and caught up with a lap to spare but Healy was defending hard. Gorman tried to go round the outside of the Boot hairpin, but no quarter was given and they tangled on the way out, Gorman running onto the grass and stalling his engine, Healy managing to stutter forwards for second as Davis flew past for the win. “The wheels touched and the karts rode up,” said Healy as Gorman stalked off. Davis added: “I saw them come together, it was a very tough race, very long,” said a delighted Davis.

KF2 MSA British Kart Championship
The question was, who would come out on top, the vastly experienced multi British champion Mark Litchfield or the young pretender, current Junior British champion Ben Barnicoat at half the age? Barnicoat took first blood in the timed qualifying but Litchfield won the first heat after Barnicoat pulled over on the first lap when his chain broke. Some said this was fortuitous as his tyres would be fresher for the finals, but he had the pace anyway. Barnicoat went well clear in the second heat, Litchfield clearly intent on tyre conservation and settling for a distant third behind Zubair Hoque.  Chopping off Hoque’s challenge at the start of the first final, Litchfield opened up a lead chased by Ricky Collard but Barnicoat was storming through the small pack of nine karts.  He took Collard at the uphill Christmas corner, then wasted little time in closing down on Litchfield. Through at the Boot complex, Litchfield seemed to have no answer to Barnicoat’s 2s win, Collard and Jack Barlow behind. For the second final, Barnicoat leapt off for what would become a substantial 7s win, never touched. Litchfield had to pass Collard but then tangled slightly and fell back to third behind Barlow with Collard nearly last. Litchfield’s challenge to make up the gap ended in retirement with engine woes, leaving Hoque to snatch second from Barlow oat the end.  “I think to be honest we’ve had strong pace all weekend, the ART chassis has worked brilliantly and the GFR engine is just great,” said Barnicoat.

KF3 MSA Junior British Kart Championship
This was expected to be a duel between first round double winner George Russell and Martin Kodric but it all fell apart for the British driver.  And that was the order from timed qualifying with Kodric pipping Russell over James Kellett, Alex Gill, the younger Billy Monger and Luke Start behind whilst Harrison Newey was underweight. But Stark was excluded for driving standards in both heats, the second in company with Nathan Aston, and Stark did well to reach eighth at the end of the day. It was Gill who took the first heat from Kodric, Russell non-finishing, and in the second Russell beat Kodric and Gill. Although no sinecure, Kodric was never headed in the first final, with first Gill and the top Indian Jehan Daruvala chasing.  The latter had great pace considering his lack of experience at this level and certainly impressed this time. No less than ten karts came off on the opening lap, leaving Russell to emerge in fourth and pick off the two ahead to catch Kodric. Russell tried hard to find a gap round the last complex but Kodric was keeping the door firmly closed.  And then Russell was excluded for a driving standards issue, putting him last once more for the second final. This time Russell made it up to mid pack quite quickly then seemed to have a problem being passed by both Tarin Reddy and Arjun Maini before picking up the pace again to finish seventh.  Meanwhile at the front Kodric was in charge, although Gill gave him a firm challenge mid-race, then faded nearly 3s back, but not into the clutches of James Kellett.  Josh Price had taken Daruvala early on, but Daruvala retook third on seeing Kellett approaching fast, only to crash out soon after Kellett had leapfrogged both of them.  He said his brakes had failed. Sammy Oram-Jones had a good run up to fifth from his grid 13 start, all the while coping with a partially broken steering.  “It’s really great racing in England against such good drivers,” said a happy Kodric.

Results
Comer Cadet
Final 1
1 Josh Smith (Zip) 19 laps in 16m47.48s (47.14mph); 2 Zak Fulk (Zip) +00.08s; 3 Cameron Roberts (Zip); 4 Enaam Ahmed (Zip); 5 Ross Martin (Wright); 6 Dean MacDonald (Zip). Fastest lap Smith and Fulk 0.52.49s.

Final 2
1 Fulk 18 laps in 15m59.82s (46.88mph); 2 Ahmed +00.00s; 3 Roberts; 4 Smith; 5 Oliver York (Zip); 6 Martin. Fastest lap York 0.52.57s.

Junior TKM
Final 1
1 Jordan Irvine (Tonykart) 21 laps in 16m32.78s (46.43mph); 2 Jack Partridge (Jade) +00.77s; 3 Sam Randon (Tonykart); 4 Jake Campbell-Mills (Tonykart); 5 Daniel Baybutt (Jade); 6 Ryan Gray (Tonykart). Fastest lap Randon 0.46.08s.

