Terry Sage picked up a Rotax Heavy division win at KartSport Whangarei's Summer Slam. Photo / Tania Whyte
Terry Sage picked up a Rotax Heavy division win at KartSport Whangarei's Summer Slam. Photo / Tania Whyte
The stormy weather passed just in time for a brilliant day of karting action at Anderson Park.
KartSport Whangarei hosted the Summer Slam event, with racers driving in eight different classes.
President Terry Sage said it was a big day for the club.
"Summer Slam is our club's annual iconicevent. It is also the first scheduled event for the country every year," he said.
"It was a huge success as it always is, as it is marketed as a fun event, with a great social aspect as well as being a serious kart race. So we tick all the boxes.
"We were very pleased with the number of entries given the event started in the middle of the big storm last week. The hazardous road conditions would have certainly put some of the travelling karters off heading north."
Whangarei snared the top three positions in the Cadet division with Fletcher Norman, Jake Millan and Cody Noble tussling for the chequered flag.
In the end it was Norman who took the top position on the podium after some smart driving. Millan and Noble settled for second and third respectively.
Whangarei managed clean sweeps in three other divisions: the Junior Clubsport, Clubsport 120 and the Rotax Heavy.
Kelsey Hannan was the victor in the Junior Clubsport category, fighting off the battle from Carl Brennan and Jack Davies.
Thomas Hughes took out the Rotax Light division. Photo / Tania Whyte
Meanwhile Shannon Noble collected line honours in the Clubsport 120 division. Noble was in top form as he held off Grant Withers and Martin Gleeson, both also from Whangarei.
Meanwhile Sage showed he isn't just a leader off the track as he picked up the winner's medal in the Rotax Heavy competition.
Fighting off the advances of Daniel Tupe, Sage led the division home in style.
Other Northlanders showed good form across the event where the remnants of the week's poor weather disappeared.
Braeden Snowden showed his potential in the Junior Rotax class, staying ahead of Mitchell Frazer and Whangarei's Leo Scott to clinch line honours.
He and Hannan will be ones to watch going forward.
Harry Scott picked up a third placing in the Cadet ROK class while Thomas and Todd Hughes also grabbed podium finishes in their division.
The Rotax Light class was a hard fought one with winner Thomas and third placed Todd sandwiching Auckland's George Sampson.
Sage said the year shapes to be a busy one for KartSport Whangarei.
"2018 is going to be an exceptional year for big events as we are hosting a round of the Top Half series which will see over a hundred karters heading north in September," he said.
"We also have our 161 lap endurance race "Bathurst in the Valley" scheduled for October and, a first for us, we have a motorcycle GP event on the first weekend of February."
Results from Summer Slam 2018:
Cadet: 1) Fletcher Norman (WHG), 2) Jake Millan (WHG), 3) Cody Noble (WHG) Cadet ROK: 1) Ashton Phipps (Mt W), 2) Alex Rose (Mt W), 3) Harry Scott (WHG) Vortex Mini ROK: 1) Mitchell Sparrow (Mt W), 2) Sebastian Manson (Mt W), 3) Tayler Payne (Mt W) Junior Clubsport: 1) Kelsey Hannan (WHG), 2) Carl Brennan (WHG), 3) Jack Davies (WHG) Junior Rotax: 1) Braedan Snowden (WHG), 2) Mitchell Frazer (Mt W), 3) Leo Scott (WHG) Clubsport 120: 1) Shannon Noble (WHG), 2) Grant Withers (WHG), 3) Martin Gleeson (WHG) Rotax Light: 1) Thomas Hughes (WHG), 2) George Sampson (AKL), 3) Todd Hughes (WHG) Rotax Heavy: 1) Terry Sage (WHG), 2) Daniel Tupe (WHG)
