KARTSPORT NEW ZEALAND
Media Release
For immediate release
* 2007 CIK Trophy of New Zealand Meeting presented by Karcher
RV Wholesale Supplies Raceway
Airport Road Hamilton
January 26-28
2007
EVENT REPORT
28-01-07
SECOND CUNNINGHAM NAME GOES ON KARCHER CIK KART TROPHY
Auckland's Mitchell Cunningham added his name to New Zealand's premier international KartSport trophy at an all-action CIK Trophy of New Zealand presented by Karcher kart race meeting in Hamilton this afternoon.
Cunningham's older brother Wade, the 2003 World Karting Champion, won the Senior trophy in 2001, 2003 and 2006, and was all set to return to try and claim it for an unprecedented fourth time when he was called back to the United States late last week to attend an Indy Racing League test in Florida.
In his absence 20-year-old brother Mitchell qualified quickest and won both the Pre-Final and the Final.
He had to work for his Trophy win though, with Wellingtonians William Thomason and Karl Wilson sharing race wins in the heats (Thomason taking the first two, Wilson the third) then Wilson looking all set to win the Pre-Final until his kart's engine seized on the last lap.
"We qualified well," said works CRG driver Cunningham,"but struggled to get a good set up in the heats. I got it pretty good in the Pre-Final, and won that when Karl broke down, then had it spot on in the Final when everyone else fell by the wayside."
That said, Cunningham had a heart-stopping moment midway through the Final when his kart's throttle started to stick.
Exiting Turn 2 he ran wide, allowing local hero Chris Vander Drift, the international kart-turned-car star having a one-off return to his home track, to take the lead for five laps.
Vander Drift had problems of his own however, his kart's water pump drive breaking early in the race, and Cunningham was not only able to catch and pass him, he was also able to pull away, eventually crossing the finish line to claim the 2007 Formula 100 CIK Trophy of New Zealand presented by Karcher by just over five seconds from Vander Drift, and Wellingtonians Phillip Watkins and William Thomason.
"Basically the engine got really hot, " explained Vander Drift. "I think it was about lap 8. Normally these engines are at a limit at about 90 degrees and mine was over 100 and I was thinking this thing is never going to last to the end but it did."
Cunningham's teammate, top Australian karter Jason Hryniuk, shared the front row of the grid with his CRG teammate in the Final and held second until he slowed and eventually retired with a blown engine.
Hryniuk, a late replacement for Mitchell's older brother Wade, set the seventh quickest time in qualifying and got better and better as the weekend went on, and though disappointed about his early Final exit said he enjoyed his first taste of competition on this side of the Tasman.
"We struggled a bit in practice and qualifying, but things went our way in the heats and Pre-Final. Unfortunately we had the problem with the engine in the Final but it could have happened to anyone. All credit to Mitchy and the Cunningham family, they have done a great job this weekend and I've had a great time."
Hryniuk was joined in the blue riband Formula 100 class by two other Australians, Jason Burns and Jessica Golding, but despite showing good speed both also suffered problems.
Burns seized an engine in the Pre-Final while running in third place behind Wilson and Cunningham then tangled with Karl Wilson as the pair tried to come back through the field on the first lap of the Final.
Golding meanwhile was caught up in a tangle of her own early in the Pre-Final, though she was able to fight back from the rear of the grid to claim sixth at the line in the Final.
In the other Senior CIK Trophy of New Zealand presented by Karcher class, KZ2, Auckland's Ryan Grant made up for second place to Australian Matthew Wall at last year's event by dominating the class this year.
Perennial rival Jason Lee, also from Auckland, denied Grant the clean sweep, winning the first heat, but Grant won the other two as well as the Pre-Final and Final. Lee was second with local driver Dan Smith third from Superkart star Ryan Urban and Auckland young gun Simon Evans.
Evans' younger brother Mitchell, 12, won the other CIK Trophy of New Zealand presented by Karcher on offer after a weekend long battle in the Junior Intercontinental A (JICA) class with young Australian driver Nicholas Foster.
Evans, competing at his first major international meeting, qualified quicker but Foster won two of the three heats as well as the Pre-Final.
The pair were rarely more than a kart length apart however and though Foster forced his way past early leader Evans mid-way through the 28 lap Final, Evans was back in front on lap 25 and held a half second lead to the flag.
The 12-year-old Aucklander also crossed the line first in the Junior 100cc Yamaha Final but was later disqualified on a technical matter, leaving fellow Aucklander Nicholas Cassidy to take the class win from Wellington's James Hadley and Auckland's Levi Madsen-Prinn
In the support classes multi-time former National champion and New Zealand Challenge winner Matthew Hamilton was the man to beat in 125cc Rotax Max Heavy, running away with the Final to cross the line just over two seconds in front of fellow Christchurch driver Simon Hunter and local ace Phillip Saunders.
Another Hamilton driver, Mathew Wooding was odds-on favourite to win Senior 100cc Yamaha Light, but after an incredible race-long dice victory in the Final went to Auckland's Daniel Kent.
A feature of the other two support classes, Junior 100cc Yamaha Restricted and Cadet, was the dominance of one particular driver, Arie Hutton in Junior 100cc Yamaha Restricted, and fellow Aucklander Aaron Wilson in Cadet.
Both - like Senior Matthew Hamilton in 125cc Rotax Max Heavy - completed clean sweeps, topping the time sheets in qualifying then winning every race.
Second in Junior 100cc Yamaha Restricted was Paul Blomqvist, second in Cadet Alex Cassidy.
Ends
RESULTS
Qualifying
Formula 100
