After a two-month break to avoid the worst of the winter weather the country's top karters will be in Hamilton this weekend contesting the penultimate round of the jointly run Gen-i Kartstars Rotax Max Challenge of New Zealand/Mi Sedaap Pro Kart Series at the Hamilton Kart Club's track near Mystery Creek.
In the Gen-i Kartstars Rotax Max Challenge of New Zealand just one point separates defending 125cc Rotax Max Light class title holder, Christchurch's Matthew Hamilton, from former winner Josh Hart from Palmerston North.
Hamilton beat Hart to the line at both the first and second rounds of this year's series but Hart won the third to keep his own title hopes alive when Hamilton was in Australia contesting a round of the Fujitsu V8 Supercar series for Team Kiwi Racing.
Third in the points in the 125cc Lights class is Auckland's Kane Taylor, with fellow young guns Chris Cox from Christchurch and Daniel Kinsman (Auckland) tied for fourth
Rangiora's Hamish Cross has a slightly healthier leading margin in both the 125cc Rotax Max Heavy and Masters classes but Tauranga's Niki Urwin (the former motocross ace paralysed in a bike accident but now racing karts with the aid of machine equipped with hand controls) remains just 12 points behind in second (in both the Heavy and Masters classes) with young Auckland driver Shane Hodgson three points further adrift in the Heavy category and Palmerston North's Daryl Currie third in Masters.
Cambridge's Andy Schofield has a similar margin (to Cross) over Aucklander's Shaun Grocock and CJ Sinclair in the Formula Junior class but even in that class only 49 points separate the top six competitors.
In the Mi Sedaap Pro Kart series which shares top billing at the joint series rounds first round winner Daniel Bray retains a six point lead over long-time rival and multi-time former New Zealand champion Ryan Grant in the premier KZ2 class with Bray's teammate Daniel Dufty from the Bay of Plenty third and Grant's teammate (and the winner of the third round) Graeme Smyth fourth, and fellow Aucklander Richard Moore fifth.
Action in the KZ2 class will be supplemented this weekend by the addition of at least three new faces, multi-time New Zealand KartSport champion Ryan Urban, top former Junior Mathew Kinsman, and recent Junior front-runner Daniel Colville.
Another top young driver, Auckland's Nick Cassidy, most recently seen in a Formula Ford single-seater in Australia, could also make his Mi Sedaap Pro Kart Series this weekend.
Leading the Masters class-within-a-class in KZ2, meanwhile, is Auckland's Steve Brown. He is eighth overall and has a healthy points buffer on the next Masters' class contestant, Hawke's Bay driver Tom Curran.
Supporting the KZ2 class is the original gearbox class, F125S, and the KF3 class for international-spec direct drive Junior karts.
Defending class champion Mark Swetman has again been the dominant force in F125S, the Bay of Plenty driver heading west for the weekend with an eight point lead over Mike Browning with fellow Aucklander Keith Warwick a further two points back.
However in KF3 reigning North Island class champion Bradley Hicks heads a tightly contested category with 2009 New Zealand champion and 2010 CIK Trophy of New Zealand class winner Arie Hutton just three points back in second and fellow Kartsport Mt Wellington club member Paul Blomqvist third.
There will be action at the Hamilton Kart Club's track opposite Hamilton's international airport on both days with qualifying and heat races on Saturdays and Pre-Finals and Finals on Sunday.
Drivers contesting the two series will then turn their focus to the final joint round at Auckland over the October 2-3 weekend.
CALENDAR
Rnd 1 Feb 13/14 CIK Trophy of NZ presented by Eyede meeting Wellington (Mi Sedaap Pro Kart Series)
Rnd 1 Feb 20/21 Manawatu Toyota Raceway Palmerston North (Rotax)
Rnd 2 March 06-07 Pinex Raceway Tokoroa
Rnd 3 May 01-02 Fagan's Valley Raceway Te Puke
Rnd 4 August 28-29 Hamilton Kart Club track Hamilton
Rnd 5 October 02-03 Moselle Panel & Paint Raceway Auckland
