Kiwi Josh Bethune earns Rotax Grand Final ticket

Kiwi karter Josh Bethune has earned a place on the United States team at this year’s Rotax Max Challenge Grand Final in Italy in October after a dominant Rotax DD2 class win at the big Stars & Stripes Open meeting in Pittsburgh, PA, last weekend.

After qualifying a close second to eventual class runner-up Race Liberante, 16-year-old Bethune dominated the class races, setting the quickest race lap each time on the way to winning all three heats as well as the Pre-Final and Final.

“Bethune ran away with this one,” said event co-commentator Stephen Mallozzi. “He put on an absolute clinic in DD2.”

Bethune, is originally from Dunedin but for the past three years has lived and raced out of Auckland. He is a former North and South Island Junior class title holder now pursuing a career in karts and single seater racing cars here and in the US.

After finishing second in the NZ Formula F1600 class last season he was selected to join Motorsport NZs Elite Motorsport Academy and this year he has been based in the United States where his main focus has been the US Formula 4 single-seater championship.

This year’s Rotax Max Challenge Grand Final is being held at Italy’s Sarno circuit near Naples between October 19 & 26.

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