Strong form throughout the competition led to success in the finals for most karters who topped the podium in the Debonair Tiling North Island Sprint Championships.
There were 125 drivers competing over the two days at the North Island champs at the Fagan’s Valley circuit near Te Puke.
Virtually all the newly crowned champions had dominated the two days of racing, with five of the eight champions winning at least three of their four races including the winner-take-all final.
The 10-time national sprint champion Ryan Urban picked up his 10th North Island honours in the Rotax Max Heavy title, winning both heats on Saturday, before prevailing in the pre-final and final on Sunday from Darren Walker (Tokoroa) and Taylor Harte (BOP).
Super-talented Senna Wilkinson (Auckland) enjoyed a clean sweep of Cadet Rok racing, winning both heats, pre-final and final with Levi Trotter (Wellington) and Charles Taylor (Auckland) joining him on the podium.
Hamilton’s Corey Green dominated Rotax Max Light class, also winning all four races and taking the final after hitting the lead on lap six to finish clear of Bradley Hewson (Rotorua) and Ayrton williams (Hamilton).
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Auckland’s Graeme Smyth completed the unbeaten title-winners with a clean-sweep to claim the KZ2 honours, taking the final from clubmate Jason Lee and Hamilton’s Mitchell Sparrow.
It proved a double success for Auckland’s Ashton Phipps, 15, who won the DVS Junior honours in a tight battle with Waikato’s Jay Urwin, who had won both heats on Saturday and the pre-final. However, Phipps found a way passed Urwin mid-way through the 25-lap final and held on for the narrow victory.
Phipps won a heat and pre-final in Rotax Max Junior, with the first heat win going to Hamilton’s Emerson Vincent. The final had red-flagged and restarted with Phipps overtaken late it the race by Urwin although he was eventually relegated post-race by stewards back to fourth. This enabled Phipps to claim his second title, joined on the podium by Vincent and Auckland’s Ethan Church.
Mt Wellington club’s William Edmondson proved the class of the Vortex Mini Rok class, fourth in the opening heat before winning the heat, pre-final and final. He did not have things his own way, with a mistake at lap 15 pushing him back to third, but he clawed his way back to reclaim the lead in the penultimate lap, winning from clubmate Cooper Insley and Hamilton’s Carson Daly.
Manawatu’s Jackson Rooney managed to hold off all challengers in the Rotax DD2 category on day two after Josh Bethune from Dunedin won both heats on Saturday. Rooney claimed the pre-final but had to leave his best until last in the final. Bethune led for 11 laps before he gave way to the final improving Sam Waddell from Hamilton who had started from grid four.
Rooney fought his way from fourth on the grid, closing in to pass Waddell on the final lap for the title, to complete a successful weekend in much-welcome warm conditions.
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