2010 Blokart World Championships Day 2, Auckland Team Report

by Ross Vickers on 15 Oct 2010
The 2010 Blokart World Championships finally got underway today after another 8 hour wind delay. Competitors arrived at the new venue at 8am expecting a full days racing, unfortunately the wind forecast was some 8 hours delayed and racing was not able to get started until around 4pm.

Competitors were told that racing at the new venue could continue under lights and to expect to be racing until at least 8pm, making it a very very long day indeed.

During the postponement period the 137 sailors were treated to a demonstration by Jan Meijer of his Jet propelled blokart, the 'JetKart'. When asked how quickly he could make 136 more units the response was 'not quick enough'

Racing got underway with the Performance heavy weight division, in which Auckland club team members Russell Harray and John Nicholson were expected to lead the field. The wind whilst very light allowed racing over the full eight minutes, Harray finishing second and Nicholson a credible fourth in the testing conditions.

Second race for the day was the Performance light weight division, where Kiwi sailors Angus and Gabe Young were expected to perform well. Again racing over the full eight minutes Dutch sailor Jan Meijer won the day with A. Young second and G. Young fourth, the question remains did Meijer forget to remove his jet unit?

The super heavy weight, one ton division got away to the third start for the day minus Auckland Blokart Clubs Dave 'Orca' Bush, who unfortunately fell ill prior to departure from New Zealand. Theo Vondervoort flew the NZ flag finishing first, closely followed by Australia’s Russell Whitehouse and blokart inventor Paul Beckett.

Three other races were taken into their start sequences in the now failing wind, but abandoned when those sailing in the dial up were forced to hand wheel to keep moving. Event organisers have their fingers firmly crossed for more wind tomorrow when the event heads back to the beach for Day 3.

>b>Results:

Race 1:

Performance Heavy Weights:
1st - P Bresan (ESP), second - R Harray (NZL), third - R Chardet (NED)

Performance Light Weights:
1st - J Meijer (NED), second - A Young (NZL), third - J Moleiro (POR)

Performance One Ton:

1st - T Vondervoort (NZL), second - R Whitehouse (AUS), third - P Beckett (NZL)


See www.abc.gen.nz for team reports (under live news) or,
www.blokartworlds2010.com for further event information.