Kartsport BoP already looking forward to spring meetings

Kartsport Bay of Plenty president Daniel Samuelson with son Tanner, 5, and daughter Kahli, 11, at the raceway in Te Puke. Photo / Stuart Whitaker

There may be a winter between now and then, but Kartsport Bay of Plenty is already looking forward to spring.

The club, whose Apparelmaster Raceway is on Alley Rd, just outside Te Puke, will host a round of the Top Half Series and the North Island karting championships during October.

Club president Daniel Samuelson says the weekend before the Top Half event is likely to see a big field of karts for the October club day.

The club won't be shutting up shop before then, however, with club days continuing through the colder months and the track available to use every day except Wednesdays.

"This October is shaping up to be a big one," says Daniel.

"We have a round of the Top Half series that is run across four of the North Island tracks each season, on October 8-9. A week before that we have a club day and then Labour Weekend we've got the North Island champs, which will have anything from 80-120 [entries] on a normal year.

"This year is the first time it has run for a little while because of Covid, so it's going to be big."

He anticipates the club day in October will also be a popular meeting with drivers keen to familiarise or refamiliarise themselves with the track.

The club is in the process of installing a gantry across the track for race control lights and lap counting.

Funding for the majority of the lights has come from the Lion Foundation.

The gantry is a requirement of Kartsport New Zealand.

Five-year-old Tanner Samuelson practising at Kartsport BoP's Te Puke track. Photo / Stuart Whitaker

"Nationally they have said all clubs need to come up to spec and get a gantry over the track. They are trying to get in line with FIM [motorsport's international ruling body] requirements so it's the same around the world - you are looking at the same set of lights, the same lap boards, everything," says Daniel.

At present flags and lap counting is manual.

"It's been working fine for years, but it's another person you've got to find on a race day - we are all volunteers so anything that means we need fewer people is good."

The next monthly club day is on May 29.

"Covid has slowed us down a bit. On a good day, we get around 50 drivers, so we managed to keep numbers below 100, so it hasn't been too bad.

"We did have to drop one this year because half our committee had Covid."

Daniel and his wife Shay's two children are finding their way in kart racing.

Tanner, 5, can practice, but won't be able to race until he is 6 - which isn't far away. His first meeting will be at Edgecumbe on June 13 when he will be in the 6- to 9-year-olds group.

His sister Kahli, 11, has done four race meetings in the 9-13s.

Kahli Samuelson has four race meetings under her belt. Photo / Stuart Whitaker

She says there is a lot she likes about the sport.

"It's a bit of fun and I'm learning some stuff," Kahli says.

One is patience. At her second race meeting she spun out, got hit and broke her thumb, so wasn't able to race again for five weeks.

Daniel also races, highlighting that it is a family sport. "Racing's serious when you're on the track, but when you're not on the track it's a bit of fun."

He says the club is in a pretty strong position.

"It's a good friendly club and we even have people from Auckland calling, wanting to join the club."

As well as the new gantry, just prior to the Covid-19 lockdown, work was finished on removing a deep drain that ran through the pit area, making it much safer, and the club is looking at funding options to find around $160,000 to resurface the track. It will then look at the possibility of extending the track by another 180m.

And as with real estate, location is everything.

"We are pretty lucky that within an hour we've got Tokoroa, Hamilton, Rotorua and Edgecumbe," says Daniel.