New Zealand karting sisters, Ashleigh and Madeline Stewart are preparing for their biggest year ever in 2014 when they will be racing in both the Australian Rotax Pro Tour and the New Zealand Rotax Challenge.
Ashleigh, 15 years old and Madeline 13 years old have been racing for 5 and 4 years respectively and in 2013, they made their first trip across the Tasman to compete in the Australian Rotax Nationals at Pukapunyal in Victoria. They both competed in the JMAX Trophy class with Ashleigh finishing a credible 6th.
In 2014 they will compete in 7 rounds of the Australian Rotax Pro Tour again in JMAX Trophy class as well as the 5 round New Zealand Rotax Challenge in the Junior Rotax class.
The JMAX Trophy class presents an ideal opportunity for the girls to gain some experience racing overseas. The class is billed as a stepping stone class with all competitors driving identical Sodi racing karts powered by Rotax Junior Max engines. The karts are leased to competitors and race under very strict rules that restrict the options available for tuning the chassis. The girl’s father, Tony, says “Not only does this make adapting to the different circuits and racing styles easier but it also makes racing in another country more affordable.”
The Australian racing is supported by the IPKarting Australia Team who prepare and transport the karts to the various meetings and also provide advice and assistance at the track. From January 2014, that support extends to New Zealand, with the girls making the change to IPKarting’s Praga chassis for the 2014 New Zealand Rotax Challenge.
Ashleigh says, “We are both very excited about the change to Praga for 2014. Ken Bensley from IPKarting has been a great supporter and we look forward to providing him with some good results both in Australia and New Zealand. We are also looking forward to racing along-side our good friend, Dylan Drysdale who raced his Praga to 2nd place in Junior Rotax for 2013”
The new Praga Dragon chassis have arrived in New Zealand are currently being assembled. Testing is scheduled to start on 11th January.
The first race for 2014 is at Melbourne’s Todd Road circuit on 25th and 26th January followed by the first round of the NZ Rotax Challenge at Palmerston North on 22nd February before heading back to Australia the following week end for round 3 of the Pro Tour at Dubbo.
