The stars will definitely be out in Palmerston North on Saturday night as some of New Zealand's top KartSport racers contest the opening round of the Gen-i Kartstars 2010 Rotax Max Challenge of New Zealand.
Leading the charge will be local hero Josh Hart, a former challenge winner and New Zealand representative at the annual Grand Final who for the past two years has contested the European Rotax Max Challenge.
The opening round of this season's popular series is being held in conjunction with KartSport Manawatu's annual day/night Kart 'N The Dark meeting on Saturday with a bumper entry of drivers from across the country.
Hart will be both the form and crowd favourite in the premier 125cc Rotax Max Light class, with competition expected to come from last year's Junior class winner and New Zealand representative Daniel Kinsman, last year's Senior class runner-up and New Zealand representative Matthew Hamilton and Auckland trio Kane Taylor, Simon Evans and Richard Oxton.
Late last year Hamilton finished third in class at Rotax's annual Grand Final meeting in Egypt, while Taylor finished third overall behind Ryan Urban and Hamilton in the New Zealand Challenge.
Having won the Lights class for the past two years Urban is taking a break this year, though he will be at all Challenge meetings in an advisory capacity on behalf of Challenge promotors and New Zealand Rotax importer Right Karts.
An interesting addition, meanwhile, to the Lights field this year, will be Dominic Storey, the young Aucklander who battled Earl Bamber for the Junior title in 2004 before joining Bamber in the 2005 BMW Formula Asia single-seater series.
Since then Storey has raced single-seaters here and in Europe and has chosen to return to the Gen-i Kartstars Rotax Max Challenge to stay race fit for the next stage in his international career.
Former Junior class pace-setter Chris Cox from Christchurch is another talented young driver who will contest the Lights classs title this year.
In the Junior class, meanwhile, the battle for a place the Grand Final looks set to involve last year's third place-getter Andy Schofield from Cambridge and top South Island drivers James Penrose from Rangiora and Scott Manson and Tom Alexander from Christchurch.
Changes to the award structure this season have also benefited the 125cc Rotax Heavy class with former Lights class front-runner Niki Irwin and top Speedway driver Steve Currie joining leading South Island driver Hamish Cross, top Palmerston North-based drivers Brendon Hart and Daryl Currie and Aucklanders Aarron Cunningham and Shane Hodgson in the field.
The changes to the award structure has seen Rotax offer the organisers of the New Zealand Challenge two more places at the annual Grand Final meeting.
Traditionally the winners of each class have represented New Zealand at the annual Grand Final, the event at which the winners of the various (now over 60) national and/or regional Challenges around the world battle it out to see who is the best in the world.
This year though both the winner and the runner-up in the Lights class, the winner of the Junior class and two over-32-year-old drivers from the 125cc Rotax Max Heavy class will be invited to contest the Grand Final.
