KartSport fans the world over will be able to watch this year’s Cresswell Electrical National Sprint Championships meeting in Blenheim over the Easter weekend live via the internet thanks to a renewed alliance between KartSport New Zealand and Telecom NZ.

“Telecom is a long time partner and technical supporter of our sport and is currently completing a rollout of broadband across our member clubs,” says KartSport New Zealand’s Development and Administrative Manager Robert Hutton.”It’s this rollout which has allowed us to partner with local web-streaming specialist i-Film NZ Sport to cover the event live in real-time via the internet.”

Coverage starts at 9.45am (NZST) each day on Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday and can be accessed through your internet browser at http://new.livestream.com/i filmsport/KartSportNationalSprintChamps  and/or via the Livestream app on your smart device (phone or tablet)

Fans can also keep up with the results in real-time on the Race Monitor website at http://www.race-monitor.com/Live (again, free apps are available via the Apple App Store or Google Play) and check out the results and lap charts later at the MyLaps website, www.mylaps.com

The National Sprint Championships meeting in Blenheim is one of an increasing number across all sporting codes being live-streamed and Hutton says that the key factors are reach and cost.

“For us it’s a no-brainer,” he said this week.”While we’d love to be able to do more on free-to-air TV, the cost for a relatively small member-driven organization like ours can be prohibitive, even when you have a major naming rights sponsor.

“What livestreaming does is give those who are interested in it but for whatever reason can’t get to an event like the Sprint Nationals a window on it. Not everyone, obviously, is going to watch every race, but that’s the beauty both of the technology and the device mobility. As long as you’ve got a signal you can keep up with what’s going on in Blenheim from wherever you are…for five minutes or five hours.”

The Pre-Final and Final races of each class will also be archived on KartSport New Zealand’s YouTube channell https://www.youtube.com/user/kartsportnz/videos for later viewing,

This year’s Cresswell Electrical-backed event in Blenheim is the 55th annual National Sprint Championships meeting to be held and has attracted a 160+ entry across nine classes.

Included in that number are several defending class title holders like James Penrose from Loburn in North Canterbury (100cc Senior Yamaha Light), Matthew Hamilton (KZ2) and Marcus Armstrong (100cc Junior Yamaha) from Christchurch, Zach Zaloum from Hastings (125cc Rotax Max Heavy), Daniel Kinsman from Auckland (125cc Rotax Max Light) and former Christchurch but now Gold Coast-based Simon Hunter (100cc Yamaha Heavy).

Two Australian drivers are also crossing the Tasman for the meeting One is Tyler O’Leary who will compete in the Junior Restricted 100cc Yamaha class, the other, Lane Moore, who will compete in both 100cc Yamaha Heavy and 125cc Rotax Max Heavy.

Other 2013 NZ title holders Callum Hedge (Cadet) and Caleb Cross (Junior Restricted 100cc Yamaha) are also entered but have moved up a class, while Auckland-based international Daniel Bray, who won the Open class title at last year’s Sprint National Championships meeting in Wellington, is back in the KZ2 class where he won the NZ title in 2012.

With new classes set to replace them these will be the last Sprint National Championships for the Cadet Raket and Junior Restricted 100cc Yamaha classes. That fact doesn’t seem to have affected the entry, however, with 20-strong grids and at least three drivers vying for the top spot in each class.

In Cadet Raket last year’s Island champions, Josh Parkinson from Auckland (North) and Jacob Mitchell (South) from Christchurch, are set for a battle royal with last year’s NZ Schools’ class champion, Thomas Boniface from New Plymouth.

While last year’s Cadet Raket class title holder, Callum Hedge, is one of a number of recent arrivals who are expected to take the fight for the final National Junior Restricted 100cc Yamaha Sprint title to reigning South Island champion Reuben Adams from Christchurch, Liam Lawson and Matthew Payne from Auckland, and Josh Donohue and the country’s top emerging female driver, Rianna O’Meara-Hunt, from Wellington.

There will be action at KartSport Marlborough’s Wither Rd track from Thursday April 18 with qualifying on Easter Friday then heats, Pre-Finals and Finals for five classes – Cadet,  Junior 100cc Yamaha, 125cc Rotax Max Light, 100cc Yamaha Heavy and KZ2 – on Easter Saturday, and four – Junior Restricted 100cc Yamaha, 125cc Rotax Max Junior, 125cc Rotax Max Heavy and 100cc Yamaha Light – on Easter Sunday.

Spectators are welcome, with gates opening at 7.30am and karts on track from 9.00am each day. For more information go to http://www.kartsport.org.nz/about-us/latest-news/nz-sprint-champs-online-live