Black’s persistence pays off as he claims second title
ARRON Black has certainly shown the rewards of persistence.
The 46yearold claimed the South Island karting title in the Rotax Max Heavy class in Invercargill last week, 24 years after his previous one.
In that time, there were plenty of close calls — in fact, he finished second several times.
To finally lay hands on the trophy again has left him stoked. ‘‘It was good,’’ he said.
‘‘I thought I had a pretty good chance of winning it, but I didn’t think it was going to be that easy.
‘‘Every other South Island title I’ve tried to get has been extremely hard and I obviously haven’t been able to do it.’’
The title in 1994 had been hardfought and was a ‘‘huge’’ deal.
While this time around was still great, it was not quite the same as winning for the first time.
Indeed, it turned out to be a reasonably cruisy time for Black, who did not have to pass a kart all weekend.
He won the two eightlap heats, claiming pole position for the 15lap prefinal, and won that to claim pole for the 26lap final.
The success came as a result of some previous experience in Invercargill, notably at the 2016 national championships where he finished second.
‘‘I learned a lot about what tyre pressures to run and the temperatures down there. The setup of the kart was pretty much exactly the same.
‘‘So it all came down to what the temperature was and where the tyres would come and go during the 26lap race.
‘‘My kart was just a jet for the whole 26 laps. I did make a couple of wee tweaks, because it did get quite hot for that final and it all came through and the thing just kept on pulling.’’
The proprietor of the Mag & Turbo tyre and service centre, Black was not the only one from his family to reach the podium either.
His son, James, finished third and was close to second in the Vortex Mini ROK class.
Arron also competes in endurance racing in touring cars.
He had success in that too, winning a national title in the New Zealand Endurance Championship threehour race in Christchurch early last year.
However, the ease of getting a kart around and the fact there was a track in Dunedin meant he spent more time karting.
That track in Dunedin figured large in his plans for 2019 as well.
‘‘We’ve got the South Islands here [in Dunedin] next year. I was ready to retire, but I think I’ll try to backtoback this now we’ve got it on our home track and I’ve got a good chance of winning it again.’’