Jamie's drive to succeed

Northcote student Jamie Thompson’s incredible driving skills saw him race his way to second place at the recent 2023 Kartsport NZ Nationals in Palmerston North.

Jamie was competing in the Junor Rotax class at the nationals against 26 top drivers from all over NZ, racing against other drivers aged from 13 to 16. The Palmerston North track length is 957m and Jamie completes a lap in 44.3sec.  The final races for Junior Rotax are 18km (20laps) long with Jamie doing an average speed around 73.8kph and a top speed of 75.5kph.

During the four-day event, he qualified in P1 (first) for Junior Rotax class, winning heats and coming away from the first race day on top, and won the pre-final on the second day. In the final race he crossed the line first by 1.683 seconds – only to be given a 3-second penalty because of a start line infringement and be relegated to second place.

Jamie displayed incredible driving skills, determination, and maturity on and off the track. His goal to be invited to drive in the World Champs later this year is still within reach.