Karters on home track over Easter

A pathway for the next Liam Lawson or Shane Van Gisbergen opens up in Blenheim this weekend, as KartSport Marlborough hosts the 2024 Nationals over Easter.

One hundred and seventy drivers from across New Zealand and Australia are gathering for an exciting long weekend of racing on the Wither Road track.

And seven local drivers will be defending their home tarmac throughout the eight divisions of racing from March 29-31.

“We’ve been inundated with entries and even some Australians have crossed the ditch to join this awesome event”, says KartSport Marlborough’s Lynne Broughan.

“It is the largest karting event to be hosted in the South Island in the last 10 years, so it’s a credit to the KartSport Marlborough facility and having a wonderful region for visitors to want to make the effort to come and visit.”

There are eight classes of karting national championships to be crowned – and Lynne hopes some Marlborough drivers will use their hometown knowledge for good performances on the big stage.

“We have seven quality local drivers competing at this event, a wonderful opportunity for our local club members to be involved in the pinnacle event without the extra travel headaches that we often face.

“While Willie Exton, Archie Botham and Arthur Broughan are experienced attendees at these events, it will be the first National Championship outing for Will Finch and Josh McConway in the Vortex Mini Rok, Cadet driver Taylor Costello, and Rotax Light driver Riley Price.”

Arthur is doubling his chances for a national title, competing in both the Rotax and DVS classes, while Willie and Archie join Riley in the Rotax Light senior division.

Qualifying for the KartSport Nationals is from Friday afternoon from around 1.30pm, with Saturday and Sunday racing starting from 9am with Sunday’s finals race from around 12pm, and free viewing.