Auckland’s Daniel Kinsman was the top Kiwi scorer at this year’s Australian Rotax Nationals meeting in Queensland over the weekend, finishing third in the premier Rotax Light class.

Kinsman, who this year has been commuting back and forth across the Tasman to contest the Australian Rotax Max Challenge series, was one of 13 New Zealand karters to contest the three-day day/night meeting and one of five in the Rotax Light class.

For a while it looked like Australian-based Kiwi Josh Drysdale would be the top New Zealand finisher, the Palmerston North-born driver working his way up to third in the DD2 class Pre-Final then second in the Final.

However that race ended up going to two-time former World Karting Champion Bas Lammers of the Netherlands with Drysdale turned around with only two laps to go while still in second place and ending up classified 24th.

For Daniel Kinsman it was his third podium in three years with the IPK Praga Australia team he drives for, and a result which came after he qualified 11th but worked his way foward in each heat (4th, 3rd & 2nd) before finishing sixth in the Pre-Final and third in the Final.

His older brother Mathew, running for the IKD Sodi team, qualified 14th after feeling unwell in practice, and moved forward in each heat only to be taken out by a late lunge in the Pre-Final and limp home 23rd.

That set him back for the Final, but with a good set-up he worked his way up the field to 11th place at the line, having set the sixth fastest race lap time.

The other Kiwis in the class faced mixed fortunes, with Daniel Connor doing well to finish sixth in the Final ahead of Mathew Kinsman (11th), Andy Schofield from Cambridge (13th) and Palmerston North’s Fraser Hart (16th).

Madeline Stewart from Wellington, also finished sixth in her class, Junior Max Trophy, improving each time she went out, with sister Ashleigh not far behind but not quite as consistent and finishing 11th in the Final.

Dylan Drysdale and Jai Buckley found the going tougher in the main Junior class, Junior Max, Drysdale – younger brother of DD2 star Josh – working his way forward from his 26th qualifying spot in the heats but going back to 20th in the Pre-Final and 21st in the Final, while Buckley showed flashes of pace after qualifying back in 37th (finishing 13th, 9th and 11th in the heats) but was back in 30th place at the line in the Pre-Final and 26th in the Final.

The three other Kiwis at the meeting were in the DD2 classes, with Ryan Urban qualifying 29th but ending up 13th in the DD2 Final, fellow Aucklander Aarron Cunningham qualifying 17th and finishing 14th in the DD2 Masters Final and Palmerston North driver Brendon Hart qualifying 23rd and finishing the first DD2 Masters heat in 21st place but failing to finish the other two heats, Pre Final and Final.

With Australia’s Rotax Nationals meeting over for another year the top Kiwi drivers will be back home contesting the final round of the New Zealand Rotax Max Challenge series in Auckland in a fortnight.