October 25 - 27, 2013 - KartSport NZ North Island Sprint Championships, KartSport Wellington

The team travelled to Wellington with high hopes of improving on our 2012 showing at the North Islands. This was, however, not to be the case. Battling the elements and an event format which made setup choices very difficult, the team struggled all weekend and we never really showed our true potential. Add to that a batch of bad fuel and Thomas was always on a “hiding to nothing”. Qualifying was scheduled for Friday and the weather gods were not interested in playing fair at all. Driving wind and rain, coupled with cold temperatures pushed us to try and sort out a setup which worked. The kart had no speed compared to others and even with Thomas driving the wheels off it, he could only managed to qualify in 5th place, which was outstanding considering our lack of pace. Some serious head-scratching ensued, with the decision to try “Viper” in the tuning run on Saturday morning taken.

Even “Viper” had no pace, which then forced us to look at the chassis again to establish where things were not right. Nothing obvious, as we were using the same setup which was successful for CIK, Nationals and Goldstar so we were confused. After finishing Heat 1 in 6th and Heat 2 in 7th (after discovering a bent rear axle!) and an axle change, Thomas found himself on G6 for the Pre-final on Saturday afternoon. Once again, the kart had been flat and lifeless so we made a decision to surrender “AJ” after the heats and run with “Viper” for the Pre-Final, in the hope it may be able to help us out. This was not the case and Thomas drifted backwards during the Pre-final to 12th position. The race was very hard to watch and even though he drove the kart at 11/10ths, he couldn’t make any progress. By now Robert was frantic, trying to understand what was going so badly wrong.

The kart was stripped on Saturday night and Robert practically renewed every last nut and bolt, trying to search for the problem. With some assistance from Murray Podjursky over the phone from Taranaki, the team decided to switch fuel brands for Sunday as well. The tuning run was a revelation with the kart improving by 7/10ths of a second a lap….finally, we had found the problem! When the final rolled around at 12:45 on Sunday, the plan was to try and get as far up as possible, with a win seeming very unlikely due to the class of the field. Starting 6 rows back on the grid at 12th spot, Thomas got a great start and managed to get up to 6th within a few laps. The front four karts had made a break on the field which made it hard for Thomas to catch, so he drove his heart out and managed to hold his 6th position after the 20 lap race. Not the fairy-tale result we were looking for, but at least we had got to the bottom of our problems. Thomas picked up a nice trophy for his hard work and it was great to see him on the podium again. As usual, we have a number of people to thank for this event:

Grandad Barney.....always there, always supportive, always encouraging….we simply couldn’t do this without you….THANKS!

Murray Podjursky for his calm head in a pressure situation….

Chris Rooney and Gareth Playle for their support all weekend

Robbie Ngatoa and Tracey Toulmin for their support and advice all weekend

Dane Harte for the advice

Maurice Frost of Supreme Kart Supplies for all his help and advice

Plant & Platform Consultants for their constant support

Jody Vincent and Mat Kinsman

All the well-wishers from the Taranaki club. Congratulations to Kaleb Ngatoa and Reece Hendl-Cox for turning on a brilliant JR final, well done Kaleb for winning the NI plate! We are now looking forward to the Goldstar Series and CIK in Wellington in January 2014...let’s have some fine weather next time!

August 25, 2013 - KartSport Taranaki August Club Day

We were itching to get to the track to test out “Viper” and put some more time on “AJ” with the run up to Blossom and North Islands, but the weather gods didn’t make it happen. The predicted rain showed up, albeit less intense than predicted, but still enough to be a nuisance. Jessica decided to run her kart as well, so a full-on day was anticipated. What happened first up can only be described as a stuff-up! Jessica’s kart run beautifully on the stand, but broke the throttle cable when starting out the gate, meaning a DNS. The next time out the gate, even after a run-up on the stand, it wouldn’t go, another heat missed...grrrr! New plug fitted and all good again. At around the same time, Thomas was leading H2 when the accelerator pedal bolt broke (new about 3 months ago!) and he came to a stop also, first DNF for a long time! It was around this time I was thinking about going home!