Final 2
1 Randon 21 laps in 16m26.68s (53.21mph); 2 Baybutt +01.36s; 3 Partridge; 4 Irvine; 5 Stephen Letts (Tal-Ko); 6 Arran Mills (Jade).  Fastest lap Randon 0.46.35s.

TKM Extreme
Final 1
1 Joe Porter (Tonykart) 21 laps in 16m22.13s (53.45mph); 2 Will Van Es (Intrepid) +01.14s; 3 Ash Crossey (Tonykart); 4 Joshua Waring (ARC); 5 Scott Fowler (Intrepid); 6 Daniel Burton (Tonykart). Fastest lap Crossey 0.46.42s.

Final 2
1 Crossey 21 laps in 16m26.21s (53.23mph); 2 Burton +00.46s; 3 Van Es; 4 Fowler; Luke Graver (Tonykart); 6 Waring.  Fastest lap Van Es 0.46.42s.

KGP
Final 1
1 Tom Healy (Birel) 22 laps in 16m21.39s (56.04mph); 2 Denis Gorman (Maranello) +00.38s; 3 Jonathan Davis (Intrepid); 4 Jake Hughes (Birel); 5 Chris McCarthy (Zanardi); 6 Bobby Game (Birel). Fastest lap Healy 0.44.08s.

Final 2
1 Davis 22 laps in 16m26.35s (55.76mph); 2 Healy +00.56s; 3 Hughes; 4 Scott Allen (Jade); 5 Game; 6 Fraser Wallace (Maranello).  Fastest lap Gorman 0.44.17s.

KF2
Final 1
1 Ben Barnicoat (ART) 22 laps in 16m05.23s (56.98mph); 2 Mark Litchfield (Birel) +01.51s; 3 Ricky Collard (ART); 4 Jack Barlow (Intrepid); 5 Zubair Hoque (Alonso); 6 Alex Hamilton (Intrepid).  Fastest lap Barnicoat 0.43.23s.

Final 2
1 Barnicoat 22 laps in 16m01.85s (57.18mph); 2 Hoque +07.25s; 3 Barlow; 4 Hamilton; 5 Collard; 6 Sam Webster (ART).  Fastest lap Barnicoat 0.43.23s.

KF3
Final 1
1 Martin Kodric (Alonso) 22 laps in 16m23.41s (55.92mph); 2 Alex Gill (Wright) +01.88s; 3 Jehan Daruvala (Alonso); 4 Charlie Barlow (Wright); 5 Josh Price (Intrepid); 6 James Kellett (Birel). Fastest lap Kodric 0.44.16s.

Final 2
1 Kodric 22 laps in 16m23.20s (55.94mph); 2 Gill +02.70s; 3 Kellett; 4 Price; 5 Samuel Oram-Jones (Intrepid); 6 Darius Karbaley (Alonso).  Fastest lap Russell 0.44.22s.

The World KF1 Championship will kick off this weekend in Japan (Pic: CIK/KSP)

A little more than six months after crowning Nyck De Vries, the Suzuka circuit will host again the World KF1 Championship from 17 to 20 May. This time the Japanese track will be the scene of the first event of a competition which will see the fight between Karting stars and very ambitious young Drivers. In addition to the World KF1 Championship, the Asia-Pacific KF2 Championship should also provide a good show.

With 38 candidates for the CIK-FIA World Champion title, the first event of this competition promises to be interesting on several grounds, and in particular because we shall witness a generation gap: on the one hand, a few Karting professionals want to add a world crown to their list of results; and, on the other one, many young Drivers for whom a World Champion title could be a springboard for the highest echelons of Motorsport.

Amongst the most experienced Drivers, there will notably be the Karting legend Davide Foré (CRG-BMB). Already four times World Champion in the top category of direct-drive karts, the 37 year-old Italian is determined to show to his young opponents that he is still entitled to have his say at the highest level. Likewise, the 2009 World Champion Arnaud Kozlinski (PCR-TM) will have a sole ambition: to win a second crown! As for Belgium’s Yannick de Brabander (FK-TM), winner of the World Cup for Super KF on this very Suzuka track in 2009, he is also dreaming of making a victorious comeback on the ground of his finest win.

These three top-guns will clearly be the references for the younger Drivers or those who have already landed titles in lower categories. Such is the case of Britain’s Matthew Graham (Zanardi-Parilla), last year’s U18 World Champion (under 18 years old). It will also be worth keeping an eye on France’s Anthoine Hubert, third in that U18 Championship, the Italian Flavio Camponeschi (Tony Kart-Vortex), who stepped on the podium of the 2011 World KF1 Championship, the Dutchman Max Verstappen (Intrepid-TM), the Pole Karol Basz (Birel-BMB), Italy’s Felice Tiene (CRG-BMB) or Britain’s Tom Joyner (LH-BMB)…

Not forgetting the Japanese, who will be in their home land. Although they do not always compete in Europe on a regular basis, 13 of them dream to create a surprise in front of their supporters. Last year, Daiki Sasaki (Kosmic-Vortex) and Kazuya Ishii (Birel-BMB) showed how competitive they were in the championship final. This time they will clearly target the podiums! Like their competitors they will have four opportunities to score championship points: after practice and the qualifying heats (two per Driver), two Races are scheduled on Saturday and two more on Sunday.

