Top Kiwi karters Madeline Stewart and Josh Drysdale are amongst the favourites heading into the fourth round of Australia’s Rotax Pro Tour series at Coffs Harbour on the central New South Wales coast this weekend.
After her breakthrough win at the second round of the 2017 Pro Tour at Bolivar in South Australia in March Stewart continues to lead the series’ point standings in the largest and most competitive Senior class, Rotax Light.
Expat Drysdale, meanwhile, has moved up to ninth place in the DD2 class points standings after a standout second place in the class Final at the third round at Ipswich in Queensland last month.
Stewart heads a four-strong group of resident Kiwis who have crossed the Tasman this week for the Coffs Harbour round of the 2017 Pro Tour, with the other three contesting the Rotax Junior class.
Ryan Wood from Wellington is the best placed of the trio points-wise at fifth overall, with Sam Wright from Auckland eighth and Rianna O’Meara-Hunt from Wellington 12th. The latter, however, won the class at the second round in South Australia, and could well be back on the podium this weekend.
The four-strong resident Kiwi team will be supplemented by the two Australian-based drivers, Josh Drysdale, and Madeline Stewart’s older sister Ashleigh, now half-way through her first year at University in Melbourne.
Ashleigh is currently 19th in the Rotax Light class points standings.
The group will also be supplemented by another top Kiwi karter in Josh’s younger brother Dylan who – rather than driving himself – will be helping engineer Sam Wright’s kart this weekend.
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Heavy rain has lashed the New South Wales Central Coast area for the past two weeks and more is forecast over the weekend.
Practise and qualifying for the round will be held on Friday with heats and the Pre Finals on Saturday and the Finals on Sunday.
2017 Australian Rotax Pro Tour
Calendar
Rnd 1: Todd Road Melb, VIC 26-28 Jan
Rnd 2: Bolivar SA 10-12 Mar
Rnd 3: Ipswich QLD 05-07 May
Rnd 4: Coffs Harbour NSW 16-18 June
Rnd 5: Puckapunyal VIC 04-06 August
Rnd 6: Albury/Wodonga VIC 15-17 September
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