Photo: Karl Wilson leading Richard Moore, defending title holder Daniel Bray and William ThomasonTop karters from New Zealand and Australia will be in Wellington this weekend contesting the Mi Sedaap instant noodles-sponsored CIK Trophy of New Zealand meeting
The meeting is sanctioned by the international governing body of KartSport, the CIK, and as such carries the same sort of status in the kart world as the annual New Zealand Grand Prix one does in the motor racing one.
Heading the entry list in the premier KZ2 class is former title holder and current Mi Sedaap instant noodles Pro Series champion Ryan Grant from Auckland with competition expected to come from 2010 CIK Trophy of New Zealand class winner Daniel Bray and category newcomer, multi-time New Zealand sprint champion and New Zealand representative, Matthew Hamilton from Christchurch.
Bray looked set to win the 2011 class title until he was caught, late in the Final, by local driver Karl Wilson, but since then the Auckland international has gone on to win the United States S1 class championship.
This year the KZ2 class has attracted 11 entries, the field made up of 10 local drivers and one Australian, Jason Faint, from Gladstone in northern-Queensland.
Faint is one of four Australians who have crossed the Tasman for the meeting, the other three 21-year-old Matthew Waters and 17-year-old Jacob Parsons from Sydney, and 15-year-old Brock Plumb from Brisbane.
Waters and Parsons will contest the new KF2 Senior class while Plumb will contest the KF3 Junior one.
Competition for Waters and Parsons, the latter being run this weekend by former Australian international Troy Hunt, looks set to come from two-time KF3 (Jnr) class CIK Trophy holder Arie Hutton, 2011 KF3 class Trophy winner Aaron Marr from Wanganui, and kart-turned car racer Chris Cox from Rangiora.
With Hutton and Aaron Marr now contesting the KF2 Senior class, drivers to watch in the KF3 class include last year's Mi Sedaap Pro Kart series class winner Mitchell Turner from the Hawke's Bay, North Island class champion Josh Drysdale, and Australian visitor Plumb who finished runner-up in the Pro-Junior/KF3 class in the CIK Stars of Karting Series in Australia in 2010 and fifth in 2011.
Supporting the three Mi Sedaap CIK Trophy of New Zealand classes are four Challenge Cup classes, Cadet, Junior Restricted 100 cc Yamaha, Junior 100cc Yamaha and Senior 100cc Yamaha Light.
Because the Mi Sedaap instant noodles CIK Trophy of New Zealand meeting also hosts the opening round of the Mi Sedaap instant noodles Pro Kart series drivers will also be vying for points in the KZ2, KZ2 Masters and KF3 classes.
Best supported of the Challenge Cup classes is Cadet with 18 entries, best supported of the Mi Sedaap instant noodles Pro Kart series ones, KZ2 Masters with 15 entries.
Tom Curran from the Hawke's Bay is the defending KZ2 Masters class champion and he can expect serious competition this weekend and for the rest of the series from Aucklanders Snow Mooney, Steve Brown and Mark Lane.
Since its inception the annual CIK Trophy of New Zealand meeting has attracted top drivers from both New Zealand and Australia with previous title winners including Wade Cunningham - 2003 CIK-FIA World Karting Champion and now an IndyCar driver, former A1GP and now leading Porsche GT3 Cup driver Jonny Reid, 2008 International Formula Master champion Chris vander Drift, 2007 World Series by Renault Eurocup 2 litre champion and former Red Bull F1 test driver Brendon Hartley, current GP3 driver Mitch Evans and V8 Supercar star Shane van Gisbergen.
The venue for the two-day meeting is KartSport Wellington’s CRC Raceway which is located off the road to Pakuratahi Forest, State Highway 2, Kaitoke.
