www.bopkartclub.org.nz

(( Bay of Plenty Kart Club News ))

Written by: webmaster

Mon, Nov 17, 2008, 5:29 pm

Prize giving / Track rebuilding

Our Club Champs prize giving was well supported with around 60 members attending.

Thanks to Oropi complex for hosting us.

Our track is looking really smart with the new crash bag covers and signage and we have renamed the sweeper, the "Bridgestone Sweeper" or even just "Bridgestone".

[back to top]

Written by: Webmaster

Wed, Sep 17, 2008, 10:43 pm

Club Champs Final

BOP karters enjoyed the warm spring conditions that greeted them at the final round of the 2008 club champs on the 14th Sept.

Sundays racing was contested in anti-clockwise direction around the 725 meter Fagan's valley track near Te Puke.
Visiting Cadet driver Nathan Reid from Auckland upset the local lads by taking the class win on the day from Bradley Souness and Blake Harris but it was Harris claiming the Club Champs title for a second consecutive year from Souness and an ever improving Josh Adlam.
In the Junior Restricted class it was round one winner Stephen Appleton again setting the pace by taking out every heat in style. He was followed by Michael Scott and Nik Pervan which was also the finishing order for the series. Appleton has been steadily improving over the course of the year and should be one to watch at the North Island sprint champs being held at Hamilton over Labor weekend in October.

The 100cc Junior Yamaha class came down to a two-horse race between round one winner Corey Green and Scott Hatton. These two were never more than a couple of kart lengths apart over the entire day and were impressive to watch as they passed and re-passed each other through the heats. The title chase came down to the final heat of the day with both drivers tied on points going into the race. After a tense six laps had passed the chasing Hatton made a rare mistake on the exit of turn six, and clipped a kerb to spin off. This would give Green the win he needed to claim the Club Champs title outright. Hatton claimed the round win and second overall in the series with Jason Carter, débuting his new chassis, taking the remaining series medal.

In the senior Yamaha lights it was Justin Herbert to turn the tables on round one victor John van Bommel by dominating every heat. Herbert converted his one point defecate from the first round to a three point lead to claim this years title from von Bommel and Ben Finemore back in third.
Over in the Yamaha heavy's class an in-form Lance Fisher from Rotorua continued his winning ways from the opening round and took out both the days and series title. Also from Rotorua, Paul Mabey was one to really lift his game and claimed second place for the day's results and the series as well.

The Rotax lights class saw a return of a couple of a couple of drivers from a few years back enter the day in Arryn Hill and Grant Crosby. These two couldn't quite match the pace of Daniel Dufty who took out the days win but had the measure on the remainder of the field to secure second and third respectively. Dufty also took out the Club champs title unchallenged and with Hill and Crosby being ineligible for series places as they hadn't entered the first round, the remaining two series places went to Ian Lloyd and Aaron Rodgers.

The Open class for gearbox or "shifter" karts started the day with seven drivers entered. However after a couple of early retirements the remaining five battled it out and saw Craig Toy win the day by a single point from Ryan Belworthy and Matt Kneesch a further two points back. This years Club Champs titles are determined by adding the results from both rounds and after doing this Kneesch found himself at the top of the table with fourteen points to claim the top spot. Belworthy ended his series just one point back on fifteen for second overall.

The clubs next meeting is the Four-way-fun-day being held on October 5^th. As the name suggests, racing is held using all four available track configurations in one day. This meeting has been extremely popular in the past and gives drivers the opportunity to experience the old-and now unused-480 meter track.

Club Champs Round 2 results;

Cadets: 1 Nathan Reid 6pts; 2 Bradley Souness 8; 3 Blake Harris 10; 4 Josh Adlam 14; 5 Caleb Huston 19; 6 Conner Hayes 22.
Junior Restricted: 1 Stephen Appleton 4pts; 2 Michael Scott 8; 3 Nik Pervan 11; 4 Bailey McIntosh 15; 5 Nadia Glover 19.
Junior Yamaha: 1 Scott Hatton 4pts; 2 Corey Green 7; 3 Scott Briscoe 13; 4 Fulton Penny 14; 5 Jason Carter 15.
KT lights: 1 Justin Herbert 4pts; 2 John van Bommel 8; 3 Ben Finemore 12.
KT heavys: 1 Lance Fisher 4pts; 2 Paul Mabey 7; 3 Deon Symes 13; 4 Todd Adlam 15; 5 Scott Hancett 18; 6 Neil Bowker 21.
Rotax lights: 1 Daniel Dufty 4pts; 2 Arryn Hill 9; 3 Grant Crosby 10; 4 Blair Rodgers 17; 5 Ian Lloyd 18; 6 Ryan Cutbush 24.
Open: 1 Craig Toy 7pts; 2 Ryan Belworthy 8; 3 Matt Kneesch 10; 4 Mark Swetman 12; 5 Nick Valance 15.

Club Champs overall:

Cadets: 1^st Blake Harris 14pts; 2^nd Bradley Souness 22pts; 3^rd Josh Adlam 34pts.
Junior Restricted: 1^st Stephen Appleton 8pts; 2^nd Michael Scott 17pts; 3^rd Nik Pervan 23pts.
Junior Yamaha: 1^st Corey Green 11pts; 2^nd Scott Hatton 12pts; 3^rd Jason Carter 28pts.
KT lights: 1^st Justin Herbert 10pts; 2^nd John van Bommel 13pts; 3^rd Ben Finemore 23pts.
KT heavys: 1^st Lance Fisher 8pts; 2 Paul Mabey 20pts; 3^rd Deon Symes 22pts.
Rotax lights: 1^st Daniel Dufty 8pts; 2^nd Ian Lloyd 36pts; 3^rdAaron Rodgers 39pts.
Rotax heavys: Not contested.
Open: 1^st Matt Kneesch 14pts; 2^nd Ryan Belworthy 15pts; 3 Murray Bell 45pts.

[back to top]