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2006 Ingham Honda Kart Stars New Zealand Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals from Portugal

Media release
For immediate release
 
*  2006 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals
    Viana Do Castelo
    Portugal
    Nov 15 - Nov 18
    2006
 
20-11-06
 
EVENT REPORT
 
JUNIOR KARTERS CLAIM TOP 10 FINISHES IN PORTUGAL
 
Young New Zealand karters Martin Short and Richard Moore claimed top ten finishes at the annual Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals meeting in Portugal over the weekend.
 
Short, 15, from Hamilton finished fifth, Moore, 14, from Auckland, seventh.
 
Unfortunately, New Zealand's Senior representative, Palmerston North's Josh Hart, 19, - who finished fifth at the annual Grand Final meeting last year - was forced out of the Senior Final with engine problems, eventually being credited with 28th place.
 
Wet, cold weather tested the resolve of drivers, officials and supporters over the five-day event, dominated this year by European drivers.
 
Senior winner was Ricardo Romkema from Mike Joossens (both from The Netherlands) and Mikhail Mitrokhin (Russia), while Jorrit Pex (Belgium) was the Junior winner from Jack Hawksworth (UK) and Daniel Schellneger (Austria).
 
All three New Zealand drivers had to fight for their places with Moore qualifying 22nd, Short 27th and Hart - who set the second quickest time in the dry in practice - an uncharacteristic 48th (out of 67).
 
All three made substantial progress through the heats however.
 
Short went 8-26-12 then worked his way up to ninth in the Pre-Final and as high as second before slipping back to fifth in the Final.
 
Moore ran 11-17-4 in the heats, got up to seventh in the Pre-Final and held that position in the Final.
 
And Hart carded a 6-9-22 run through the heats and worked his way up to ninth in the Pre-Final.
 
New Zealand was one of the first companies to 'buy into' the annual Rotax Max Challenge concept, in which Rotax distributors round the world multi-round local series (Challenges) and 'head office' (the Rotax factory) runs an annual 'Grand Challenge' to which all the national winners are invited.
 
The first was held in Puerto Rico and subsequent Challenges have been held in Malaysia, South Africa, Egypt, and the Canary Islands.
 
Since then New Zealand has been represented at all six Grand Challenges held so far, with a best overall finish of second in the Masters section (Mark Lane), and a third (Earl Bamber) in Junior and fourth (Dale Verrall) in the Senior class.
 
Ends
 
2006 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals Viana Do Castelo Portugal Nov 15 - Nov 18 2006
 
Rotax Max Grand Finals - Senior
Qualifying
1. Chris Maliepaard (Netherlands) 55.886
2. Ralph Odendaal (South Africa) 55.896
3. Esa Pekkanen (Finland) 55.935
4. Tiago Ribeiro (Portugal) 55.966
5. Arnold Neverling (South Africa) 56.038
6. Olivier Cioni (France) 56.082
also
48. Josh Hart (New Zealand) 57.992
 
Heat 1 (C v D)
1. Oliver Donat (Switzerland) 14.03.091
2. Ricardo Romkema (Netherlands) +4.473
3. Christophe Adams (France) +4.690
also
6. Josh Hart (New Zealand) +6.197
 
Heat 2 (B v D)
1. Wesleigh Orr (Belgium) 11.13.271
2. Mike Joossens (Netherlands) +0.167
3. Olivier Ciono (France) +0.434
also
9. Josh Hart (New Zealand) +6.755
 
Heat 3 (A v D)
1. Arnold Neveling (Sth Africa) 14.08.860
2. Chris Maliepaard (Netherlands) +0.346
3. Henrijs Grube (Latvia) +2.415
also
22. Josh Hart (New Zealand) +26.512
 
Pre-Final (20 laps)
1. Ricardo Romkema (Netherlands) 18.39.773
2. Mike Joossens (Netherlands) +2.281
3. Chris Maliepaard (Netherlands) +3.877
also
9. Josh Hart (New Zealand) +16.119
 
Final (25 laps)
1. Ricardo Romkema (Netherlands) 23.27.086
2. Mike Jossens (Netherlands) +2.416
3. Mikhail Mitrokhin (Russia) +6.302
also
28. Josh Hart (New Zealand) dnf
 
Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals - Junior
Qualifying 
1. Riccardo Auteri (Italy) 56.573
2. Nanin Indra-Payoong (Thailand) 56.579
3. Caleb Williams (South Africa) 56.607
4. Hiroki Takagi (Japan) 56.618
5. Konstantinos Kotis (Greece) 56.662
6. Kristaps Gasparovitis (Latvia) 56.676
also
22. Richard Moore (New Zealand) 57.411
27. Martin Short (New Zealand) 57.615
 
Heat 1 (A v B)
1. Mats Van Den Brand (Netherlands) 14.20.538
2. Nanin Indra-Payoong (Than +0.383
3. Jorrit Pex (Belgium) +1.395
also
11. Richard Moore (New Zealand) +12.991
 
Heat 1 (C v D)
1. Caleb Williams (Sth Africa) 14.14.891
2. Niko Tahka (Finland) +1098
3. Kristians Audze (Latvia) +7.599
also
8. Martin Short (New Zealand) +16.199
 
Heat 2 (B v D)
1. Jack Hawksworth (United Kingdom) 12.03.419
2. Kristaps Gasparovits (Latvia) +0.958
3. Daniel Schellnegger (Austria) +1.185
also
17. Richard Moore (New Zealand) +16.700
 
