Kiwi Report From Australian Rotax Nationals
press release
Top New Zealand karters Daniel Kinsman, Aarron Cunningham and Andy Schofield made the most of heavy rain and streaming wet track conditions to make their mark on the weekend's Sparco Rotax Nationals kart meeting in Australia over the weekend of 4/5 September 2010.
Former New Zealand Junior champion Kinsman enjoyed the best result, finishing seventh overall in the premier 125cc Rotax Max Light class.
Above: Daniel Kinsman leads eventual winner David Sera
pic - Fast Company/Ash Budd
Fellow Aucklander Aarron Cunningham was next best, finishing 12th in the 125cc Rotax Max Heavy class, while young Cambridge driver Andy Schofield did well to claim 13th overall in 125cc Rotax Max Junior Light.
Following dry qualifying sessions, most of the meeting was held in unseasonably wet and cold conditions at Queensland's Willowbank Racing Complex near Ipswich with over 150 karters from across Australia - and New Zealand - split into seven classes with three Australian titles up for grabs.
Because of the conditions the organisers ran out of time - and light - on Saturday, forcing them to start Sunday's programme at 7.00am!
So bad was visibility that one of the heats - heat three for the Senior Heavy class - was called after just seven laps.
Having spent most of the winter competing in similar conditions at home the three Kiwis revelled in the rain, with Kinsman seventh in both qualifying sessions, third in his first heat race and fourth in the other two before working his way back up to seventh place at the flag in the Final after a pre-start incident saw him pushed down the starting order from Grid 3.
Above: Aaron Cunningham
pic - Fast Company/Ash Budd
Cunningham and Schofield didn't qualify as well but both worked their way forward in the heats, Cunningham to 21st in the first one, 18th in the second and an impressive eighth in the rain-shortened third one and 13th in the Pre Final. That set him up for the Final which he finished in 12th position.
After qualifying 22nd Schofield was an impressive 10th in his first heat, 14th in the second, 16th in the third, 14th in the Pre-Final and 13th in the Final.
Big winners over the weekend were David Sera - who claimed his fourth consecutive title in the Lights class - Simon Meyer who won the Senior Heavy class and Jonathan Venter who won Formula JMA.
Above: Andy Schofield, Jnr MAX
pic - Fast Company/Ash Budd
Sparco (Australia) Rotax Max Nationals Ipswich Queensland Australia Sat/Sun September 04-05 2010
125cc Rotax Max Light
1. David Sera; 2. Kyle Ensbey; 3. Troy Bretherton; 4. Damian Ward; 5. Ryal Harris; 6. Brendon Nelson; 7. Daniel Kinsman; 8. Matt Greenbury; 9. Andrew Gatland; 10. Mario Vendla
125cc Rotax Max Heavy
1. Simon Meyer; 2. Jason Pringle; 3. Rick Pringle; 4. Lee Mitchener; 5. Brendon Nelson; 6. William Yarwood; 7. Trent Moore; 8. Lane Moore; 9. Ben McKinlay. (also) 12. Aarron Cunningham.
125cc Rotax Max Junior Light
1. Jonathan Venter; 2. Hayden Cooper; 3. Pierce Lehane; 4. Macauley Jones; 5. James Macken; 6. Joseph Mawson; 7. Michael Stewart; 8. Mitchell Gee; 9. Trent Grubel; 10. Brock Plumb. (also) 13. Andy Schofield.
