Slim Pickings For Kiwi Karters At Rotax Grand Finals

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press release

There were slim pickings for the four-man Kiwi kart squad at this year's Rotax Max category Grand Finals meeting at Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates which ended on Saturday.

Only two of the four reached the Finals in their respective categories, Steven Currie finishing 24th in DD2 Masters, fellow Aucklander Reid Harker 27th in Junior Max. 

Above: Drivers from all over the world gathered at the Al Ain Raceway near Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates to contest this year's Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals event.
pic - Fast Company/BRP-Powertrain

Daniel Kinsman qualified 20th in the Senior Max class but after 27th, 29th and 23rd place finishes in the heats was an early casualty of contact in the second chance race, meaning he didn't even make it to the Pre-Final let alone the Final.

Kane Taylor had a slightly better run in the DD2 heats after qualifying back in 40th position. But after moving forward to finish 22nd in the first heat, 13th in the second and 19th in the third, the Aucklander could only manage 23rd in the second chance race, meaning he too was out before the Pre-Final and Final. 

A total of 265 drivers representing 59 countries were present at this year's week-long event across four categories – Junior Max, Senior Max, DD2 and DD2 Masters.

As well as individual class titles a Nations' Cup is also offered at the annual Rotax event. This year it was won by Australia from Canada with South Africa third. 

Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals 2011 Al Ain (UAE) 

Senior Max Final
1. Ben Cooper (United Kingdom) 21 20:03.784    
2. David Sera (Australia) + 0.948
3. Horotaka Sasaki (Japan) + 5.627
4. Alexandre Finkelstein (France) + 6.511
5. Stepanova Nekeel (United States) + 6.819
6. Josh De Maio (Australia) + 7.079

Junior Max Final
1. Ukyo Sasahara (Japan) 17:32.547
2. Joeseph Mawson (Australia) + 2.567
3. James Singleton (United Kingdom) + 6.465
4. Jordi Van Moorsel (Netherlands) + 6.913
5. Nirei Fukuzumi (Japan) + 7.124 
6. Nathan Harrison (United Kingdom) + 7.317
also
27. Reid Harker (New Zealand) + 49.841

DD2 Final
1. Pier-Luc Ouellette (Canada) 19:40.252   
2. Jason Pringle (Australia)  + 0.066
3. Georg Vann (Estonia) + 0.254
4. Damian Ward (Australia) + 1.012
5. Marc Murray (South Africa) + 1.332
6. Kyle Herder (Canada) + 1.354

DD2 Masters Final
1. Cristiano Morgado (South Africa) 19:51.556   
2. Danny Brand (Belgium) + 4.774
3. Guillaume Berteaux (France) + 9.054
4. Gerry Hargitai (Hungary) + 9.089
5. Brent Coghlan (Australia) + 9.129
6. Christophe Adams (Belgium)+ 9.709
also
24. Steven Currie (New Zealand) + 33.057

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