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Preview: Rotax Pro Tour Albury

press release

In what is shaping up to be one of the best Pro Tours ever contested, the 2012 Rotax Pro Tour now reaches the half way mark with Round Four to be held this weekend at the Albury Wodonga Kart Club and it also marks a very special occasion with the inaugural running of the Jason Richard Memorial, in honour of the late New Zealand born V8 Supercar driver who died of cancer just before Christmas last year.

The 35 year old first made his mark in Australia in 1997, where he made his Bathurst 1000 debut in a Super Touring BMW 318i with fellow Kiwi, Brett Riley. He would return to Bathurst in 2000, where he made his V8 Supercar Championship debut with Team Kiwi Racing. He would be a permanent figure in the category, subsequently driving for Team Dynamik and Tasman Motorsport and then Brad Jones Racing, the team he would see out his career before his cancer diagnosis in 2010 forced him to stand down in order to focus on his subsequent treatment.

His career achievements saw him finish second at Bathurst three times, a career high 14th in the V8 Supercar Championship on three occasions and was three-times NZ Touring Car Champion for BMW. His last ever race win was the Touring Car Masters Sunday support race at Bathurst last year, which would ironically be his last ever race before his illness took its toll.

Richards also took a healthy interest in karting and raced occasionally in Rotax Pro Tour Australia, eventually becoming patron for the series. As a mark of respect for him and with the blessing of the Richards family, the series promoters, IKD, have created the Jason Richards Memorial as an annual event. This weekend’s inaugural running sees a strong field of 129 entrants from around Australia and New Zealand competing across the six classes around the 746m Sheathers Road Karting Complex.

Once again, the main focus will be on Rotax Light and Junior Max, where both classes have maximum capacity fields. Rotax Light sees an enthralling fight between current Rotax Rankings leader, CRG’s Pierce Lehane, Kubica Kart’s James Macken, Kosmic’s Daniel Rochford, CC Racing’s Brad Jenner and Arrow’s Joey Mawson. Speaking of Lehane, the current Rankings leader will be heading to Germany in a few weeks time to compete in the Rotax Euro Max Challenge for Dan Holland Racing on May 9-13.

Junior Max is just as exciting, with Exprit’s Joseph Burton-Harris leading the Rotax Rankings and aiming to keep it that way this weekend. He currently leads from Tony Kart’s Andrew Kahl, Pro Tour Gympie winner Thomas Randle and Kosmic’s Liam McLellan, winner of Pro Tour Todd Road.

Making the trek across the Tasman will be New Zealand’s Niki Urwin, a former professional motocross star who was paralysed whilst competing at the Thumper Nationals in Wonthaggi back in the mid-2000s. Urwin suffered three broken vertebrae as well as breaking every bone in his rib cage after a fellow competitor collected him whilst recovering from a prior fall. Despite the extent of the injuries sustained and the consequence of life in a wheelchair, Urwin has not let that beat him and he now successfully competes in Rotax Pro Tour NZ and will be racing in DD2 this weekend in an Arrow chassis with modified controls.

The Jason Richards Memorial meeting will begin on Friday, April 27 with practice from 9am. On the Friday evening at 5pm, a charity auction will be conducted to raise funds for Jason’s family. Items up for auction includes an Arrow X1E Sport chassis, a Rotax 125cc senior engine, Jim Beam Racing merchandise including race gloves as worn by Steven Johnson, 6 limited edition JR Memorial Prodezine kart suits and a V8 Supercar hot lap ride for two people with Shannons V8 Touring Car team, Pollicina Motorsports.

Qualifying and heat racing will be on Saturday, April 28 before the meeting concludes on Sunday, April 29 with the Pre-Final and Finals. A memorial service in memory of Jason will be conducted prior to the commencement of the Finals for all classes.

