Kart club’s first enduro champs

Press, 18 June 1986, Page 33

Kart club’s first enduro champs

The Christchurch Kart Club will hold an enduro sprint kart championship for the first time at the Carrs Road raceway this Sunday. Initially the meeting was to have been only for senior drivers, but there will now be races for midgets (six to 12-year-olds) and juniors (12 to 16 years) as well. The senior enduro event will last about two hours, and two drivers will be allowed per kart, with a minimum of 30min for each driver. The race is expected to extend over 200 laps, and

about 125 km. Driver changes, fuel and tyre stops will be a feature. Fifteen teams have entered, among them drivers from Palmerston North, Nelson and Christchurch. Another three late entries are expected. The line-up will be a cross-section of karts and motors. Three entries will run on 250 cu cm engines and another three 125 cu cm motors while two will have open type motors. The rest have opted for the 100 cu cm Yamaha power units. An interesting entry is that of Paul Larsen

(Christchurch), and Michael Dickens (Palmerston North). This pair will run the very new Kiwi kart, being manufactured in Palmerston North, and already being exported to Australia and Asia. The teen-agers, Nigel Wilkinson and Damien French, will run in open 100 cu cm motor, but will be using a new type of tyre. The Vinhart tyres are manufactured in

Taiwan for a Palmerston North distributor, and are reputed to have a long life. Another pairing to watch will be Craig MacMorland (Nelson) and Graham Stevens, a double New Zealand and South Island champion in the 125 cu cm class. These two will run a 250 cu cm Yamaha. John Hamilton and Murry Davies will be using a 135 cu cm Komet engine. Reliability and looking after the engine and tyres will play a vital part in the outcome. The pairing of Shane Drake

and Dean Mulligan may well be the drivers in front at the end of the two hours. The midget class has attracted 11 entries, among them Nelson’s Jason Richards and Carl Chambers, who have performed extremely well at previous meetings on the track. During the 30min event the front drivers will cover about 30km. v The juniors’ race will last 45 minutes, and because the 10 drivers will start with only five litres of fuel, the pit stop could make all the difference between winning and losing.