Wins Keep Coming for Caleb Cross
| driver press | 12 September 2013 |
| Tweet | |
The wins keep on coming for Caleb Cross, the 13-year-old Christchurch karter recently signed to a long-term management agreement by Australian motorsport marketing and management company Velocity Management Group.
The Velocity Management Group is a specialist sponsorship, marketing and driver management consultancy which numbers amongst others Kiwi-born V8 Supercar sensation Scott McLaughlin on its books.
Second-generation racer Cross, son of former New Zealand kart and car champion Hamish Cross, was signed on the strength of a CV which already included North Island and New Zealand Schools' titles in the Cadet class and South Island and New Zealand titles in Junior Restricted 100cc Yamaha.
Above: Christchurch 13-year-old Caleb Cross (#66) on his way to winning the 100cc Junior Yamaha class at the 46th annual Blossom sprint kart meeting in the Hawke's Bay last weekend
pic -
Fast Company/Chris Morris
Since inking the contract with Velocity in July that run has continued, the Year 8 student at Christchurch's Medbury School winning the Junior Restricted 100cc Yamaha title (as well as being part of the winning Primary/Intermediate team with schoolmate Marcus Armstrong) at KartSport New Zealand's annual National Schools' Championship in Christchurch, and winning the 100cc Junior Yamaha class at the season-opening Blossom meeting in the Hawke's Bay last weekend.
Though he has just moved up from the Junior Restricted 100cc Yamaha (10 to 14 yrs) class to the 100cc Junior Yamaha (12-17 yrs) class, and the Blossom meeting was only his second in the heavier and more powerful category Yamaha-powered karts, Cross won the first heat on Saturday afternoon then spent the rest of the weekend battling with former New Zealand Junior Restricted 100cc Yamaha class champion - and current 100cc Junior Yamaha class pace-setter - Jacob Cranston from Palmerston North, and top Hamilton driver Campbell Joyes for the class win.
A clash in the first heat race on Sunday saw him back in eighth place when the flag came out but he fought back to finish the sixth heat third and the seventh second before winning the Final to end the weekend tied on 14 points with Cranston.
In a circumstance like this the organisers to go to a countback to break the deadlock and when they did so it was Cross who got the nod.
The fast-rising young race, whose ultimate goal is to race V8 Supercars for a top team here and in Austrlaia, was full of praise for his new rivals after the meeting saying that the pace up front was 'just like the Nationals.'
"All the other boys - Jacob, Campbell, Caleb Huston and Taylor Harte - drove really well and made me work for every pass. Because I knew the track from racing there before I didn't have to learn the lines but it was still a big job working out where all the braking and turn-in points were with the new kart because it is a lot quicker. After two days testing and two racing I was also pretty tired at the end. But we got the result we wanted so it was worth it. "
Now that he has moved up to the 100cc Junior Yamaha class the next challenge for Cross is the annual Island title meeting over Labour Weekend.
Having already won North Island and National Schools' titles in the Cadet class and the South Island, New Zealand and National Schools' trifecta in Junior Restricted 100cc Yamaha he'll certainly be one of the drivers to keep an eye on.
