Southern View: August 03, 2023

Thursday August 3 2023 5
National titles continue Kartstore
team’s ‘extraordinary’ three years
THREE NATIONAL titles
in key kartsport development
classes Vortex Mini Rok, Rotax
Light and Cadet Rok – and a
clean sweep of the podium in
VMR – have been highlights so
far this season for the team at
WKS Kartstore.
When you consider director
Matt Hamilton and his father
John have 30 New Zealand
Sprint titles in karting between
them, their success is less of a
surprise.
The team, which has operated
in Christchurch for four decades,
guided Zach Tucker to national
honours in VMR – his third in a
row – Caleb Cross in Rotax Light
and Iver Spence in Cadet Rok,
while Henry Fisher and Aryan
Lala filled the podium with Jack
McGrath fifth in Vortex Mini
Rok.
“We have had an extraordinary
last three years,” said Matt.
“Along with TC Performance,
we have won the last three Cadet
and Mini Rok NZ Sprint titles.
That’s every national sprint title
in those classes since the inception
of the 950 homologated
chassis. And we have won five of
the last six VMR national sprint
titles. It is a great run.
“I love it. Our core focus is the
young guys. They are the ones
travelling and chasing championships.
I love working with
them.”
He said it was very rewarding
to see their passion grow.
“When they get in to it, often
it is just something to try with
the family, but to see it grow to
a passion and see their development
is pretty cool. And it is nice
to help with that.”
Let’s not forget those “young
kids” grow up – and the WKS
Kartstore team have continued
to nurture them.
It’s quite a list, but includes the
likes of Marcus Armstrong, now
in IndyCar; 17-year-old Jacob
Douglas, based in Indianapolis
and impressing in the feeder
class to IndyCar; teenager Callum
Hedge, who has made a successful
start to his Porsche racing
season in Australia; and NZ Elite
Academy winner James Penrose.
The list started with father
John, who began racing karts
in the 1970s and gained success
overseas, mostly in England,
before returning to start the
business in 1981. He drove 100cc
classes in NZ and England.
“He started racing in his mid-
20s – everything was done later
in life. It was not professional
then – just racing for the passion
and the folly,” said Matt.
Matt and sister Fiona grew up
in motorsport and both raced.
Matt raced the 2001 Rotax World
Finals in Malaysia, where he met
a racing team from Bahrain, who
invited him to join them 24-hour
kart racing in Asia.
“Ï was meant to go back to
New Zealand for uni, but instead
I went straight to Oman, and
travelled regularly to the Middle
East, Asia, and Europe, which
was quite exciting. There were
no race car tracks in the Middle
East so karting and rally were
the focus. It was quite big and
attracted big sponsors and backers,”
Matt said.
The team was backed by the
Crown Prince of Bahrain, and
with their help, Matt’s intention
was to compete in Formula
Renault in the UK. When that
programme wound down, Matt
returned home to race successfully
for the Karcher team in the
Toyota Racing series, winning
the Lady Wigram Trophy, and
eventually moving to Auckland
to work for the sponsor. There,
he met Ron Dixon who helped
him into Indy Lights in the USA.
“The Indy Light experience
was amazing. It was a huge step
up and a culture shock. It was
more ovals than road courses.
This was a completely new
experience for me, unlike the
guys I was racing against, some
of which had been racing on
ovals since they could first drive
a go-kart.
“You go to the fairgrounds
on a Sunday mornings and kids
are racing staggered go karts on
circle tracks, that was the American
culture. The cars were big
GOING
STRONG: Tiffany
Chittenden (left),
Zach Tucker,
Henry Fisher, Iver
Spence, Jack
McGrath and
Matt Hamilton
continue
to build on
Kartstore’s
success.
PHOTO:
EMILEE JANE
PHOTOGRAPHY
powerful V8s and it was a steep
learning curve.
“We were a one-car team
with a very limited budget, and
while it could not last, it was an
unforgettable and rewarding
experience.”
Matt returned home, and
after a stint with Team Kiwi in
Australia racing V8s, he joined
his father in the business in
Christchurch, developing the
burgeoning karting operation,
supplying karts and parts, building
engines, and establishing the
race team.
Racing has now taken a back
seat to help the youngsters, but
you’ll still see Matt in a race
car where he can – in 2022, he
became the only racer in NZ history
to add The Wigram Cup to
his Lady Wigram Trophy.
Over the last decade Matt has
been joined by Tiffany, threetime
British Kart Champion and
arguably the best female karter
to grace the sport in Europe.
TC Performance was launched,
which has greatly complimented
the WKS operation, providing
one-on-one coaching and
advanced high-performance tuition
in and out of the kart, and
race-craft guidance.
“There has always been a
huge amount of talent running
through here. While Tiff and I
are at races with the race team,
then Dad is at home looking
after the business and building
engines. It is working well.”
The reward is to see the development
of the young drivers – in
and out of the kart.
“They are a group of young
people who work well together,
and share data, which is not easy.
They get to use the previous data
from the likes of Jacob Douglas,
then likewise they understand
that others will view their data to
help us improve them as drivers
too,” said Matt.
“They are all such great
kids. Jacob and Marcus, for
instance, have both turned into
great people. We would not be
working with them if they were
not good kids. That is the most
important and rewarding part of
what we do.”
Time for a new
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