First Up –I owe an apology to the younger & newer members to karting.

Saturday’s weather wasn’t too bad; but after I had spent a few hours in the garden the weather turned somewhat horrid. I then spent most of Saturday evening & the wee hours of Sunday morning prowling the house, listening to the wind & rain buffet the windows & doors, and thinking ‘’this will put paid to the Cadets, JR’s & Juniors – this weather is @#!!%$#”

Well, you proved me wrong!! And you all deserve a medal because you displa yed the tenacious attitude that has been, and obviously still is, the backbone of our sport of karting.

The weather was pretty good for the day, actually. Only a couple of the races were wet, and with the competitors out on slicks it just made it more entertaining for the spectators!

Our Un-Rated Cadets ran on their own. They looked so fast on the track!! Don’t think many of these youngsters are going to un-rated for too much longer. The points were close too. Jacob Smith took the first round win from Finley McLaren on countback – both on 126 points, but Jacob had one more 1st place than Finley so he got the win. Ryan MacKinven took third spot with 123 points. This class will go down to the wire at Round 2.

Cadets saw Michael De Ponte and Blake Filleul battle the whole day for supremecy, with Michael prevailing. Aimee Rutherford took third sport from Emilee Wright in fourth. Congratulations go out to Oscar Grant, Brad Wilson, Marieke Smith and Joe Ganley who all gained their C-Ratings at this meeting – go burn those ‘’X’’s!!!

Aaron Wilson was nearly not a starter in Junior Restricted this weekend – hope the search has been successful – but he made it, and apart from the glitch in the first heat won the rest of the day. Shaun Grocock tracked Aaron for second spot and Jordan Hart – who really stepped up this meeting, or maybe it was Dad getting on his game – had an excellent day and finished third. It was good to see Zane O’Gara back on the track and also to see Rys Tinney make the trek North from the Waikato.

Formula Junior & Junior Yamaha ran together on the track at this meeting; The Formula Juniors – who have been out in good numbers recently were either chicken of the weather or too tired from the 3-Way Prizegiving on Saturday night. Scott Reddish rocked up and now has the benefit of a first round win in this years series & club points to boot. Daniel Colville reckons he’s still learning the ropes in Junior Yamaha – looked pretty good on Sunday, buddy! Daniel took the days win – 5 from 5 – from Jake Connor, who must be close to hitting the senior ranks, and Adam Davis.

Lights & Heavys were together on the track in Senior Yamaha. The Smyths took Yamaha Light and the Smiths took Yamaha Heavy. In Lights it was Graeme Smyth, who had parked up the KZ2, found a KT100 on the back shelf of the garage, bolted it on & went racing – 5 from 5. Brendon Smith, who was also in charge of Marieke & Lachlan in the Cadet classes – although we think Kerry (Smith that is) did most of the behind scenes graft – also made it 5 from 5. Mathew Sloper & Michael Boyle (this guy is quick!) finished 2nd & 3rd in Lights and Colin Lewis & Todd Neal were 2nd & 3rd in Heavy.

Our Rotax & Open classes suffered in numbers due to the road racing at Pukekohe the same day – which apparently was great; it’s been eight years since karts were last at Puke. Check out My-Laps for the results. Open did not run.

Rotax Light saw Kane Taylor show his domination on his home track, taking the days win from Michael Emmerson. Anthony Murch took Heavy from Garry Claxton & Warren Parris – who proved that we don’t need sand traps or kitty litter at our track when we have infield puddles instead!!

Todd Jolly is having a jolly-old-ball in Club Class at the moment; taking the days win from Shaun Curran & Bruce Reid.

Results

Un-Rated Cadet

1. Jacob Smith 2. Finley McLaren 3. Ryan MacKinven 4. Luke Dobbs 5. Lachlan Smith 6. Brodie Cox

Cadet

1. Michael De Ponte 2. Blake Filleul 3. Aimee Rutherford 4. Emilee Wright 5. Richard McCarthy 6. Oscar Grant

Junior Restricted

1. Aaron Wilson 2. Shaun Grocock 3. Jordan Hart 4. James Wood 5.Rhys Tinney 6. Zane O’Gara

Junior Yamaha

1. Daniel Colville 2. Jake Connor 3. Adam Davis 4. Danny Keene 5. Samantha Lewis

Formula Junior

1. Scott Reddish

Club Class

1. Todd Jolly 2. Shaun Curran 3. Bruce Reid 4. Nigel Kurtz 5. Gary Taylor 6. Garry Cullum

Senior Yamaha Light

1. Graeme Smyth 2. Matthew Sloper 3. Michael Boyle 4. Lara Greaves 5. Matt Wallace 6. Heather Comer

Senior Yamaha Heavy

1. Brendon Smith 2. Colin Lewis 3. Todd Neal 4. Dion Kendall 5. Ben Halliday

Senior Rotax Light

1. Kane Taylor 2. Michael Emmerson

Senior Rotax Heavy

1.Anthony Murch 2. Garry Claxton 3. Warren Parris 4. Steve Cox

The next round of the Burger Fuel Series is November 4th - remember

Life Is Too Short To Eat Bad Burgers

This coming weekend is the North Island Champs in Wellington.

To those of our members making the trek south – travel safe & good luck in your endeavours.