KARTING - Young speedsters burning up track

IT'S NO SURPRISE that Thomas McLean's favourite PlayStation games are driving games.
The Whangarei karter is on target to finish well ahead of the rest of the field in the cadet class of the Top Half Series. The 10-year-old will lift the title at his second attempt after finishing fifth last year, if he finishes the final round of the series in Auckland on July 27, in the same way as he has dominated the first three meetings - on the podium.
WRC Rally, MX Unleashed and V8 Supercars are among McLean's favourite games but he said that when you're playing the real thing, you don't get the benefit of replays.
"With the game you have controllers and you can crash and bash up people, karting is more like a non-contact sport, which means you have to be a lot more careful, when you're in the kart," he said.
At speeds of more than 80km/h - that's a good reason why he's right on top of his game.
McLean has an almost unassailable lead in the series and knows the track well after racing there "heaps of times" before.
"I'm 27 points clear of my closest rival but it's not really about the points, you've got to be consistent throughout the round if you want to win," he said.
McLean said having the right car certainly helps and he has his father Murray, who is his pit-crew chief, to thank for that.
He is a lot more focused on his driving this year in his third year of driving karts - and it shows, he's enjoying being the guy at the front of the field that everyone else wants to beat.
As the final day of the series approaches, McLean is thankful he has his buddy Cameron Taylor racing alongside him.
Although Taylor has only a year's experience racing karts, he too has been impressive in the Top Half series, moving from a tail-end charlie at the start to become a consistent race driver. In the two most recent races in the series, the 10-year-old has been feeling more at home in the top 10 and finished second behind McLean in the Te Puke round.
Taylor is planning more of the same for the final series but is planning to continue in the cadet series next season and carry on from where McLean leaves off this year and will possibly take over his kart next year.
McLean will graduate from the cadet class this year no matter how he does in Auckland and will race in the junior restricted class next year.