Aucklanders dominate in Invercargill
Karters Daniel Kinsman and Callum Hedge came away with two class titles apiece at this year’s KartSport New Zealand national sprint Championships meeting in Invercargill over the weekend.
The Auckland pair were dominant in their respective classes at the biggest meeting on the New Zealand KartSport calendar, held over three days at the KartSport Southland club’s Invercargill Oil Shop Raceway on Sandy Point Domain.
Kinsman won the 2017 New Zealand 125cc Rotax Max Light title on Saturday and the New Zealand Senior 100cc Yamaha one on Sunday while Hedge won the 2017 New Zealand Junior 100cc Yamaha title on Saturday then the New Zealand Junior 125cc Rotax one on Sunday.
Making it particularly special for the Kinsman family, Daniel’s older brother and Sodi Kart team team-mate, Mathew, won a title of his own on Sunday – the 2017 New Zealand Rotax DD2 one – and finished second to his brother in both the 125cc Rotax Max Light class final on Saturday and – after a titanic, race-long, battle with Christchurch driver Jared Cleghorn only resolved on the last lap and with just two corners to go – in the Senior 100cc Yamaha final, on Sunday.
‘‘I’m stoked to win two titles and genuinely happy for Mat too,’’ Daniel said.
Fair enough too, as Mathew came back from a spectacular gearbox blow in the Rotax DD2 class pre-final and back row start in the final to work his way to the front and eventually win the race from experienced final pole man Ryan Urban, and class young guns CJ Sinclair from Auckland, Sam Waddell from Tauranga and Ryan Yardley from Christchurch.
With his come-from-behind win Mat Kinsman also evened a score with brother Dan – the pair have now won seven national sprint titles apiece.
Fellow Aucklander Ryan Urban did not go away from the meeting empty handed either, having already claimed his ninth NZ national sprint title in the 125cc Rotax Max class final on Saturday at the Sievwright Blasting Panel Paint-sponsored meet.
It was a close-run thing, with Dunedin’s Aaron Black and Palmerston North’s Ashley Higgins closing ominously on the final three laps, but Urban managed to stay in front until the chequered flag came out.
‘‘I made a bit of a balls-up with my tyre pressures, so I am pretty happy with the result. I certainly didn’t make it easy for myself,’’ he admitted afterwards.
In the other Senior class contested on Sunday, Open, the NZ title went to Palmerston North teenager Jacob Cranston, after a drama-filled final.
Christchurch ace Matthew Hamilton led out early on in a twin-engined kart he and his father John have developed over a number of years only to retire after just six laps. That left fellow front row starter, former Southlander Mark Elder, in the lead in his own, self-developed twin-engine kart.
He crossed the finish line with a comfortable margin on Cranston too, only to cop a 10-second penalty for a jumped start, relegating him to fourth place in the results behind Cranston, Matthew Butchart from Nelson and Chris Cox from Rangiora.
The best performance by a Southlander was put in by George Keast from Invercargill, who finished fifth in 125cc Rotax Max Heavy and sixth in Senior 100cc Yamaha.