Local ace Taylor Harte splashed to a double podium finish at the second round of the 2016 CRC Speedshow-sponsored Top Half kart series at the KartSport Bay of Plenty club’s Te Puke Auto Electric Raceway at Te Puke on Sunday.
Despite weather and track conditions which went from dry and slick to streaming wet and slippery, the Tauranga teen won all five heat races to claim a dominant victory in the DD2 class, then in his other kart won two of the five heats to finish a close second to fellow ‘Bay driver Corey Green in 125cc Rotax Max Light.
Also impressing was another local karter, Sam Waddell, who finished second to Harte in DD2 and fourth in 125cc Rotax Max Light behind Green, Harte and Rotorua driver Caleb Huston.
Meanwhile, Caleb Hartley from Auckland and Darren Walker from Tauranga battled mightily in 125cc Rotax Max Heavy, three heat wins to Walker’s two giving Hartley the round victory by a single point.
Also winning three of the five heats in his class was Graham Knight, who claimed round victory in ClubSport 120 from Steve Muggeridge and Dean Oliver.
In the Junior classes, Joshua Parkinson won Rotax Junior from fellow Aucklander Sam Wright and Fynn Osborne from Hamilton, while Ryan Crombie from Auckland won Vortex Mini ROK from Connor Davison from Hamilton and Blake Austin from Auckland.
Finally, Kaden Probst turned the tables on first round class winner Liam Sceats (both from Auckland) in Cadet ROK with fellow Aucklander Sebastian Manson third.
This year’s CRC Speedshow Top Half series has a prize pool including a minimum of $8,000 in prize money, $6,000 in CRC product giveaways, four sets of MG tyres and a custom-painted Arai SK-6 helmet complete with helmet bag courtesy Arai NZ, Headcase Designs and Lightning Racegear valued at $2000.
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The four-round series now heads to Auckland for the penultimate round in June (Mt Wellington club) and final in July (Auckland club).
CRC Speedshow is New Zealand’s premier automotive and motorsport expo and this year will be held at Auckland’s ASB Showgrounds over the July 16-17 weekend.
More information on this year’s CRC Speedshow Top Half series can be found on KartSport New Zealand’s website
http://www.kartsport.org.nz/events/2016-top-half-series and Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TopHalfSeries/
Class sponsors this year are KartZone from Tauranga (Cadet ROK), Supreme Kart Supplies from New Plymouth (Vortex Mini ROK), Spartan 4Toyota in Auckland (Rotax Max Junior), Lascom Motorsport Auckland (125cc Rotax Max Light), Barfoot & Thompson Pukekohe (125cc Rotax Max Heavy), WRB Karting Supplies Whangarei (Raket 120), and Right Karts Auckland, (DD2).