Jason Richards Memorial entry list: Click Here
Rotax Pro Tour on Ustream: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/rotax-pro-tour-australia
Rotax Pro Tour on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RotaxProTour
Rotax Pro Tour on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RotaxProTour

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	Preview: Rotax Pro Tour Albury Tweet press release In what is shaping up to be one of the best Pro Tours ever contested, the 2012 Rotax Pro Tour now reaches the half way mark with Round Four to be held this weekend at the Albury Wodonga Kart Club and it also marks a very special occasion with the inaugural running of the Jason Richard Memorial, in honour of the late New Zealand born V8 Supercar driver who died of cancer just before Christmas last year. The 35 year old first made his mark in Australia in 1997, where he made his Bathurst 1000 debut in a Super Touring BMW 318i with fellow Kiwi, Brett Riley. He would return to Bathurst in 2000, where he made his V8 Supercar Championship debut with Team Kiwi Racing. He would be a permanent figure in the category, subsequently driving for Team Dynamik and Tasman Motorsport and then Brad Jones Racing, the team he would see out his career before his cancer diagnosis in 2010 forced him to stand down in order to focus on his subsequent treatment. His career achievements saw him finish second at Bathurst three times, a career high 14th in the V8 Supercar Championship on three occasions and was three-times NZ Touring Car Champion for BMW. His last ever race win was the Touring Car Masters Sunday support race at Bathurst last year, which would ironically be his last ever race before his illness took its toll. Richards also took a healthy interest in karting and raced occasionally in Rotax Pro Tour Australia, eventually becoming patron for the series. As a mark of respect for him and with the blessing of the Richards family, the series promoters, IKD, have created the Jason Richards Memorial as an annual event. This weekend’s inaugural running sees a strong field of 129 entrants from around Australia and New Zealand competing across the six classes around the 746m Sheathers Road Karting Complex. Once again, the main focus will be on Rotax Light and Junior Max, where both classes have maximum capacity fields. Rotax Light sees an enthralling fight between current Rotax Rankings leader, CRG’s Pierce Lehane, Kubica Kart’s James Macken, Kosmic’s Daniel Rochford, CC Racing’s Brad Jenner and Arrow’s Joey Mawson. Speaking of Lehane, the current Rankings leader will be heading to Germany in a few weeks time to compete in the Rotax Euro Max Challenge for Dan Holland Racing on May 9-13. Junior Max is just as exciting, with Exprit’s Joseph Burton-Harris leading the Rotax Rankings and aiming to keep it that way this weekend. He currently leads from Tony Kart’s Andrew Kahl, Pro Tour Gympie winner Thomas Randle and Kosmic’s Liam McLellan, winner of Pro Tour Todd Road. Making the trek across the Tasman will be New Zealand’s Niki Urwin, a former professional motocross star who was paralysed whilst competing at the Thumper Nationals in Wonthaggi back in the mid-2000s. Urwin suffered three broken vertebrae as well as breaking every bone in his rib cage after a fellow competitor collected him whilst recovering from a prior fall. Despite the extent of the injuries sustained and the consequence of life in a wheelchair, Urwin has not let that beat him and he now successfully competes in Rotax Pro Tour NZ and will be racing in DD2 this weekend in an Arrow chassis with modified controls. The Jason Richards Memorial meeting will begin on Friday, April 27 with practice from 9am. On the Friday evening at 5pm, a charity auction will be conducted to raise funds for Jason’s family. Items up for auction includes an Arrow X1E Sport chassis, a Rotax 125cc senior engine, Jim Beam Racing merchandise including race gloves as worn by Steven Johnson, 6 limited edition JR Memorial Prodezine kart suits and a V8 Supercar hot lap ride for two people with Shannons V8 Touring Car team, Pollicina Motorsports. Qualifying and heat racing will be on Saturday, April 28 before the meeting concludes on Sunday, April 29 with the Pre-Final and Finals. A memorial service in memory of Jason will be conducted prior to the commencement of the Finals for all classes. Jason Richards Memorial entry list: Click Here Rotax Pro Tour on Ustream: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/rotax-pro-tour-australia Rotax Pro Tour on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RotaxProTour Rotax Pro Tour on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RotaxProTour Home
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