Rangiora karter Chris Cox completed a winning class double at the final round of the 2018 Mainland Series in Christchurch on Sunday.
The multi-time South Island sprint champion went into the second – reverse direction – day of racing at the KartSport Canterbury kart club’s annual Garden City championships meeting with a healthy lead in both Open and Rotax Max Light classes, and held his nerve to win both again and claim a unique 2018 Properly Plastered Mainland Series double.
Contested over three long-standing two-day meetings from Nelson in the north to Invercargill in the south, the Mainland Series has gone from strength to strength to the point where this year over 50 karters contested all six rounds – some commitment when the distance, for instance, from Invercargill to Nelson is just shy of 1000kms (974km) each way.
Other series’ class winners who received their awards at the prizegiving function after the successful conclusion of the KartSport Canterbury club’s Garden City title’s meeting on Sunday were Kevin Barker (Nelson, Rotax Max Heavy), Tony Dyer (Nel, Briggs LO206 Light), Jason Richards (Nel, Briggs LO206 Heavy), William Exton (Picton, Rotax Max Junior), Louis Sharp (ChCh, Vortex Mini ROK) and Lochy McGregor (Nel, Cadet ROK).
William Exton was the only driver across the eight classes to claim a round clean sweep, completing it with another dominant four-wins-from-four starts on both days at the Garden City final over the weekend.
That said the series’ top class score – of 856 points – went to Briggs LO206 Heavy class winner Jason Richards from Nelson.
Chris Cox was just one point behind – 855 – in Rotax Max Light, followed by William Exton on 847, Tony Dyer 841, and Lochy McGregor, 814.
KartSport Canterbury ended up winning the Inter-club Trophy this year with an overall average score of 734.33. KartSport Nelson was a close second in 713.86, with KartSport Marlborough third on 708.64.
2018 Properly Plastered Mainland Series, Final championship points after Rnd 6 of 6)
Open
1. Chris Cox (ChCh) 575 points; 2. Jack Noble-Adams (ChCh) 515; 3. Shawn O’Hara (Marl) 500.
Rotax Max Light
1. Chris Cox (ChCh) 855 points; 2. Jack McLaren (ChCh) 715; 3. Cameron Hay (ChCh) 679; 4. Andrew Broughton (Marl) 651; 5. Sam Van Der Byl (Dun) 641; 6. Jack Noble-Adams (ChCh) 608.
Rotax Max Heavy
1. Kevin Barker (Nel) 771 points; 2. Arron Black (Dun) 725; 3. Duncan Barrett (Nel) 652; 4. Kyle Rankin (Nel) 640; 5. Ian Carter (Dun) 636; 6. Derryn French (Nel) 621.
Briggs LO206 Heavy
1. Jason Richards (Nel) 856 points; 2. Nathan Clive (ChCh) 807; 3. Kerry Diamond (Nel) 508.
Briggs LO206 Light
1. Tony Dyer (Nel) 841 points; 2. Stephen Topliss (ChCh) 785; 3. Tim Evans (Marl) 704; 4. Blake Greenfield (Marl) 676; 5. Carey Burr (Nel) 487.
Rotax Max Junior
1. William Exton (Marl) 847 points; 2. Jacob Douglas (ChCh) 698; 3. Zac Christensen (ChCh) 682; 4. Adam Godwin (ChCh) 682; 5. Bo Hill (Nel) 665; 6. Liam Pink (ChCh) 649.
Vortex Mini ROK
1. Louis Sharp 793 points; 2. James Black (Dun) 734; 3. Blake Knowles (ChCh) 714; 4. Alex Crosbie (Sthl) 694; 5. Chris White (ChCh) 663; 6. Ollie Workman (Nel) 657.
Cadet ROK
1. Lochy McGregor (Nel) 814 points; 2. Arthur Broughan (Marl) 767; 3. Izaak Fletcher (ChCh) 751; 4. Jacob Earley (Sthl) 718; 5. Zach Tucker (ChCh) 678; 6. Sam Knight (ChCh) 657.
Mainland Inter-club Trophy
1. KartSport Canterbury 734.33 points
2. KartSport Nelson 713.86
3. KartSport Marlborough 708.64
4. KartSport Dunedin 652.50
5. KartSport Southland 633.35
6. KartSport Westland 239.00