The 2008 TOTALSPAN City of Sails 2-Day Challenge was contested at Kartsport Aucklands Pallet Company Raceway over the weekend of February 2 nd and 3 rd.

Saturday dawned cloudy and the tuning runs were all on a wet track. The sun eventually broke through and the rest of days racing was dry. The weather pretty much duplicated itself on the Sunday with one round of races being in the wet.

No-one really had an answer to Joel Herbert in the North Harbour Brakes & Steering Cadet class; five wins from the eight races. Kaitlyn Wonnacott took second overall, working up from fourth at the end of the first day, and Nelson’s Liam Lotter finished third.

Backing up solid performances the week before at the CIK Trophy event were Darrell Hannah and Bradley Hicks in the Lascom Motorsport Junior Restricted class. Hannah dominated this class however, winning with a five point margin from Hicks with Callum Quin in third.

The Vehicle & Construction Maintenance Junior Yamaha Class saw Daniel Kinsman win the first leg of the Kinsman Family double. Bay of Plenty’s Rex Edwards took four race wins over the weekend but it was Kinsmans overall consistency that gave him the 2008 title.

Turbo Racewears Formula Junior class went to Aucklands Declan Hull a full 12 points clear of club mate Mitchell Pykett with Matt Hollier in third.

Elf Oils Senior Yamaha Light was the second leg of the Kinsman Family double with brother Mathew emulating Daniels performance in Junior. Kinsman had to fight hard to take the title from Deon Forrest, winner of this class in 2007 and 2006.

The Sheppard Industries Senior Yamaha Heavy class, despite small in number, saw the toughest racing of the weekend. Mt Wellington’s Stuart Marshall (NZ#2) took no prisoners and the title from Auckland’s Brendon Smith & Leyton Kendall.

Kane Taylor further stamped his authority on the Right Karts Senior Rotax Light class, winning the City of Sails title for the third year running. Daniel Kent finished in second with Jake Pascoe third.

Aarron Cunningham was another driver proving that consistency at this event is the key. Not finishing outside the top three in all races, he took the Marshall Batteries Senior Rotax Heavy title from Hamilton’s Phil Saunders and Mt Wellington’s Brent Humphrey.

Ryan Grant achieved the most wins of the weekend in the Vantage Aluminium Joinery KZ2 class, but last place finishes in two heats was too much to come back from. Graeme Smyth, with no finishes outside the top six, took the 2008 title from Grant with Jason Farmilo in third.

Kartsport Auckland extends its thanks to TOTALSPANand all the class sponsors for making the 2008 event the success it was.

RESULTS:

Cadet Class

1. Joel Hebert Ak 2. Kaitlyn Wonnacott Ak 3. Liam Lotter Nel 4. Michael De Ponte MtW 5. Chelsea Herbert Ak 6. Hayden Hart Ak

Junior Restricted Class

1. Darrell Hannah BoP 2. Bradley Hicks MtW 3. Callum Quin MtW 4. Rhys Tinney Ham 5. CJ Sinclair MtW 6. Aaron Wilson Ak

Junior Yamaha Class

1. Daniel Kinsman Ak 2. Rex Edwards BoP 3. Levi Madsen-Prinn Ak 4. Arie Hutton MtW 5. Daniel Colville MtW 6. Stan Tangaroa-Green Ham

Formula Junior Class

1. Declan Hull Ak 2. Mitchell Pykett Ak 3. Matt Hollier MtW 4. Kyle George Ham 5. Michael Bird MtW 6. Aaron Hodgson MtW

Senior Yamaha Light Class

1. Mathew Kinsman Ak 2. Deon Forrest Ak 3. Justin Herbert BoP 4. David Meszaros Tok 5. Matthew Bufton BoP 6. Daniel Dufty BoP

Senior Yamaha Heavy Class

1. Stuart Marshall MtW 2. Brendon Smith Ak 3. Leyton Kendall Ak 4. Mike Grimshaw Ham 5. Dion Kendall Ak 6. Steven Currie MtW

Senior Rotax Light Class

1. Kane Taylor Ak 2. Daniel Kent Ak 3. Jake Pascoe MtW 4. Paul Cameron MtW 5. Matthew Griffin MtW 6. Ethan de Jong Ham

Senior Rotax Heavy Class

1. Aarron Cunningham MtW 2. Phil Saunders Ham 3. Brent Humphrey MtW 4. Stuart Marshall MtW 5. Paul Dunkley Ak 6. Anthony Murch Ak

KZ2 Class

1. Graeme Smyth Ak 2. Ryan Grant Ak 3. Jason Farmilo Ak 4. Shane Hodgson MtW 5. Ashley Johnson Ak 6. Alex McClennan Ak