Holly races to victory
Holly said she will do the sport for as long as she is still having fun.
WHEN Holly saw her father racing on a gokart, she thought, ‘I can do that’ and she gave it a shot and landed herself the Novice of the Year trophy.
The Novice of the Year award recognises new racers who have done well and it looks at all age groups.
Seven-year-old Holly Joy Pieterse, who attends Atholl Heights Primary School and lives in Pinetown, started kart racing last year.
Holly traded her pink toys and dolls for a sport that may be highly perceived as a ‘boy sport’.
Kart racing or karting is a variant of open-wheel motorsport with small, open, four-wheeled vehicles called karts, go-karts, or gearbox/shifter karts, depending on the design. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits. Karting is commonly perceived as the stepping stone to the higher ranks of motorsports.
Holly’s dad, Jonathan, is the KwaZulu-Natal gokart champion and he started when he was 10 years old, so this sport surely runs in family.
“My wife and children came to watch me race once and the children started fooling around with the gokarts and they liked it,” he said.
Jonathan said what he likes about this sport is that the whole family can get involved – Holly and her father are part of the KZN Kart Club.
When asked why she loves the sport, she said, “I like karting because I get to beat all the boys and when I get older I have a chance to travel around the world.”
Holly said she will do the sport for as long as she is still having fun. She also likes ballet, swimming and netball.
If any parents want their children to get involved in gokarting, contact Jonathan on 082 337 2139.
