Clay Van Eerd, is used to facing the best go-kart drivers from across Canada and North America. Soon, however, the 15-year-old Blenheim resident will have a bigger pool of competitors to face, as he’ll be taking on the world at the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in Valencia, Spain this November.
To qualify, Van Eerd spent much of his summer travelling across the country, utilizing races on the West Coast to punch his ticket to the worlds.
“My karting season was one of the best I’ve had,” said the Grade 10 student, who also plays football for the Bobcats at Blenheim District High School. “I’ve loved being in a kart every week. The biggest highlight for me was winning a ticket to the worlds in Spain.”
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To win that ticket, Van Eerd had to have the fastest kart at the Western Canadian Championships this past August in a six-race series spanning two events in Regina Sask., and Chilliwack, B.C. He did just that, winning the Regina event outright and taking home enough points in British Columbia to secure his spot at the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals.
Van Eerd is now in his final year of Junior karting eligibility, and although competing with Team Canada at the Worlds is a dream come true, it could also mark the end of his karting career if he decides not to advance to the Senior ranks.
“I’m looking forward to joining Team Canada in Spain,” said Van Eerd. “It’s a dream come true for me and my family, but after Spain my karting career might come to an end.
“Karting is a very expensive sport and my parents want more family time,” said Van Eerd about the possibility of the Worlds being his final event.
If his karting career does come to an end following his trip to the Rotax World Finals as a part of Team Canada, he’ll leave a list of championships behind him. In Spain, however, Van Eerd is only focusing on leaving his competition behind him, and ending his year on top.
“My goal for the worlds is to make the main event,” said Van Eerd. “There are 81 other drivers, and only 34 get in. Also, to just make this the best race I’ve ever had and to push myself to get up there for a podium position. That would be a huge goal, but it’s a goal I would love to achieve.”
Considered one of Canada’s top kart drivers at the Junior level, a podium finish is within reach for Van Eerd, who entered karting more than five years ago on the recommendation of a family friend, and has loved the sport ever since.
“They put me in a kart and I loved it and decided this is what I want to do,” said Van Eerd, who most recently competed at the Canadian Karting Championships in Mont Tremblant, Que., where he finished in the top 10 after blowing his clutch.
Now, Van Eerd will end his season doing what he loves most, racing, at the Worlds, which run from Nov. 25-29 at the Autodromo Kartódromo Internacional Lucas Guerrero Chiva in Valencia, Spain.
“I enjoy the thrill and intensity karting gives me,” said Van Eerd in anticipation of climbing behind the wheel in Spain. “Racing is just what I love to do.”
