Defending New Zealand champion and Grand Prix title-holder Karl Wilson
heads a strong International class lineup preparing for the
Racetech-backed 2012 New Zealand SuperKart and Grand Prix championship
meeting at Manfeild on Saturday January 07.
Wellingtonian Wilson, 28, was unbeaten on his way to his first New
Zealand SuperKart title at this year's event but this time around will
face strong competition from 2007 Open Grand Prix winner Ryan Urban from
Auckland and 2007 New Zealand SuperKart champion Paul Dunlop from
Clydevale (near Balclutha).
International class SuperKarts differ from Sprint karts in that they are
designed and built to run on all-purpose motor racing circuits rather
than dedicated kart ones.
The 6-speed gearbox-equipped 250cc Superkarts are also equipped with
fairings, sidepods and rear wings to make them go faster and four wheel
disc brakes to slow them down, resulting in speeds of up to 260km/h and
lap times at Manfeild significantly quicker than those of 1.6 litre
engined Formula Ford racing cars.
There are two main classes, International (for purpose-built Superkarts)
and National (for modified 250cc-engined sprint karts) with Wilson,
Ryan, Dunlop and former National class champion Robin Wooldridge from
Whangarei running in International and Wellingtonian Greg Galway leading
the way in National.
These two classes are supported by two 125cc Rotax classes with
defending class title holder Gareth Playle from Palmerston North the
favourite in 125cc Rotax Max Light and this year's Right Karts KartStars
Rotax Max Challenge class winner Aarron Cunningham from Auckland the
likely pace-setter in 125cc Rotax Max Heavy.
This week KartSport Wellington and KartSport New Zealand confirmed
Racetech New Zealand as the main sponsor of the event with additional
support from MG Tyres, Wynns New Zealand and Go Pro Cameras.
"We are delighted to welcome Racetech as our premier sponsor for this
Superkart event in 2012," said KartSport Wellington president Gary
Wilson. "We also appreciate the support of MG Tires, Go Pro Camera and
Wynns NZ. Having all these sponsors on board means this will be the
biggest and best SuperKart event so far and we encourage the KartSport
community to support sponsors that support our sport."
