24th October 2011

Sera adds North Island Rotax Title to his Australian tally - from KartSport NZ

Australian visitor David Sera leading the 125cc Rotax Max Light field in one of the races at The Thirsty Whale 2011 KartSport New Zealand North Island Sprint Kart Championship meeting in Hastings over the weekend. Photo credit: Fast Company/Chris Morris.

Top Australian karter David Sera has added the North Island 125cc Rotax Max Light title to his already impressive home country tally after a dominant display of driving at The Thirsty Whale-sponsored 2011 KartSport New Zealand North Island Sprint Kart Championship meeting in the Hawke’s Bay over the weekend.

Sera, 23, from Victoria, won the Australian 125cc Rotax Max Light class title for the fifth consecutive time two months ago and was flown here by New Zealand Rotax distributor Right Karts to give local drivers a benchmark against which to judge their own performance.

As it turned out Sera was very much in a class on his own, qualifying quickest and winning both heats as well as the Pre-Final (the race which determines the grid for the winner-takes-all Final) and Final, the latter from reigning New Zealand class champion Daniel Connor from Helensville and defending North Island champion Daniel Kinsman from Auckland.

Sera was one of two Australian-domiciled drivers competing at this year’s North Island championship meeting and early in the day it looked like not one but two trophies might cross the Tasman thanks to a strong early run by Gold Coast-based expat Lane Moore in 125cc Rotax Max Heavy.

Moore qualified quickest and shared heat wins with defending title holder Zach Zaloum before winning the Pre-Final from local lad Zaloum and recent Rotax Max Challenge of New Zealand class winner Aarron Cunningham of Auckland.

Come the Final though and Zaloum prevailed to successfully defend his title, with Aarron Cunningham second, Moore third and the man who won the North Island Senior 100cc Yamaha Heavy title on Saturday, Taranaki’s Aaron de Ridder, fourth.

All told 10 North Island titles were contested at the Hawke’s Bay meeting with a number of drivers competing in more than one class but only two, Auckland’s Daniel Bray and young Manawatu driver Josh Drysdale, claiming more than one title apiece.

Bray, the reigning New Zealand Open class champion, won the North Island KZ2 class title from fellow Aucklander Mathew Kinsman and local Jonathan Pearson on the first day of competition on Friday then made a little history on Sunday by adding the North Island Open class title to the New Zealand one he won at Invercargill over the Easter weekend.

The history came in the fact that Bray won the title driving one of the new-generation KF2 class karts. In theory there is no way a direct drive KF2 class kart should be able to even stay with a typical Open or gearbox-equipped KZ2 class kart like those of fastest qualifier Mathew Kinsman or heat one and Pre-Final winner Jonathan Pearson. But with Pearson out early when a wheel came loose Bray led home a KF2 one-two-three in the Final with young guns Arie Hutton and Aaron Marr second and third respectively.

The other dual class winner, Josh Drysdale, claimed the North Island Junior 100cc Yamaha title with a clean sweep of heat and Pre-Final/Final wins on Saturday, with Hamilton’s Thomas Joyes second and Auckland’s Chris Sinclair third, then the inaugural North Island KF3 class title on Sunday.

The latter proved a tougher task with Mitchell Turner qualifying quickest and Auckland’s Joe Ganley winning the first heat and the Pre-Final. Come the Final though it was Drysdale who prevailed, from Ganley, Luke Dobbs and Arran Crighton (both Auckland).

Victories in the other classes contested over the three-day meeting in the Hawke’s Bay went to South Island 11-year-old Caleb Cross (Cadet), Manawatu youngster Joseph Cranston (Junior Restricted 100cc Yamaha), Taranaki driver Aaron de Ridder (Senior 100cc Yamaha Heavy), and reigning New Zealand KZ2 class champion Ryan Urban of Auckand (Senior 100cc Yamaha Light), the latter providing some of the best racing of the weekend as Urban led home Cambridge’s Andy Schofield and defending North Island title holder Daniel Kinsman in the Final.

