Family left devastated at theft of son’s race gear in van
A MIDDLESBROUGH family have been left devastated after a van was snatched from their drive overnight – containing their 11-yearold’s racing gear.
Raf Ali was stunned when he peered out of his window in the early hours of yesterday to find his camper van was no longer parked on the drive.
Loaded in the vehicle were racing gear and equipment belonging to his son Haris, who is due to take part in the next round of the Ultimate Karting Championship.
The 50-year-old said the van was filled with his son’s tools, tyres, helmet and suit.
The family, who have lived at the Linthorpe property for 13 years, have now launched a social media plea – hoping to spread the word and get the van back as quickly as possible.
The dad-of-three told the Gazette: “We are going to race at a national championship this weekend in Durham, and we are doing round two of it.
“We were preparing to go for that this weekend and official testing starts tomorrow, so I packed the van up with all the gear.
“The car went in the back of the van, the engine, all of our tools, our helmets, race gear and everything. At about 9.30pm, I locked the van up and went to bed.”
Raf woke up to some noise outside his home around 4.15am and, when he looked out the window, he noticed the van had disappeared.
He called the police and, after scanning the CCTV, saw people “turn up at the house, start up the van, and leave” at around 11.57pm on Wednesday evening.
“The car, his helmet, his suit, his boots, the engine, the tyres, the wheels, the tools. This is stuff that we have built up over three years of karting. I’d say it was anything between £7,000 and £10,000,” said Raf.
Haris started getting into racing during the first lockdown, “becoming part of the family” at Teesside Karting. Last year, he did a national championship and finished in fifth place.
They opted to step it up a level, now taking part in national Motorsports level racing. They were due to take part at the Ultimate Karting Championship round this weekend, which is taking place at Warden Law, in Sunderland.
Raf said he hasn’t told Haris about the van being taken – instead he wants to get the word out further in the hope of its safe return.
On a positive note, he said that the karting community had rallied together to help the family out, with people providing everything from a suit to an engine.
The van has a number of distinctive features including an Auckland race trucks logo on the back quarter panel, a Union Jack sticker with the number 46 just above the passenger side wing, an extra high roof, and black 20in alloy wheels.
A Cleveland Police spokesperson said: “We would appeal for anyone with information to contact Cleveland Police on the 101 number quoting reference number 094955.
“You can pass information anonymously to independent charity Crimestoppers online at www.crimestoppers-uk. org or by phoning 0800 555 111.”