It’s North and South Island championship title time again for the country’s top KartSport competitors with events in Wellington and Invercargill over Labour Weekend.

Both meetings have again attracted strong entries, with 108 received for the three-day North Island event at the KartSport Wellington club’s Wynn’s Raceway at Kaitoke and over 70 for the Mainland Karting-sponsored South Island event at the KartSport Southland club’s Invercargill Oil Shop Raceway at Sandy Point Domain.

Seven class titles will be contested at the North Island meeting, eight at the South Island one, and in a first for the long-running twinned events each will run its own title format.

The South Island one will run the traditional way over two days, with four class titles contested on Saturday and four on Sunday. The North Island one will be run along CIK (the governing body of world karting) lines over three days, with Time Trials (qualifying) and the first heats for all seven classes on Friday, then the second heat and Pre-Finals on Saturday and the Finals on Sunday.

Several drivers are defending their 2012 Island titles at each meeting, including Shaun Reay (100cc Yamaha Heavy) from the Hawke’s Bay and Mathew Kinsman from Auckland (125cc Rotax Max Light) at the North Island meeting and Jacob Mitchell from Christchurch (who has been the Cadet class champ for the past two years), James Penrose from Rangiora (100cc Yamaha Light & 125cc Rotax Max Light) and Chris Dixon from Dunedin (100cc Yamaha Heavy) at the South Island one.

NORTH ISLAND　

Each meeting has also attracted a number of current or former New Zealand champions.

In the case of the North Island event the list includes Aucklanders Daniel Bray and Mathew Kinsman, Zach Zaloum from Hastings and Caleb Cross from Rangiora in the South Island.

With no rule stating you have to contest the event in your own Island this will be the second time young second-generation racer Cross, 13, travels north rather than south to compete.

The first time was in 2011 when he won the North Island Cadet title so he will be hoping for similar success this weekend.

SOUTH ISLAND

Drivers to watch at the South Island meeting, meanwhile, include multi-time Island and New Zealand champion James Penrose from Loburn in north-Canterbury, reigning New Zealand Junior 100cc Yamaha champion Marcus Armstrong from Christchurch and defending South Island title holders Chris Cox from Rangiora (KZ2), Chris Dixon from Dunedin (100cc Yamaha Heavy) and Michael Collins from Christchurch (125cc Rotax Max Heavy).

DAY BY DAY

With its new CIK-style format there will be action across all seven classes on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the North Island meeting at Kaitoke.

At the South Island meeting in Invercargill, however, four class titles (Cadet, Junior 100cc Yamaha, 100cc Yamaha Heavy and 125cc Rotax Max Light) will be contested on Saturday, three (Junior Restricted 100cc Yamaha, 100cc Yamaha Light and 125cc Rotax Max Light) on Sunday.

KartSport is a safe, affordable motorsport which caters for all ages, with categories for Cadets (6-12yrs), Junior Restricted (10-14 yrs), Juniors (12-17 yrs) and Seniors (15 yrs and over). To find out more about it go to www.kartsport.org.nz