Formula S Kartsport Club hosted the final round of the 2007 Shifter Series at Kartsport Auckland’s facilities over the weekend of September 29th/30th.

The two qualifying sessions for both classes, F125S and KZ2, were held on Saturday afternoon; Jason Farmilo posted the fasted KZ2 time in the first session but it was Ryan Grant who took start grid 1 after posting the overall fastest time in session two. Mark Swetman had the fastest time in the F125S first session with Daniel Bray close behind. In the second session the positions wee reversed but Swetman, with the fastest overall time took pole position for the heats.

Ryan Grant went into this final round with a comfortable points lead over Niklaus Kiser and Graeme Smyth and over the weekend further stamped his dominance of this class by winning all races and securing his trip to Las Vegas in November to represent New Zealand in the Superkart USA Nationals. Kiser retained second place overall despite failing to finish the second heat, but Smyth, whose weekend was one to forget, dropped to fifth. Shane Hodgson and Jason Farmilo both had good final rounds and moved up to fill the overall third and fourth positions respectively.

Jason Lee, Daniel Bray and Mark Swetman were the top three Formula 125S drivers heading into the final round. The overall standings remained the same at the end of the weekend, with Lee earning the trip to Las Vegas, but this final round belonged to Daniel Bray. Although he qualified behind Swetman in position two Bray won all races comfortably.

Congratulations go to Jason Lee and Ryan Grant for their wins in the 2007 Series and good luck and best wishes are extended to them for their Las Vegas quest.

The Spring Speed Festival classes also provided some excellent racing.

Kaitlyn Wonnacott, once again, showed a clean pair of (w)heels to the Cadet Class on her home track; winning the final by half the length of the track. Michael De Ponte was second and Thomas McLean third. The Cadet class at this event epitomised the sport of karting and its family orientation. Of the eleven competitors five were second generation karters; some with their Dad’s also racing at this event.

Junior Restricted had been, pretty much, Paul Blomqvist all the way – till the final. No-one is sure what Aaron Hodgson had for lunch but what ever it was they all want to try it too. These two had a battle royal over the 20 lap final with Hodgson taking the win from Blomqvist and Shaun Grocock. Testament to the ability and determination of these two lads is that Hodgson’s fastest lap of the race was in lap 19 and Blomqvist’s in 17.

Nick Cassidy had Formula Junior wrapped up right up until the pre-final when a mechanical issue caused a minor glitch. It was only minor, Cassidy came back and won the final from Declan Hull & Scott Reddish. Matt Hollier wasn’t quite as well organised as Cassidy, after tracking in the top three all weekend his glitch came in the final, finishing sixth.

Declan Hull and Matt Hollier have both got smiles from ear to ear though. These two fifteen year old lads were both selected from the Formula Junior Class to have test drives in a shifter kart, courtesy of Danny Ola – Maranello New Zealand – and Ryan Grant.

In Yamaha Light Ashley Blewett had the goods over Michael Boyle all through qualifying, heats and pre-final, but in the final Boyle found the x-factor and took the win. Milan Borich was third which was a great effort after having a serious altercation with the fence in the pre-final.

Yamaha Heavy was the perennial battle between the Kendall brothers of Leyton and Dion with Leyton the winner. Colin Lewis filled third spot.

Club Class was won by Todd Jolly from Shaun Curran and Dennis Nicols.

After dominating Rotax Light all weekend Kane Taylor failed to start the final; this left the door open for Ethan de Jong and Mason Armstrong, newly moved up from the Junior ranks, to continue their battle; but now for first place. It was de Jong who prevailed over Armstrong, with Adam Wakeling in third.

In Rotax Heavy it took Anthony Murch all weekend to work his way forward – right to first place in the final and forcing Alan Sherris, who had been consistently front running all weekend, into second place. Brad Curtin took third from Peter Wrightson in fourth.

Results

2007 Shifter Series Final Round – KZ2

1. Ryan Grant 2. Michael Kiser 3. Shane Hodgson 4. Niklaus Kiser 5. Michael Pulman 6. Alex McClennan

2007 Shifter Series Final Round – Formula 125S

1. Daniel Bray 2. Mark Swetman 3. Jason Lee 4. Rick Huston 5. John Steward 6. Steve Purcell

Cadet Class

1. Kaitlyn Wonnacott 2. Michael De Ponte 3. Thomas McLean 4. Logan Brown 5. Marieke Smith 6. Richard McCarthy

Junior Restricted

1. Aaron Hodgson 2. Paul Blomqvist 3. Shaun Grocock 4. Mitchell Brown 5. Jordan Hart

Formula Junior

1. Nick Cassidy 2. Declan Hull 3. Scott Reddish 4. Jake Bonney 5. Nicholas Boyle 6. Matt Hollier

Club Class

1. Todd Jolly 2. Shaun Curran 3. Dennis Nicols 4. Todd Neal 5. Nigel Kurtz

Senior Yamaha Light

1. Michael Boyle 2. Ashley Blewett 3. Milan Borich 4. Phillip Taylor 5. Matthew Sloper 6. Ben Covich

Senior Yamaha Heavy

1. Leyton Kendall 2. Dion Kendall 3. Colin Lewis 4. Nic Tosswill

Senior Rotax Light

1. Ethan de Jong 2. Mason Armstrong 3. Adam Wakeling 4. Adam Wrightson 5. Dion Hubers

Senior Rotax Heavy

1. Anthony Murch 2. Alan Sherris 3. Brad Curtin 4. Peter Wrightson 5. Warren Parris 6. Sue Thomas