All fixed up, Thomas went on to win the rest of the heats and the GP to add a few more points to his season aggregates, whereas Jessica had a few issues in the wet and slippery conditions. She DNF’d in 3 heats after sliding off while braking and had a 3rd place in the one heat she completed. She was extremely frustrated at her performance, but also realised that 3 months out of the kart with a wet race day added into the equation put her at a disadvantage before we even got the kart out of the trailer! She will need to spend a few days re-familiarising herself with the kart before the next club day. A day to put behind us as we get prepare for Blossom in Hawkes’ Bay in 2 weeks time.

July 28, 2013 - KartSport Taranaki July Club Day

A perfect day dawned which was contrary to the Met Service predictions and the track looked great. A batch of new cadet drivers turned up which bolstered the Taranaki ranks to 6 Cadets. Unfortunately, Isiah Kenny didn’t show today which was a shame. Due to having 4 new ‘X’ rated drivers today, Thomas started off G1 for the heats and the GP. “Tank” was fitted for the tuning run and the new seat had been installed yesterday. After Heat 1, we decided to persevere with “Tank” to put some time on it. The second heat was also good, but “Tank” still hadn’t come alive, but we still stuck with it. Heat 3 was another win for Thomas, but the engine was taken off so we could run “Viper” after reassembly. It sounded great and was straight on the pace in H4 and things were looking good. H5 was a bit of a mystery, as the engine was slower and this had us scratching our heads, as we hadn’t changed anything. The GP rolled around and once again the engine was slower, losing about 800rpm and we were scratching our heads. After a quick phone call to Dane Harte at Performance Zone, we decided to box “Viper” up and send it to Whakatane for inspection. Subsequently, a minor issue was found which has now been sorted easily. Thanks Dane!

Overall, we had 5 wins from 5 starts and are keen to get “Viper” back to its best as we build up toward the North Island Champs in October. Well done to all our new Cadet drivers at KartSport Taranaki...great to have you all along to race with us at the track.

September 15, 2013 - KartSport Manawatu Club Championships Round 3

Leaving things to the last minute is not something we like to do as a team, we like to be prepared to race. However, after learning on Saturday that Manawatu were having a club day, the attraction was too great so we headed for Palmerston North. Thankfully, we were offered accommodation by Chris and Karen Rooney (thanks Chris, Karen, Caitlin and Jackson) for Saturday night and we watched the mighty All Blacks dismantle the Springboks in commanding fashion.

A good early start and breakfast at the local café was great and it set us up for a relaxing day at the race track for a change. With no real pressure on him, Thomas set about to do the best he could and learn some more about the track that has always been our nemesis. Kaleb Ngatoa was kind enough to take Thomas on a “track-walk” to discuss lines etc while I got the kart ready. Three other KartSport Taranaki Cadets had also travelled to Palmerston North to do some learning, so there was a field of 8 drivers ready for action. The weather was good and Thomas got down to business. In H1, Thomas and Jackson had a great battle for the win, with Jackson getting his nose in front. However, his ribs were still very sore from his massive crash in Hawkes Bay last weekend and he could no longer race due to the pain which was a shame. Thomas came out and won H2 from Louis Redshaw. Chris Rooney offered Jackson’s kart to Thomas for a drive in H3 which was great. He liked the kart, but found the seating position quite a bit different to his own. Louis Redshaw pipped us in this heat for the win. Back into our machine for H4 and another win to Louis after a great battle between the boys. H5 was all on and it went down to the wire in the last few corners with Thomas coming out the victor. Following a count-back on the race results, Thomas was declared the winner...the first time at Manawatu! Maybe we have finally broken our “hoo-doo” at this track? The best time of the day was 51.969, which was pleasing in the end.

The team would like to acknowledge the Rooney family for their awesome hospitality and Kaleb Ngatoa for some expert driving tips for Manawatu! Thanks to Graeme Voss from Kiwi Karts for the wheel alignment tips. Thank you to Dane Harte at Performance Zone for the strong engines and special thanks to Plant & Platform Consultants for their massive support as always.