As well as the World KF1 Championship, Suzuka will also host the Asia-Pacific Championship of the KF2 category, the Hopefuls’ class. With 20 representatives out of 30 entries, Japan will have the advantage of numbers. They will be joined by Drivers from Singapore, Hong-Kong, Australia, Thailand, as well as Argentina and Europe. Unlike the KF1 category, this championship will be held in a single Final, scheduled for Sunday at the end of the day – a competition which will certainly not lack in spectacle and suspense!

Find all the information on the World KF1 Championship and Asia-Pacific KF2 Championship on www.cikfia.com or via the link http://www.cikfia.com/competitions/cik-calendar/2012/suzuka/event-guide.html

An artists impression of Tyler Greenbury in a CRG (Original Images Source: AF Images)

CRG Australia has secured two of the country’s best karting assets both on and off the track with the dynamic brother duo of Tyler and Matt Greenbury joining forces with the iconic Italian marque.

While Tyler, the current CIK Stars of Karting Pro Gearbox KZ2 Champion will join the CRG team on track, older brother Matt will also be joining forces to open a new retail store aligned with the CRG brand under his G-Force Racing banner just south of Brisbane in Queensland.

After some initial testing, Tyler’s first real hit out piloting the CRG will be at round three of the 2012 CIK Stars of Karting Series to be held at Ipswich in Queensland where he will continue to work of defending his title.

Immediately following the Queensland event, Tyler will then be jetting over to Italy where he will join forces with the CRG factory team to contest a round of the WSK Euro Series at the La Conca circuit on June 22-24.

“CRG is one of the world’s most successful brands in our sport and I’m really excited about what the future holds,” said Greenbury.

“Joining with the CRG team is a great opportunity for me, both for my racing and for my long term future – not just for here in Australia but overseas as well.

“To get the opportunity to race alongside the likes of Jonathan Thonon and Davide Foré is going to be amazing. I’m also planning on spending a little bit of time after the event at the factory to further my knowledge of the chassis and possibly do some testing as well.”

The addition of CRG to the Matt’s business is also a win-win situation for everyone including the karter with service and professionalism the key to both party’s success.

“G-Force Karting is delighted to have CRG on board, they are a proven brand, bring a lot to the table and will add to our range of products perfectly” said Matt.

“We are currently in the process of searching for a suitable premises to open our new retail facility and with Tyler joining me at G-Force to help run the shop and also to assist me with expanding our driver training and pit crew services I’m very excited about the future.”

CRG Australia’s Chris Dell is equally excited about the new partnership with both Tyler and Matt and hopes not only to keep the great results coming on track but as importantly is keen to see the brand grow further in Queensland.

“We’re very excited to have Tyler and Matt on board joining us at CRG, they are both extremely good operators in their own right and we are definitely looking forward to working with them in the near future and beyond,” said Dell.

“The brothers make a real good team, Matt is a very professional operator and he is the perfect fit for us. We have been looking to expand our dealer network in the Brisbane region and Matt was looking to expand his business into a retail shop so this really works out well.

“Having Tyler join us on the track is great, I have been watching him mature as a driver over the years and I think he brings a lot to the table.

“I think the opportunity for him to head over to Italy and join forces with an elite team with all the best gear and factory mechanics will be a fantastic opportunity for him. It will be a great chance not only for him to show them what he can do but on the other hand to also learn a lot a the same time.”

As a part of these preparations, there is a dedicated page on the club’s website www.gokartclubofsa.com that will be updated over time to keep competitors informed of the latest information regarding the 2013 event.

The dedicated page will not only cover things regarding the on-track action and entries but also information on local knowledge, accommodation and other travel details.

“We wanted to create a central place that everyone can come to get the information that they need. With 322 days until the event it may seem quite premature but after a quick ring around of local accommodation, we have found that bookings are already coming in,” said GKCSA President Nathan Burgess.

“Murray Bridge is a popular holiday destination due to its location on the banks of the Murray River and Easter is one of the most popular times of the year.

“So far the information page has a list of accommodation in the area as well as a visitor information map. As more details and information becomes available it will be uploaded to the page.”