A Rotorua boy has won third place at the North Island Sprint Karting Championship in New Plymouth during Labour Weekend, despite having five months off racing because of a broken arm and collarbone.
It was a long four days at the KartSport Taranaki Todd Energy Raceway for the Evans family but it all paid off for Year Four Otonga School pupil Blake Evans, 8, who posted the fastest lap in the final and landed the podium finish.
With an average speed of 67.9km around the 700m track, Blake was only half a second behind first and second place in the 25-lap race.
Blake said when he crossed the finish line he thought 'wow', and his dad and mum, Darryl and Leah Evans, were so excited they were yahooing and screaming with lots of hugging going on.
"The first thing I did was congratulate the winner, Callum Hedge from Tauranga," he said.
Mrs Evans said Blake was severely disadvantaged against older, heavier and stronger racers, and weighed in at just 20kg, which made him the smallest, as well as the youngest, of the 22 racers in the 6- to 12-age group cadet class.
"He was absolutely sensational, I knew he was going to get a podium finish because I believe in him 500 per cent and I am his number one fan," she said.
Blake had just recovered from his right arm being broken in three places from a jungle gym accident and a broken collarbone and dislocated shoulder from a crash, where his kart flipped three times.
"We had to put weights in his kart to bring him up to the same weight as his competitors, so he was driving a heavier kart," Mrs Evans said.
Mr Evans said New Zealand produced some of the best karters in the world and they were at the competition and all went to watch the younger racers.
"There were 130 racers from all classes who came to watch and clap the cadets on because they were so much more exciting to watch," he said.
Blake has been racing for2 years and said he wants to be a Formula One driver like his favourite Red Bull team drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.
Blake also has a special relationship with younger sibling Logan, 7, who was working his way through getting his karting licences to be able to compete at national events like his big brother.
"Blake is my number one bro," he said.
Mrs Evans said the boys would eventually compete against each other next year at the same race meet and possibly at the nationals in 2014.
"Both boys are respectful of each other, fiercely competitive and it already makes for good dinner table debates," she said.