Karters from all over the country are either in Christchurch already or making their way there this week for KartSport New Zealand’s Armstrong Motor Group-backed 2021 National Sprint Championship meeting at the KartSport Canterbury club’s Carrs Rd Raceway over the Easter weekend.
Close to 100 (93) entered the monthly ‘club’ meeting this past weekend and at least 120 drivers are expected to descend on the club’s fast, technical circuit over the three-days (Easter Fri-Sun inclusive) for this year’s Sprint National titles event this weekend,
It’s a matter of ‘second time lucky’ for KartSport Canterbury President Shayne McLaren and Event Convenor Fiona Kibar and their fellow KartSport Canterbury club members this year after they were all set to run the 2020 event at Easter last year – only for it to be one of the first major New Zealand motorsport events to be cancelled in the wake of the Government’s first COVID-19 Lockdown.
Since then KartSport New Zealand executives and club members have put literally thousands of hours coming up with strategies to get and keep the sport up and running; in fact the schedule for this weekend’s event was modified we recently as March 02 so that the event could go ahead even if between then and Easter the Government was forced to go back up to a Level 2 Activity for any reason.
As KartSport New Zealand’s Auckland-based National President Graeme Moore says; “Shayne McLaren has virtually lived at the track over recent months doing his absolute best to bring what is now one of our oldest national tracks up to scratch for what may be its last ever Nationals.”
Under the Level 2 changes (which will remain in place under current Level 1 Activity) competition across the eight classes running will be split over three days with Qualifying, Heats, Pre-Finals and Finals for each class being completed all in one day (versus normally over three days) – the idea to limit the ultimate number of people who need to be at the venue each day.
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“It’s really our way of showing we care – about our drivers, family members and all our volunteers, as well as the communities we are visiting and which we will be interacting in, ”explains Moore.
“This ‘all in one day” format for each class has been proven to be operable in Alert Level 2 conditions should, and we’re talking worst case scenarios here,” the city or country is pushed back up a (Lockdown) level on the day!
As well as KartSport New Zealand’s coveted annual National Sprint titles, there are also several subsidised trips to the annual ROK Cup Superfinal meeting in Italy later this year to be won for those competing in the various Vortex ROK classes over the three days.
The winners of both the Vortex Mini ROK and Vortex ROK DVS Junior classes and the first and second place-getters in the Vortex ROK DVS Senior classes will all earn an entry to this year’s Superfinal event as well as the use of a kart, engine and tyres etc at the event, a special OMP racing suit (supplied by NZ importer Racer Products), plus $2000 each from the KartSport NZ/Lascom Motorsport/Dunlop international travel fund, and a share of the KartSport New Zealand/Motul international travel fund.
For those who can’t make it to Christchurch for the 2021 Sprint Nationals event action from it will be livestreamed on all three days.
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