SOUTH ISLAND

Like father like son. Rangiora's Hamish Cross (pictured) led by example at the Enersave 2011 KartSport NZ South Island Sprint Kart Championship meeting at Nelson over the weekend, showing son Caleb how it is done by winning the 125cc Rotax Max Heavy class very much unopposed. Photo credit: Fast Company/Blair HallThe big story heading into this year's North and South Island Sprint Kart Championship meetings in Hastings and Nelson was the attempt by 11-year-old Rangiora driver Caleb Cross to try and claim both Cadet titles, the North Island one on Friday, then the South Island one on Saturday.The bid got off to a great start on Friday when Cross won the North Island title, however he came up two places short in Nelson on Saturday, the plucky young second-generation driver ending up third behind Christchurch drivers Jacob Mitchell and Reuben Adam in the Cadet Final at the South Island meeting.

As it turned out though, there was another twist to the twin meeting tale, Caleb’s father Hamish donning his overalls and helmet to go unchallenged to win the South Island 125cc Rotax Max Heavy title on Sunday.

“Not quite the triple we were hoping for, “quipped the Rangiroa 35-year-old, a multi-time New Zealand kart and car champion in his own right, “but it’s still a double and Caleb and I are both pretty proud about that.”

Indeed, KartSport New Zealand officials were promising to consult the record books after the weekend’s meetings to see if a father and son had ever won national level titles at the same – or in this case broadly similar – meetings on the same weekend!

As it did in the Hawke’s Bay on Saturday rain also played a part in the results on the first day of competition at the South Island meeting.

There, the South Island title winners were Jacob Mitchell from Christchurch in Cadet, NZV8 racer Adam Knight (also from Christchurch) in KZ2, fellow kart and car racer Chris Cox from Rangiora in 125cc Rotax Max Light, and Jordan McDonnell from Christchurch in Junior 100cc Yamaha.

The closest finish was in Junior 100cc Yamaha where Blenheim driver Scott Manson qualified quickest but was beaten to the finish line in the two heats and Pre-Final by Christchurch driver James Munro.

It was Manson who looked like he was going to win the Final though, until three-quarters of the way round the last lap when long-time rival McDonnell found a gap and forced his way through to take the win and South Island class title for 2011.

Perhaps the most impressive result from an individual came in the Senior 100cc Yamaha Light class on Sunday, however, with Loburn, North Canterbury teenager James Penrose continuing on his winning way at South Island title meetings.

Back in 2007, in Invercargill, Penrose won the South Island Junior Restricted 100cc Yamaha title. And since then he has added another title to his tally at every South Island meeting he has contested, twice claiming the Junior Yamaha trophy (2009 and 2010) and this year – in his first year in the Senior ranks – the Senior 100cc Yamaha Light one.

In doing so he beat the cream of the South Island’s Senior talent including last year’s dual class title winner Cody McMaster and last year’s South Island KZ2 class title winner Chris Cox.

Cox, from Rangiora, contested three classes this year, claiming the South Island 125cc Rotax Max Light one from top Nelson driver Brendan Gridley on Saturday, and claiming third place finishes in KZ2 on Saturday and Senior 100cc Yamaha Light on Sunday.

In the other two classes contested at the South Island meeting victory in Junior Restricted 100cc Yamaha went to Christchurch’s Ryan McPherson from Jai Buckley and Ryan Yardley while Open went to Mathew Straker from Dyson Freeman and Sam Gillam.

Open was very much a Straker benefit however Junior Restricted 100cc Yamaha was anything with heat one winner Thomas Pooley having a coming together early in the Final with fastest qualifier and heat two/Pre-Final winner Marcus Armstrong.

Pooley was out on the spot but Armstrong was able to continue, albeit a little further down the order, crossing the finish line in sixth position, the Final win and title going instead to Ryan McPherson.