September 29, 2013 - KartSport Taranaki September Club Day

This weekend was supposed to be horrendously wet and miserable, but thankfully that is not how it turned out! Sunday was hot and dry, with a slight wind...almost perfect! We hadn’t anticipated this, so had left Jessica’s kart at home as she prefers to run in dry weather, so that was a bummer! We were missing Isiah Kenny as he was nursing a broken arm which was far from ideal! There were 4 Cadet drivers in total ready to do battle on Sunday morning and we were using the day to test our engines in the lead-up to the North Island Champs in four weekends time. During the week, we had changed the seating position and balance of the chassis so were keen to test the changes. Thomas was very happy with the new setup and drove well all day to secure 6 wins from 6 starts. We tried various combinations of setup and found real gains in some areas which gave the team plenty of confidence going forward. Congratulations to Matthew Podjursky who smashed the existing Formula Junior track record of 28.751, set by Mitch Evans in August 2007! Matt went around the track in 28.431 seconds, so a job well done!

September 6, 7 & 8, 2013 - 46th Annual KartSport Hawkes Bay Blossom meeting

It is always a tough drive to get from New Plymouth to Hastings with the trailer, luckily the Manawatu Gorge is now open again so we opted to drive that way across to the track. Leaving at 5am on Friday morning didn’t thrill either of us, but that’s life! Arriving at around 10:30am, we got set up and got onto the track. “AJ” was fitted and a couple of runs were had. A bit of head scratching and trying combinations meant we found some of the gains we were looking for. Only 6 Taranaki people turned up this year which was a surprise, but there were 24 of the best Cadets in the country at the meeting, so this was going to be a great test for us with the North Island Champs coming up soon. Thomas hadn’t done much racing since NZ Schools, so it was also a good opportunity to clear out any cobwebs! A quiet night at the hotel and a good sleep meant we got to the track early on Saturday morning a little unsure about how the weekend was going to unfold. The weather was great, nice and hot and clear blue skies. Grid draws for the Saturday could have been better (24, 9, 12 and 5) but not much we could do about it. Maddie Wise was really helpful to Thomas, spending time with him walking around and pointing out the fastest way around the challenging circuit in the clockwise direction. H1 rolled around and a great start saw Thomas make his way through the pack well, getting held up for a lap or so and finally ending up in 9th. H2 saw another committed drive to get up to 4th. Things improved in H3, with a great drive from 12th to 2nd and H4 produced a win after an excellent battle with Josh Parkinson, which saw Thomas come out on top in the final corner. These results saw Thomas in 3rd place for the day behind Ryan Wood and Blake Evans.

A nice catch-up with relatives in Puketapu to have dinner and watch the rugby was a great wind-down for the day’s racing. Thomas got to soak in the spa pool, which was good for his stiff muscles! Thanks to Lisa and Chris Gulliemot and Lynn Ward for making it such a pleasant evening! The racing on Sunday was good, although we struggled to find the same pace as Saturday. Thomas drew grids of 8, 20 and 10 which were OK, we just knew he had to pass as many karts as possible in each heat. H5 was good, with a move from 8 to 4th. Good clean and committed driving saw Thomas bring the kart from 20 to 10 in H6, although we seemed to have lost around 600rpm somehow? A carburettor change saw a return to speed for H7 and Thomas drove from 5 to 2nd. There was a nasty crash in this heat, with a few karts coming together on the fastest part of the circuit and one tipping over. Luckily, no-one was seriously hurt and a few wallets suffered some damage, as did a chassis or two! Once the points had been added up, Thomas was sitting in G3 for the final race. Things were going OK and with 1 lap remaining he was in 4th position, until he made a mistake and ended up off the track and backwards into the crash bags. Luckily the engine stayed going and Thomas re-joined the race in 13th spot. This was our worst finish for the weekend, so it was the race we dropped from our points tally. All washed up, Thomas finished this particularly tough weekend of racing in 3rd overall behind a super consistent Ryan Wood from Wellington and a very fast Blake Evans in 1st.

The team would like to acknowledge Grandad Barney for his unwavering commitment to Thomas’s racing, Dane Harte at Performance Zone for his help over the weekend, Maddie and Paul Wise for their support and encouragement, Mat Kinsman for his support and would like to thank Plant & Platform Consultants for their massive support as always. With only 7 weeks until the North Island Championships in Wellington, the team is focussed now on building toward this event.

