Local Club Leads After First Top Half Round
A sprinkling of rain across the Waikato on Saturday night saw competitors pulling wet weather tyres out on Sunday
morning in preparation for the opening round of the 2008 Top Half KartSport Series held at Hamilton Kart Clubs RV
Wholesale Supplies Raceway.
However, the rain stayed away for the racing and the wets were subsequently put away for a rainy day.
One hundred and forty seven drivers fronted up for this the first round of a tough and competitive series. Eight of the
nine Top Half member clubs were represented and it was wonderful see Eastern Bay of Plenty represented for the first
time again in several years.
At the conclusion of round one Hamilton Kart Club is the leader in the inter-club competition from Mt Wellington and
Auckland.
The largest class of the day, and one which provided some very close and edge-of-the-seat racing was a top field of
drivers in Senior Yamaha Light. Lydia Dickinson, representing Hamilton, went forward all day and took the win on
countback from Auckland’s Deon Forrest. Mat Kinsman filled third spot and David Mezsaros fourth.
Arie Hutton took no prisoners in Junior Yamaha, another large field of class drivers. Four wins from five starts gave
Hutton the win from Mt Wellington club mate Daniel Kinsman and Hamilton’s Rex Edwards.
Junior Restricted was another class going down to the wire with the win, on countback, going to Auckland’s Aaron Wilson
from Bradley Hicks. The Hamilton pair of Bramwell King & Rhys Tinney filled third and fourth positions.
Whangarei’s Thomas McLean had a pack of Auckland and Mt Wellington drivers baying at his heels in the Cadet class but
McLean’s heels was pretty much all they saw. McLean took the first round win with a 13 point margin from Richard
McCarthy in second and Logan Brown in third.
On track in Senior Rotax Light it was a battle out front between Auckland’s Kane Taylor and Mt Wellington’s Jake Pascoe.
Pascoe suffered a dreadful first heat result which put him back to fourth in the days overall standings whereas Taylor’s
consistency in all races secured him the days win. Charles Hoare from Whangarei finished second and Bay of Plenty’s
Daniel Dufty was in third.
NZ #2 Stuart Marshall, running out of the Mt Wellington club, prevailed in Senior Yamaha Heavy; but he had his work cut
out. Auckland’s Brendon Smith and Kendall brothers Dion & Leyton kept Marshall honest and filled the minor placings.
The Hamilton pairing of Mike Grimshaw & Aaron Woolley pretty much shared the one -two positions in Senior Rotax Heavy throughout the day and the overall result
was in the same order. Mt Wellington’s Peter Wrightson, finishing in third, was the split between the next wave of
Hamilton drivers; Kevin Bailey in fourth & Bradley Alexander in fifth.
The Formula Junior class was raced hard between Tom Blomqvist, Ben Drummond, Kyle George & Scott Reddish. The days result going to Blomqvist with four wins and a second over the five races.
RESULTS
Cadet
1. Thomas McLean; 2. Richard McCarthy; 3. Logan Brown; 4. Michael De Ponte; 5. Peter Goldstone; 6. Chelsea Herbert
Junior Restricted
1. Aaron Wilson; 2. Bradley Hicks; 3. Bramwell King; 4. Rhys Tinney; 5. Shaun Grocock; 6. CJ Sinclair
Junior Yamaha
1. Arie Hutton; 2. Daniel Kinsman; 3. Rex Edwards; 4. Daniel Colville; 5. Stan Tangaroa-Green; 6. Scott Hatton
Formula Junior
1. Tom Blomqvist; 2. Ben Drummond; 3. Kyle George; 4. Scott Reddish; 5. Matt Hollier; 6. Sushannah McVeigh
Senior Yamaha Light
1. Lydia Dickinson; 2. Deon Forrest; 3. Mat Kinsman; 4. David Meszaros; 5. Matthew Bufton; 6. Justin Herbert
Senior Yamaha Heavy
1. Stuart Marshall; 2. Brendon Smith; 3. Dion Kendall; 4. Leyton Kendall; 5. Darren Aislabie; 6. Jared MacKenzie
Senior Rotax Light
1. Kane Taylor; 2. Charles Hoare; 3. Daniel Dufty; 4. Jake Pascoe; 5. Declan Hull; 6. Mike Male
Senior Rotax Heavy
1. Mike Grimshaw; 2. Aaron Woolley; 3. Peter Wrightson; 4. Kevin Bailey; 5. Bradley Alexander 6. David Waldmeyer
ENDS