Engine trouble costs Butchart at Sunbelts

Engine troubles on day one cost Matt Butchart a podium finish at the Eyecloud Sunbelt Sprint Championship, unable to reel in Canterbury pair Ryan Yardley and Bailey Paterson, despite finding some scorching speed on the second day.

Nelson's top KZ2 driver gave the rest of the field a taste of what could have been in Blenheim on Sunday, cruising through to win races six and nine, adding to his second placings in races seven and eight.

But Butchart was never going to challenge for the title after engine trouble on day one left him back in the pack with a fourth and three fifth placings, allowing for the consistent Canterbury duo to battle it out for the KZ2 title.

Just one point separated Yardley and Paterson at the end of race nine, with both drivers winning three races and finishing second three times.

With drivers able to scratch out their worst performance across the eight heats and a final, it was Yardley's third versus Paterson's fourth that ended up deciding the title.

The Sunbelt Championship celebrated its 30th year as the premier kartsport event in Nelson and Blenheim, with around 70 entries from across the country competing on Saturday and Sunday.

Aucklander Keith Wilkinson, who was fourth at the national championship, ran away with the Rotax Max Heavy title, winning six of the nine races to easily see off the challenge from runner-up Tayler Forbes of Marlborough and third place getting Kevin Barker of Nelson.

Rotax Max Light champion Ryan Urban would have been happy to scratch his eighth place finish in race seven as it could have seen him fall behind runner-up Daniel Connor.

Urban, who is from Rotorua, won five of the nine races, with Connor winning three.

Canterbury's Lewis Ball took out the Rotax Junior Max class, seeing off Nelson's top place getter Jarod Fisher by 11 points at the top of the standings.

Fisher won races one, five and eight, but Ball's wins in races two, three and four put him in a commanding position after day one before returning to win races seven and nine to take the title.

Canterbury's Jacob Mitchell added another championship to his growing collection, winning the Vortex Mini Rok class after first placings in all of the races in Blenheim.

William Exton of Marlborough was leading the points after day one, but struggled to replicate the performances in his hometown on day two, while Callum Hedge put in a consistent shift to finish third.

Canterbury's Louis Sharp had eight top three finishes, including five wins, to take out the Cadet Rok class.

Callissa Campbell was the only entrant in Cadet Raket and Marlborough's Bob Marr was the only entrant in Junior Yamaha

Article from Phillip Rollo via The Nelson Mail

Photos from Jason Green