October 20, 2013 - KartSport Taranaki October Club Day

Another nice weekend of weather which provided a last-minute opportunity to prepare for the North Island Sprint Championships in Wellington next weekend. Both engines were on song and Thomas was keen to see how recent changes in setup would go. There were 4 karts at the track and the race-day was a success, although the track did not seem as fast as usual in our opinion. Nevertheless, Thomas came away with 5 heat wins and a GP win to kick off his Summer Series and GP series points well. Bring on the North Islands!

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April 13 - 14, 2013 - Round 1 2013 CRC Top Half Series, KartSport Mt. Wellington

Thomas and Robert travelled to Auckland on Friday night and met up with Barney. On Saturday, the team arrived at the track to get ready for the practice day. Thanks to Jared Lawson, we had a great spot next to the pit wall for the weekend. The kart was hauled out and set for a day’s tuning and practice. Being the only Taranaki competitor, we were feeling a little isolated, but we had a lot of support from the Lawson’s, Neville Sinclair and a number of others which was great. After a days practice and changing engines, gearing, tuning, setup and general adjusting to find the fastest way around the tight little track, we called it a day. A very nice meal and an early night for all was the order of the day. Robert spent a few hours analysing the new GoPro video from the camera Barney bought in Wellington at the nationals, which provided a number of areas where Thomas could improve his lines etc to make him faster. We also bought some padding for the seat to help with the bruising on Thomas’s LH ribs!

The weather was good Sunday morning as well, so the team was anticipating a fast and competitive day with 21 other Cadets. The tuning run was the last opportunity to remove grip from the kart, as Robert felt this to be the biggest issue the previous day. The result was a much faster kart and more chances to do better than anticipated? H1 was a disaster, with Thomas becoming a “passenger” in a first corner tangle between two other karts and the result being a 14th finishing position (not where we needed to be) and a bent nose-cone. H2 was better, with a 2nd placing, followed by a 4th (from G16) in H3. Thomas won the 5th heat after a good display of driving and some excellent passing on such a challenging track. This placed the kart on G3 for the final, which turned out to be a great battle between local driver “Rocket Man” Ben Morrison and Thomas, with Thomas taking advantage of some lapped traffic to whip down the inside of Ben with 4 corners to go and steal the race win...another awesome drive!. Unfortunately, the 14th place in H1 hampered the points tally, meaning Thomas finished 3rd overall for the day. This series allows you to drop the worst two races at the end of the series, so hopefully this will be one of them! Watching the video afterwards, it was simply a racing incident that happened in the blink of an eye and was unavoidable....that’s racing! We headed home after a good weekend ready for action in Wellington at the last points round of the Supreme Kart Supplies WPKA Goldstar Series on 4 and 5 May. Thanks to all at Mt. Wellington for the great racing and hospitality, thanks especially to Jared and Liam Lawson...cheers guys.

May 4 - 5, 2013 - Round Four, Supreme Kart Supplies WPKA Goldstar Series - KartSport Wellington

It’s always a long drive to Wellington, but so far Thomas has achieved great results at Wynn's Raceway so we’re happy to go. Barney, Thomas and Robert drove down on Saturday morning, arriving just before practise was due to start at 12pm. The kart was armed with “AJ”, who was fresh from a rebuild. Unfortunately, the engine wasn’t fast enough for the level of competition with only having had 17 minutes of running time. So, after much discussion and checking the speed of the others, “Viper” was fitted and ready for duty. Some old tyres were selected in preference to the new rubber, which was causing too much grip and robbing valuable speed from the chassis. Primed for racing, we called it a day and headed to Upper Hutt for a great roast meal and an early night.

The weather was hot and dry on Sunday morning. The tuning run provided some encouraging speed, even with little grip adjusted into the kart. The first heat was outstanding, with Thomas storming from G11 to the front and taking the Heat 1 win. The 2nd heat also yielded a race win from G5 after another great drive. The team was feeling good at this point, but still keen to press on to see how many wins we could score. Ryan Wood managed to pip Thomas across the line in H3, even though we started on G8. Thomas was leading the race until the last two corners, when Ryan was able to sneak past. The kart was starting to develop too much grip again, so more was dialled out of the chassis. This resulted in a race win in H4 and a happy driver again! The points from the first four heats gave Thomas and unassailable lead for the round win, but he lined up in the Final anyway. Ryan managed to pip him again for the race win, ending him up in second place, only 1 point behind Thomas.

