Placing has young driver 'stoked' | Canterbury News | Local News in Canterbury

St Kevins' College Year 13
student Dean Sutherland
earned third place for his
school at the Kartsport New
Zealand National Schools
Championships in Nelson at the
weekend.

After roaring home  in his
low-set 125cc beast, capable of
doing well over 100km/h, Dean
said he  was ``stoked'' to get a
placing at an event that had

 

attracted more than 100
competitors.

"There were 15 others in my
class, and I've only been doing
it for three years _ so I was
pretty happy to get a placing,''
he said.

For a go-kart racer in
Oamaru, much travel is
required to stay at the top of
the game.

"We go to the club days in
Christchurch about once a
month. There is a track in

 

Dunedin but it's not as good,''
he said.

It was not the first time Dean
had tasted success in the sport,
as he came second in the
Southland Spirit of a National
Championship in Invercargill in
March and third in the same
competition at the same venue
last year.

He was first attracted to the
sport after watching go-kart
action in Dunedin with his
father a few years back.

 

 

In Christchurch, his father
had got talking to Jeremy Cox,
whose son Chris was right into
it and helped the Oamaru-based
father-and-son team (his father
is his mechanic) learn the
ropes. "There's so much to
learn ... it's an awesome
sport,'' Dean said.

The next goal for the young
racer is the South Island
Championships, which will be
 held in Christchurch in
October.