Karting: Bay 'bad boys' are still at it

Busy Originals: Mark Jenkinson (left) and Denis Churcher prepare for this weekend's second New Zealand Vintage Kart Prix. Photo/Duncan Brown

CONSIDERING their early warnings from officials some may be surprised to hear Mark Jenkinson and Denis Churcher are still involved with KartSport Hawke's Bay.

It was late 1967 and the Hawke's Bay Karting Club, as it was known then, was in its infancy. Twelve-year-olds Jenkinson and Churcher had joined the club but immediately put their membership in jeopardy and their career path to F1 champions took a turn for the worst when they towed their karts out to the Roy's Hill track behind their push bikes and lifted them over the fence for a private training session.

The bulldozer driver at the neighbouring refuse tip arrived and sent the pair, along with some mates who had steered the karts while they were being towed, on their way.
Jenkinson yesterday wouldn't give precise details of their warnings.

"Let's just say we were both in hot water and it nearly spelt the end of our fledgling involvement."

Despite this setback both have remained involved with the club and this weekend Jenkinson, the current patron and chairman, will toast 50 consecutive years when he attends the club's Reunion Dinner at the Ellwood Function Centre on Saturday night. Both Churcher and Jenkinson will race in some demonstration races during the second two-day New Zealand Vintage Kart Prix staged as part of the 50th birthday celebrations on Saturday and Sunday.

The meeting will also feature the first Trans-Tasman Vintage Kart Challenge, a pursuit event where a Kiwi team will match their Australian visitors. More than 120 karts, which were first raced between 1959 and '93, will be in action at the event.

For Jenkinson, an engineering department worker at the Whakatu Coldstores who will run two karts, this weekend will be a family affair as his wife Sharon and daughter Shona will also be racing. He has also lent two more of his karts to two of the four Australians who will be racing so he will have eight karts running out of his pit.

Churcher, the owner of Pit Stop in Napier, remained in karting until he was 16 as a junior.
"It was the starting point of a life-time involvement in motorsport."

A former Hawke's Bay Car Club president, Churcher, like Jenkinson, has also been involved in speedway and vintage cars. He has also co-drived rally cars and won a class in the Targa Rally when co-driving for Napier's Stu McChesney.

Churcher is also the oldest driver on the national Mazda MX-5 racing circuit.

"Both Mark and I were lucky our fathers had engineering backgrounds and were very supportive of our racing. I delivered newspapers to help fund my karting," Churcher said.

Hawke's Bay's Chemz Raceway hosted the first NZ Vintage Kart Prix in 2015. Jenkinson said it was part of a plan to help generate interest and income when karting was on the decline in the Bay.

"The 2015 event was always going to be a trial for this weekend's event. Greg Murphy described the 2015 one as one of the best motorsport events he had been part of," Jenkinson said referring to the Hawke's Bay-raised V8 Supercar racer who got his motorsport grounding in karting.

Jenkinson and Churcher have been racing vintage karts since 1985. They have often raced them against modern karts.

"The attractions are its relatively low cost, it's non competition and it's fun ... just like karting used to be like," Jenkinson added.

Former club secretary Kay Grant will be awarded life membership at Saturday night's function.

Jenkinson missed most of the 2015 event after collapsing on the Thursday night and being taken to hospital on the Saturday night with a serious illness. Naturally he will be hoping he lasts the distance this weekend.

He won't want to miss the opportunity to reminisce and no doubt that 1967 judicial issue will get another mention or two.