Green and Buxeda Battle at CRC Speedshow Kart Series Opener

Green and Buxeda Battle at CRC Speedshow Kart Series Opener

Corey Green and Jonathan Buxeda were rarely more than a kart length or two apart as they battled for the top spot in the 100cc Yamaha Light class at the first round of the 2013 CRC Speedshow Top Half kart series at the KartSport Mt Wellington club's track in Auckland on Sunday.

It was Green, from the Bay of Plenty, who left the round with the class points lead, however, after winning four of the five heats and finishing second to Buxeda in the other.

That gave Green a total of 159 points for the day with Buxeda second on 150 and Jason Butterworth - whose best result was a second to Green in the third heat - third with 144.

Buxeda, from Tuakau, also contested the 125cc Rotax Max class where he finished third for the day behind class winner CJ Sinclair and Mitchell Osborne (both Auckland). Sinclair also won four of the five heats to top score in that class with 159 points. Osborne - who finished second to Sinclair three times - ended up second, Buxeda third and heat three race winner Samuel Carpenter fourth.

In the other senior classes Scott Hancett was the top scorer in 125cc Rotax Max Heavy and Whangarei driver Richard Macey managed to keep KartSport Eastern Bay of Plenty club pair Graham Knight and Stephen Muggeridge behind him to come away with the Clubsport 120 class points lead.

In the junior categories Auckland's Aaran Crighton established an early points lead in Formula Junior, winning three of the five heats to top score with 152 points, eight more than the consistent James Blair with heat four winner Connor Adam just one point back in third.

A single point also separated the winner - Reece Hendl-Cox from Hamilton - and runner-up, Liam Lawson from Auckland, in Junior Restricted 100cc Yamaha, with Lee Zeltwanger, also from Auckland, third only four points further back.

Hendl-Cox and Lawson both won two heat races apiece with the fifth going to Zeltwanger.

Winning two of the five heats was also the secret to Ben Morrison's Cadet class points victory, the young KartSport Mt Wellington club member the other driver to claim a class win by just one point with first heat winner Sam Wright second and heat five winner Thomas Boniface third.

This year's CRC Speedshow-backed Top Half series consists of four rounds with the second to be hosted by the KartSport Bay of Plenty club at its Fagan's Valley Raceway near Te Puke on Sunday May 12.

2013 CRC Speedshow Top Half Series
Points after Rnd 1

125cc Rotax Max Light
1. CJ Sinclair 159 points; 2. Mitchell Osborne 150; 3. Jonathan Buxeda 136; 4. Samuel Carpenter 133; 5. Oscar Grant; 6. Nathan Reid 131

125cc Rotax Max Heavy
1. Scott Hancett 159 points; 2. Garry Claxton 151; 3. Alexander Griffin 150; 4. Tim Wakefield 147; 5. Glenn Brown 143.

100cc Yamaha Light
1. Corey Green 159 points; 2. Jonathan Buxeda 150; 2. Jason Butterworth 144; 4. Callum Gibbs 142; 5. Brandon Grant 136; 6. Dion Pitt 136

Clubsport 120
1. Richard Macey 153 points; 2. Graham Knight 145; 3. Stephen Muggeridge 143; 4. Dean Oliver 142; 5. Brendon White 139; 6. Lesley Rawlinson 136

Formula Junior
1. Aaran Crighton 152 points; 2. James Blair 144; 3. Connor Adam 143; 4. Dylan Hallberg 141; 5. Aiden Roboson 139; 6. Oscar Drummond 138

Junior Restricted 100cc Yamaha
1. Reece Hendl-Cox 157 points; 2. Liam Lawson 156; 3. Lee Zeltwanger 152; 4. Lachlan Smith 136; 5. Joseph Terry 134; 6. Connor Burson 132

Cadet
1. Ben Morrison 155 points; 2. Sam Wright 154; 3. Thomas Boniface 143; 4. Joshua Parkinson 139; 5. Fynn Osborne 139; 6. Connor Davidson 133

2013 CRC Speedshow Top Half Series
Calendar
Rnd 1 April 14 KartSport Mt Wellington, Auckland
Rnd 2 May 12 KartSport Bay of Plenty, Te Puke
Rnd 3 June 16 KartSport Auckland
Rnd 4 July 07 KartSport Tokoroa, Tokoroa

ENDS

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