In 2007 the weather for Club Champs in July was rubbish.

For 2008 the event was bought forward to what was hoped would be a time of year where the weather gods would be kinder. Well, that was rubbish too.

It rained again And it rained again some more. Then, thankfully, it stopped.

We had two ‘doubles’ achieved this year; one by the Kinsman Brothers, Mat & Daniel and the other by the Kendall Brothers, Leyton & Dion.

We have a new generation of Cadets coming through the club ranks and this years Club Champs saw the changing of the guard. Finley McLaren & Chelsea Herbert shared the front running in this class & the final result went to the wire; both drivers finishing the day on 8 points apiece. Finley took the title on countback from Chelsea with Logan Brown following up a great Top Half weekend with third place at this event.

Junior Restricted saw Aaron Wilson successfully defend his title, just one point ahead of Shaun Grocock. Kaitlyn Wonnacott, recently moved up from Cadet, finished in third and Stephen Kelly, recently returned to karting, was fourth.

Junior Yamaha was a small field but there was exciting racing between Daniel Kinmsan & Levi Madsen-Prinn. Neither of these lads gave an inch. Daniel prevailed by just one point from Levi with Adam Davis in third & Alex Cross in fourth.

Scott Reddish stamped his authority on the Formula Junior class and took an emphatic win from Mitchell Pykett & Jake Bonney.

Club Class gave us all a wee giggle in the first heat; for some reason, known only to the drivers concerned, everyone except Dennis Nicols decided they didn’t need to take the chequered flag. Dennis, obviously, won that first heat. One of the most exciting races of the day was this class’s fourth heat, won by Nigel Kurtz who had a great drive. The Club Champ title went to Todd Jolly from Dennis and Nigel.

The pace was on in Senior Yamaha Light with young Mat Kinsman being the one to unseat Deon Forrest from his hold on this class at this event. Only by one point! Graeme Smyth took third & Matthew Sloper fourth.

Senior Yamaha Heavy went to Leyton Kendall – again. Another well earned victory. Brendon Smith, improving on his ’07 result, finished second & Paul Dunkley took third.

Kane Taylor continued his dominance of Rotax Light at Auckland taking a clean sweep win from Declan Hull & Tim Vickers, both recently moved up from the Junior ranks.

Because our Auckland Rotax Heavy class is made up of such an awesomely pleasant bunch of guys we have dubbed them our ‘Gentleman Racers’ They still race hard & fast but they seem to have so much fun on & off track. Dion Kendall was on fire in this class & no-one had an answer. Brent Gilchrist took second from Anthony Murch in third & Garry Claxton in fourth.

Results

Cadet

1. Finley McLaren 2. Chelsea Herbert 3. Logan Brown 4. Bradley Wilson 5. Joe Ganley 6. Steven Barker

Junior Restricted

1. Aaron Wilson 2. Shaun Grocock 3. Kaitlyn Wonnacott 4. Stephen Kelly 5. Joel Herbert 6. Nicholas Carpenter

Junior Yamaha

1. Daniel Kinsman 2. Levi Madsen-Prinn 3. Adam Davis 4. Alec Cross

Formula Junior

1. Scott Reddish 2. Mitchell Pykett 3. Jake Bonney 4. Adam Davis 5. Michael Connell

Club Class

1. Todd Jolly 2. Dennis Nicols & Nigel Kurtz 4. Shaun Curran 5. Garry Cullum 6. Shanon Hope

Senior Yamaha Light

1. Mat Kinsman 2. Deon Forrest 3. Graeme Smyth 4. Matthew Sloper 5. Matt Wallace 6. Blair Holdom

Senior Yamaha Heavy

1. Leyton Kendall 2. Brendon Smith 3. Paul Dunkley 4. Colin Lewis 5. Dion Kendall

Senior Rotax Light

1. Kane Taylor 2. Declan Hull 3. Tim Vickers 4. Pete Saunders 5. Michael Emmerson

Senior Rotax Heavy

1 Dion Kendall 2. Brent Gilchrist 3. Anthony Murch 4. Garry Claxton 5. Warren Parris 6. Steve Cox

Our next meeting at Rosebank Domain is the 18 th of May. While we’re chilling out at a club day our club reps in KZ2 will be contesting the Shifter Series and our Rotax reps the Rotax Challenge, both events being held at BOP.

Good Luck to all these drivers.

Club Champs Prize Giving will be held at the Clubrooms on Saturday June 14 th.

This is a wonderful social event where you can all come out to the club without race suits and helmets!! This Prize Giving also incorporates our mid-year awards - Most Improved Drivers, Highest Points, Officials. Dress up & come on out for a fun evening.