Ends

RESULTS

The Thirsty Whale 2011 KartSport NZ North Island Sprint Kart Championships, Hastings
Friday
KZ 2
1. Daniel Bray; 2. Mathew Kinsman; 3. Jonathan Pearson; 4. Bradley Hicks; 5. Aaron Wilson.
Junior Restricted 100cc Yamaha
1. Jacob Cranston; 2. Campbell Joyes; 3. Thomas Pooley; 4. Nick Wiltshire; 5. Ethan Anderson; 6. Caleb Huston.
Cadet
1. Caleb Cross; 2. Matthew Payne; 3. Reece Hendl-Cox; 4. Tom Greig; 5. Nicholas Evans; 6. Lee Zeltwanger
Saturday
Senior 100cc Yamaha Light
1. Ryan Urban; 2. Andy Schofield; 3. Daniel Kinsman; 4. Arie Hutton; 5. Tyler Richardson; 6. Mathew Kinsman.
Senior 100cc Yamaha Heavy
1. Aaron de Ridder; 2. Tony Kinsman; 3. Adam Davis; 4.Sharn Connor; 5. Aarron Cunningham; 6. Liam Lewis
Junior 100cc Yamaha
1. Josh Drysdale; 2. Thomas Joyes; 3. Christopher Sinclair; 4. Thomas McLean; 5. James Webb; 6. Samuel Carpenter
Sunday
Open
1. Daniel Bray; 2. Arie Hutton; 3. Aaron Marr; 4. Mathew Kinsman; 5. Rollo Davies; 6. Scott Hancett
KF3
1. Josh Drysdale; 2. Joseph Ganley; 3. Luke Dobbs; 4. Arran Crighton;n 5. Maddison Wise; 6. Liam Lotter
125cc Rotax Max Light
1. David Sera; 2. Daniel Connor; 3. Daniel Kinsman; 4. Andrew Hoare; 5. Andy Schofield; 6. Paul Blomqvist
125cc Rotax Max Heavy
1. Zach Zaloum; 2. Aarron Cunningham; 3. Lane Moore; 4. Aaron de Ridder; 5. Teddy Bassick; 6. Michael Grimshaw

Enersave 2011 KartSport NZ South Island Sprint Kart Championships, Nelson
Saturday
Cadet
1. Jacob Mitchell; 2. Reuben Adams; 3. Caleb Cross; 4. Jarod Fisher; 5. Nicholas Third; 6. Cooper Forbes
Junior 100cc Yamaha
1. Jordan McDonnell; 2. Scott Manson; 3. James Munro; 4. Brett Neill; 5. Brooke Reeve; 6. Teneill Rasmussen
KZ2
1. Andy Knight; 2. Sam Gillam; 3. Chris Cox; 4. Matt Butchart; 5. Dyson Freeman; 6. Kent Ramsay; 7. Josh Burgess
125cc Rotax Max Light
1. Chris Cox; 2. Brendon Gridley; 3. Scott Downes; 4. James Penrose; 5. Thomas Emmerson; 6. Cody McMaster
Sunday
Junior Restricted 100cc Yamaha
1. Ryan McPherson; 2. Jai Buckley; 3. Ryan Yardley; 4. Jack Oliver; 5. Bailey Paterson; 6. Marcus Armstrong .
Senior 100cc Yamaha Light
1. James Penrose; 2. Cody McMaster; 3. Chris Cox; 4. Scott Downes; 5. Ryan Cappleman; 6. Matt Butchart
125cc Rotax Max Heavy
1. Hamish Cross; 2. Matthew Pluck; 3. Mitchell Wilson; 4. Andrew Downs; 5. Deon Manson; 6. Tayler Forbes
Open
1. Matt Straker; 2. Dyson Freeman; 3. Sam Gillam; 4. Kent Ramsay; 5. Andy Knight