Heat 2 (A v C)
1. Jorrit Pex (Belgium) 12.04.924
2. Konstantinos Kotis (Greece) +2.735
3. Steel Guiliana (Australia) +5.152
also
26. Martin Short (New Zealand) +35.833
 
Heat 3 (B v C)
1. Mats Van Den Brand (Netherlands) 14.13.031
2. Niko Tahka (Finland) +2.097
3. Tasmin Pepper (Sth Africa) +5.363
also
4. Richard Moore (New Zealand) +6.125
12. Martin Short (New Zealand) +17.613
 
Junior Pre-Final  (18 laps)
1. Timothy Stewart (Jamaica) 17.28.836
2. Tyler Wheeler (Canada) +2.384
3. Joshua Reaume (Nigeria) +12.967
also
7. Richard Moore (New Zealand) +1.03.669
8. Martin Short (New Zealandf) +1.03.968
 
Junior Final (20 laps)
1. Jorrit Pex (Belgium) 18.44.863
2. Jack Hawksworth (United Kingdom) +3.069
3. Daniel Schellnegger (Austria) +16.031
also
5. Martin Short (New Zealand) +19.895
7. Richard Moore (New Zealand) +22.226
 
Prepared by FAST COMPANY on behalf of the 2006 Ingham Honda Kart Stars Rotax Max Challenge. To find out more about the annual Challenge contact Ross MacKay on 021 677 919

16-11-06
QUALIFYING REPORT
MOORE IS QUICKEST OF THE KIWIS IN QUALIFYIN
Young Auckland driver Richard Moore was the quickest of the three Kiwi competitors in qualifying at the annual Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals meeting in Portugal today.

Moore, 14, set the ninth quickest time (57.411) in his group to claim 22nd spot on the Junior class grid for tomorrow's heat races. Fellow Junior Martin Short, 15, from Hamilton, set the 13th fastest time (57.615) in his group and will start tomorrow's heats from the 27th place on the grid.
 
There are 63 Junior drivers representing over 60 countries at the annual Grand Finals meeting with pole position for the first heats going to Italy's Riccardo Auteri (56.573) from Thailand's Nanin Indra-Payoong (56.579) and South Africa's Caleb Williams (56.607).
 
The top 22 drivers qualified within a second of Auteri with juts over three seconds covering the whole 63-strong field.
 
The fact that it rained for their qualifying session was considered fortunate for the two young New Zealand drivers because several rounds of the 2006 New Zealand Rotax Max Challenge series were run in the rain.
 
Unfortunately that didn't seem to help New Zealand Senior representative Josh Hart, 19, from Palmerston North. Hart, who won the New Zealand for a second straight time this year, and who finished fifth in the Senior Grand Final (in Malaysia) last year.
 
Hart was second only to Netherlands driver Chris Maliepaard in practice on a dry track on Wednesday and Thursday morning, but he could only manage the 27th quickest time in the wet in his qualifying group in the afternoon, meaning he will start tomorrow's heats from 48th place in the Senior grid.
 
The good news is that though the weather in Portugal has been unsettled today the forecast for tomorrow and Saturday is for fine, warm weather, meaning Hart will have a chance to work his way forward in the heats, Pre-Final and Final.
 
Man to beat in the Senior category is Maliepaard, who lapped the 1170metre circuit in 55.886 seconds, 0.010 of a second quicker than South African Ralph Odendaal and 0.039 seconds quicker than third fastest driver, Esa Pekkanen of Finland.
 
The top 30 qualifiers were within a second of Maliepaard's time with just over five seconds separating the fastest and slowest qualifiers.
 
New Zealand was one of the first companies to 'buy into' the annual Rotax Max Challenge concept, in which Rotax distributors round the world multi-round local series (Challenges) and 'head office' (the Rotax factory) runs an annual 'Grand Challenge' to which all the national winners are invited.
 
The first was held in Puerto Rico and subsequent Challenges have been held in Malaysia, South Africa, Egypt, and the Canary Islands.
 
Since then New Zealand has been represented at all six Grand Challenges held so far, with a best overall finish of second in the Masters section (Mark Lane), and a third (Earl Bamber) in Junior and fourth (Dale Verrall) in the Senior class.
 
Last year 2005 winner Josh Hart finished fifth in the Senior Final and the Palmerston North 19-year-old is the first driver in the history of the New Zealand Challenge to successfully defend his title.
 
Ends
 
2006 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals Viana Do Castelo Portugal Nov 15 - Nov 18 2006
 
Qualifying
Senior Grand Final
1. Chris Maliepaard (Netherlands) 55.886
2. Ralph Odendaal (South Africa) 55.896
3. Esa Pekkanen (Finland) 55.935
4. Tiago Ribeiro (Portugal) 55.966
5. Arnold Neverling (South Africa) 56.038
6. Olivier Cioni (France) 56.082
also
48. Josh Hart (New Zealand) 57.992
 
Junior Grand Final
1. Riccardo Auteri (Italy) 56.573
2. Nanin Indra-Payoong (Thailand) 56.579
3. Caleb Williams (South Africa) 56.607
4. Hiroki Takagi (Japan) 56.618
5. Konstantinos Kotis (Greece) 56.662
6. Kristaps Gasparovitis (Latvia) 56.676
also
22. Richard Moore (New Zealand) 57.411
27. Martin Short (New Zealand) 57.615
 

Prepared by FAST COMPANY on behalf of the 2006 Ingham Honda Kart Stars Rotax Max Challenge. To find out more about the annual Challenge contact Ross MacKay on 021 677 919