Cream of the racing crop

By Stephan Lehman

Edenvale resident Kian Lawrenson lives life in the fast lane, zipping round corners and speeding around the racetrack.

The 12-year-old was recently crowned the ZA1 Champion in the Ninja Class at the World of Motor Sport South Africa (Womza) National Oval Championships held at Polokwane Raceway on September 9 where he also received his womza colours.

On the day he left the other 15 competitors in his dust while he blazed ahead in his 60cc Coma engine- powered kart.

Lawrenson said when he and his family arrived on September 8 they discovered there was trouble with his normal engine and he had to make use of his spare engine.

After replacing the engine, there was not enough time to set the spare engine. Despite this setback, Lawernson emerged victorious.

He said he had to use the spare motor which he was unable to ‘run in’ and set right properly.

“After the race, winning never hit me. A day later when I realised I had won, I was so happy,” said Lawrenson.

Lawrenson started racing at the age of four when he was racing on 50 cc ‘pee wee’ bikes.

At the end of his first racing season he walked away with the national and Walkerville Speed Club Championship titles for his age group.

At the age of eight Lawrenson switched over to riding KTM 50s and at 11 years old he moved to speedway bikes.

His mother, Rachelle Pretorius, said at the time he was the only child on speedway bikes and was racing against competitors much older than he was.

Over the years Lawrenson has accumulated a long list of awards. He has also sustained a few injuries along the way.

He said the worst was when he was on his speedway bike last year and was thrown off when the bike’s peg was caught in the track while he was navigating a corner.

“The throttle jammed and I was thrown off,” said Lawrenson.

As a result of his fall Lawrenson’s back went into spasm and he was rushed to a trauma hospital with a suspected broken back.

Luckily for Lawrenson all he needed to return to racing was physio.

Pretorius said it was a major relief when she learnt her son had not been seriously injured.

She said because of the injuries her son sustained, it was decided he move away from racing bikes for the moment.

Lawrenson said when he is not on the race track he is hard at work academically or playing sport.

His biggest aspiration is to race either in the Formula 1 or Nascar category – one day.

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