The signwriter was Hawke’s Bay
karter Maddison Wise’s first stop
upon his return home from the weekend’s North Island karting
championships in Wellington
today.
“He
was over the moon and I can’t blame him. . . he’s Hawke’s Bay’s first North Island champion
since 2003,” said proud dad Paul.
“He can’t wait to get to the ‘ signwriter to have the Nil
written on his kart,” said Wise snr as
they drove home.
“His favourite drink is Red Bull. He’ll need a bit of that to fill the cup. . . it’s as big as Maddison (pictured right) is,” he quipped.
Ten-year-old Maddison ,a year five pupil at
Bledisloe School, won the North Island cadet class
title with four wins from four starts.
Aucklander Joel Herbert was second and Hawke’s
Bay’s Mitchell Turner third.
The last Bay driver to win a NorthIsland title was Paul
Ross with his victory in the Rotax Max Lights class in 2003. Earlier this year Maddison won the New Zealand
Schools title for primary and
intermediate drivers and the cadet class title at the September Blossom
Festival on his home track.
His next major meeting will be the Blenheim-hosted
nationals in March.
Hawke’s Bay’s Zac
Zaloum was the next best of the Bay
drivers with a second placing in the Yamaha Lights as well as a sixth in the Rotax Heavy class. Nick Heywood was
fifth in the open class and Donna
Lee 10th in the Yamaha Heavy class.
In their first appearances at the North Island
champs the Price brothers, Andrew and Stephen, were 15th and 16th respectively in the Yamaha Heavy class.
Hawke’s Bay’s Mike Wilson was
the meeting commentator and he said he was rapt to be mentioning Hawke’s
Bay so often during the weekend.