A great start to the GP and a fantastic battle between local driver Ryan Wood ensued again, with Ryan once again pipping Thomas across the line for the GP race win. This 2nd place meant Thomas wrapped up the overall GP series win...another awesome result. Following prizegiving, the team packed up and drove back to New Plymouth very content with a good weekend of racing. Congratulations to Jackson Rooney for the overall series win, a great result for his team.

June 1 - 2, 2013 - Championship Round, Supreme Kart Supplies WPKA Goldstar Series - KartSport Taranaki

After a tough game of rugby for his Tukapa team in the morning, Thomas and Robert arrived at the track to try and test the kart. With limited running time since having a new ring, “AJ” was run for the afternoon. Unfortunately, during one of the sessions, a kart spun out at the pits hairpin and collected Thomas’s RR wheel. This lifted the rear of the kart about 1m off the ground. When it hit the ground, the rear axle got badly bent at each hub. Thanks to Supreme Kart Supplies a new axle was sourced and fitted, along with new bearings. Then the RH tie rod was bent during contact with two karts in the very next session! Repairs were made and then “Viper” was fitted in an effort to get some more speed. Finally, we were back on track and the kart was going well. Scrutineering over, the kart was packed away and it was time to head home for dinner.

It rained overnight, leaving the track wet and greasy. The tuning run and first two heats required wets and our tried and tested “wet setup”. The kart was great and things looked to be in good shape. H1 rolled around and Thomas drew grid 2. He got off to a great lead and had a 30m lead on the field with 2 laps to go, when he clipped a wet kerb and turned the kart around all by himself! So...an 8th for H1, not really the start we were looking for! Luckily Thomas redeemed himself by winning H2 from G10 and then recorded a 4th position in H3 after starting from 7th. By now, the slicks had been fitted and the kart was getting faster and faster and Thomas won H4 from G11, placing him on G2 for the final. Another good race unfolded, with a great battle between 3 karts, with Thomas coming out victorious. After dropping his worst race, this left the team with enough points to take the event win! A great result racing the fastest Cadets in the country.

The GP was a disaster, with Thomas starting off G11 and during navigation of the first corner was turned around and the engine stalled, rendering him out of the race. A huge disappointment as he had showed great speed all day until this point, but life’s like that! Happy with the day, the team collected the silverware and headed home.

June 30, 2013 - KartSport Taranaki June Enduro Club Day

The weather wasn’t looking too nice for racing, although the team was committed to trying to secure the 30 lap Enduro Cadet title for the third consecutive year. This was to be the first time this had been achieved. The track was wet, even though there was no rain falling. Wets were fitted and “Viper” was installed to put some more running time on it since an overhaul and in preparation for the NZ Schools meeting in Christchurch next month. The tuning run was good, with the engine sounding crisp and strong. Heat 1 was good, with Thomas winning by 34s. Heat 2 was a good race as well, the engine getting better with each run. The winning margin was only 11s however, after a spin in the greasy conditions. Heat 3 was also good for Thomas, with a race win over Isiah Kenny by 21s.

This meant Thomas started on P1 for the 30 lapper. The team had discussed the strategy for the endurance race, with Thomas planning to pit at around the 20 lap mark to take on fuel, some chain lubricant and a general check-over. The race panned-out exactly as planned, with a quick sprint to the end. After the 30 laps were completed, Thomas finished 3 laps ahead of 2nd-placed Isiah. A few more laps behind were the two newest Cadet drivers at the track, having their first runs in anger. Great to see new karts joining the club, one being the ex-Tom Greig machine from Manawatu. Once Logan Smith gets to grips with this kart, he will go well, as he’s already displaying good signs of speed. A great day at the track, with history being made which was great.

