Kartsport Auckland’s Pallet Company Raceway hosted the third rounds of both the 2009 Rotax Challenge & Shifter Series over the weekend of May 23 rd / 24 th.

Drivers, crews and organisers alike were all monitoring current & pending weather forecasts from the Friday test day right through to the conclusion of racing on Sunday afternoon & there was much ‘twitching’ & craning of necks skyward throughout the two and half days of the event. Thankfully, the weather gods were kind and the first drops of precipitation fell just as the final race was completed on Sunday afternoon.

Saturday, Day 1, saw qualifying sessions and heats for the Formula Junior - Rotax, Rotax Light, Formula 125S, KZ2 and Formula Junior – Shifter Series classes.

The highlight of the first days racing was Heat 1 of Rotax Light and the tumbling, tumbling and further tumbling of the lap record for this class. The class of the field was reflected in that in one lap alone the lap record changed hands three times! Throughout the race it was shared, albeit for a short time, by no less than four drivers – Ryan Urban, Kane Taylor, Jake Pascoe and Richard Oxton. However, it was Niki Urwin who, by the end of the race, prevailed; and although not winning the race had the honour of the lap record.

Urban had the measure of the opposition on Saturday with fastest qualifying and winning both heats comfortably. He had to work a bit harder on the Sunday with the margins being noticeably narrower but completed the weekend with further wins in the Pre-Final & Final. Kane Taylor shadowed Urban throughout filling second spot while Mason Armstrong had a strong weekend finishing third in both the Pre-Final & Final after working his way up the ladder from the heats.

Taylor also had the last say with regard to lap records – taking that honour in the Pre-Final.

The two Formula Junior classes – one for the Rotax Challenge and one for the Shifter Series – were each dominated in the early stages of the round; Daniel Kinsman in the Rotax Challenge and Arie Hutton in the Shifter Series. Hutton, with a mechanical failure in the Pre-Final which was the only blemish on a perfect record, took the days win in the final from Bradley Hicks & Callum Quin but shared the round win with Hicks. Hutton also set a new lap record for the Formula Junior class in the Final. Kinsman, having had the upper hand through qualifying and heats on Saturday was not a match for Aaron Hodgson on Sunday, with Hodgson taking wins in both the Pre-Final & Final.

Formula 125S saw NZ3#, Kevan Storr, go from strength to strength once engine issues on Saturday were resolved. Not far behind Storr were NZ#1, Mark Swetman & NZ#2 Snow Mooney.

Although not old Ryan Grant is the ‘’old hand’’ in the KZ2 class and also sits at the top of the leader board in the Shifter Series KZ2 points. Grant qualified fastest & won all races over the weekend but it was a hard fought battle throughout with NZ#1 Graeme Smyth, who was another driver to pick up a lap record over the weekend. These two drivers providing an exceptional display of skill & aggression in the Final of the KZ2 class on Sunday which had spectators on the edge of their seats for the entire 20 laps.

Rotax Heavy, this year running a different format to that of the other Challenge classes, saw Bradley Alexander & Aarron Cunningham in a close & hard fought battle for domination. The battle will continue to the next round as neither driver truly gained the upper hand; both finishing the day on equal points with Alexander taking the win on countback.

Results

Rotax Challenge – Formula Junior

1. Aaron Hodgson 2. Daniel Kinsman 3. Daniel Connor 4. Andy Schofield 5. Tom Alexander 6. Mitchell Keys

Shifter Series – Formula Junior

1. Arie Hutton 2. Bradley Hicks 3. Callum Quin 4. Mitchell Brown

Rotax Light

1. Ryan Urban 2. Kane Taylor 3. Mason Armstrong 4. Matthew Hamilton 5. Simon Evans 6. Richard Oxton

Rotax Heavy

1. Bradley Alexander 2. Aarron Cunningham 3. Brendon Hart 4. David Waldmeyer 5. Paul Booth 6. Aaron Woolley

Formula 125S – Provisional Result

1. Kevan Storr 2. Snow Mooney 3. Mark Swetman 4. Mike Browning 5. John Steward 6. Keith Warwick

KZ2

1. Ryan Grant 2. Graeme Smyth 3. Jason Farmilo 4. Richard Moore 5. Karl Wilson 6. Daniel Dufty