02-08-18
Prokarters Itching to Get Back on Track at Te Puke This Weekend
The 2018 Molecule-backed ProKart series roars back into life at Te Puke this weekend with promotor Steve Brown one of
the many drivers ‘itching’ to get back on track after a two-month ‘mid-winter’ break since the third round at Rotorua in
May.
“I’m as bad as anyone else,” says Brown, the current series points leader in the Lascom Motorsport KZ2 Masters class.
“Because the weather was such a mixed bag at Rotorua it was good to get home and not think about the kart for a couple
of weeks. But then pretty soon you start thinking about your racing again and next thing you know you are willing the
days and weeks to go by quicker so you can get back into the seat again.”
Interest in the premier Lascom Motorsport KZ2 class at the KartSport Bay of Plenty club’s Te Puke Auto Electric Raceway
this weekend will centre on the return of multi-time former class winner Ryan Grant and teammate Graeme Smyth from
Auckland.
Smith contested the first round of this season’s Molecule ProKart Series but missed the second and the third, while
Smyth has not contested a round of the Molecule series since the Te Puke round last year.
After the first three of five rounds of the 2018 series it could hardly be closer at the front of the field in the
Lascom Motorsport KZ2 class either. Just a single point separates class points leader Daniel Bray and fellow Aucklander
Mat Kinsman, while only another three points separate class young guns, Matt Payne and Madeline Stewart who are third
and fourth respectively heading to Te Puke.
The return to the class, at the Rotorua round, of former champ Jared MacKenzie, meanwhile, has added a whole new element
to the Lascom Motorsport KZ2 Masters class. Points-wise, however, Steve Brown continues to lead the class standings,
with a six-point buffer back to Aucklander Kevan Storr and Taranaki’s Nick Isaac who are currently tied in second place
with another Auckland driver, Andrew Hunt, fourth just two points back.
If you want close though, it was the Lascom Motorsport KZ4 class which really delivered at Rotorua. Auckland driver
Regan Hall still has a nine point lead over former series class title holder Garry Cullum. At Rotorua though, three
drivers - Jamie Pollock, Garry Cullum and Aaron Wooley - ended up with 40 points and thus shared the round win from Hall
and class regular Gerhard Benadie.
This weekend’s round is again share the limelight with the Giltrap Group New Zealand Rotax Max Challenge, meaning over
80 entries and action at the track from 9.00am both days.
Ends