July 6, 2013 - KartSport Taranaki Annual Club Prizegiving

The team attended the annual KartSport Taranaki prizegiving, which was a very successful night. Thomas won the “TKC Cadets Trophy” for the Winter Series, the “Frost Family Trophy” for the Summer Series, the “TKC Hoffman's Family Trophy” for Club Championship, the “WF Lacey Challenge Cup” for the Enduro, the “TKC Cadet GP Trophy” for the GP Series and the “TKC Mackie Winter Special Trophy”.

Jessica also picked up the Junior Yamaha Tried but not Won “Jackson Junior Trophy” for her perseverance in driving but not being able to secure a race win. She was deserving of this award, as she has always tried her best. She sang for the audience at the dinner and was very impressive and made her team exceptionally proud of her. She also played a trumpet duet with her sister on flute which was well received as well. It was nice to see the kids picking up awards for their excellent performance throughout 2012/13.

July 21, 2013 - KartSport NZ Schools Championships, KartSport Canterbury

This was never going to be an easy event to get to. The weather was looking pretty average and the prospect of having to drive 780km in the space of a few days, pack in 2 days of practice and a race-day did not really excite. Throw into the mix the challenge of racing the fastest competitors in the Cadet class in the country and it’s fair to say we were feeling a little pessimistic, but felt we were in with a chance so decided to go for it. The drive took the best part of Tuesday night to get to the Interislander, then another 4 hour stretch to Christchurch. Thomas, Donna, Hannah and Barney were flying, so met me in the Garden City on Wednesday afternoon. We were lucky to have been given the use of a family house while the occupants were overseas, which was awesome (thanks Willy and Katrina!).

The first day of practice was uneventful, allowing us to try a few combinations of chassis setup, although the track was changeable which made it a little tough to nail the best setup. Friday was worse, with overnight rain throwing another variable into the equation and making choices even more difficult. By Friday afternoon we were less than confident and felt we were about 3 or 4 tenths of a second too slow! Luckily we got some expert setup tips and made some significant changes to the chassis on Friday night and planned to test these during the tuning runs on Sunday. We had settled on the engine we were to run and then spent Saturday helping Liam and Jared Lawson in the JR Sodi kart.

I had a trip to “the room” as a witness of an incident. The protest/appeal procedure is an area KartSport NZ needs to sort out, as it was appalling the way this was allowed to stall the meeting for the best part of 3 hours. The result(s) came in the end, but the meeting was a shambles from this perspective.

Sunday saw a fantastic change in the weather, with the previously cold and damp conditions making way for a hot and dry day of fast and furious racing. With two tuning runs, we had the opportunity to test the new setup and Thomas was pretty happy with the changes. He was back on the pace and suddenly filled with confidence again. His grid draws were 8, 15, 18 and 5 which were OK. H1 was a bit of a mess, as Thomas got shoved off in turn 1 by a charging pack, although managed to scramble back on after contact with the crash bags. He drove back to 10th place, which was far from ideal...but that’s racing. Heat 2 was much better, after a good start he carved his way through the field to finish 2nd. The third heat was his best, with a start from 18th and a great drive to get through to 2nd again, despite a red flag for a crash and subsequent rollover. The driver was OK, but the kart was a bit second-hand! As the day had changed since the beginning of racing, I was a little hesitant about making too many changes and we lost a bit of speed in H4, finishing in 2nd. This put us on G2 for the final. The kart was still not as fast as it had been earlier, so we slipped back to 4th. After a solid day, with some great racing we were sitting in 2nd overall and pretty pleased, a good improvement on our 6th placing in Wellington last year. Once the technical inspections were completed, however, it was discovered that there was a technical issue with the engine of the driver in first place and he was subsequently disqualified. A real shame as he had driven well all day. After Paul Wise took our engine through tech, we were confirmed as NZ Schools Champion...a great feeling after a torrid day! This is our second NZ title in 6 months, so we are very happy!

It was a proud moment to see Thomas on the top step of the podium again, as we had all worked hard to get there. The trip home seemed to fly by; even the ferry seemed like fun! Team Boniface has a number of people to thank for this event:

Grandad Barney.....you’re a legend!

John and Matthew Hamilton of WKS Karting Supplies in Christchurch

Paul Wise for taking the engine through tech for us

Dane Harte of Performance Zone for the engine, it was awesome!

Plant & Platform Consultants for their massive support

Jared & Liam Lawson for the support and encouragement