McKays mow down rivals at kart champs
While other Cantabrians spent their Easter weekend hunting chocolate eggs, strolling the Port Hills, or watching Warbirds over Wanaka, one husband and wife duo zipped at neck-breaking speed on metal karts to collect a national title each.
The NZ Grass Kart Championship, which was hosted by the South Canterbury Family Kart Club this weekend, saw about 250 drivers race at speeds of up to 130kph.
Engineer Quinton McKay secured his fourth consecutive national title from the competition – but he certainly doesn’t consider grass karting an easy sport. “It’s a different type of skill set – you’ve got to be on your toes the whole time,” he said.
McKay has been driving grass karts for about seven years and attributes his victories to a successful background in motocross.
The father-of-two decided to switch to karting as he “got a bit older”, but the extra set of wheels doesn’t stop him satisfying his need for speed.
“Getting man and machine working together, that’s what I like ... when you feel connected to the ground and you can just feel it all working together.”
McKay’s wife Connie also took home a national title after just four years karting, thanks to a lifetime of competitive horse riding and supportive friends.
“It definitely takes the team to be able to win, the support from them has been amazing,” she said.
The pair’s children, Jenson, 7, and Deanna, 5, have already started their grass kart careers under the expert watch of their parents.
Connie said grass karting is definitely a male-dominated sport, but “it would be really wicked if more women were involved”.
“I find a lot of women struggle racing with the guys but I love it, I love the challenge of the guys, I love the aggression of the guys,” she said.
She encouraged anyone interested in grass kart racing to watch a few races or even have a spin on someone’s kart as “everyone’s very friendly”.
The Christchurch Grass Karts Club holds race meetings on the first Sunday of every month at Weedons Ross Rd.