Featured Driver – Tom Maddison
Words and picture kindly submitted by Paul and Lynne Maddison
Tom started karting in 2006, age 7, as a way of drawing his attention away from motocross. As a family we decided four wheels were safer than two!! After his first session on a hire kart we were approached by one of the instructors who suggested his ability belied his age and perhaps we should think of taking up the sport competitively. This set us thinking and a few weeks later we proceeded with the purchase of a second hand Zip Blade.
The excitement of his new hobby was short-lived as within weeks he fell from a tree and broke his arm finishing that season before he started!!
We hoped 2007 was going to be a fresh start, however this was not to be the case. From the first race we were beset with problem after problem, crash after crash, expense after expense, what had we got ourselves into.!! Tom, however was undeterred and managed to achieve a couple of Driver of the Day trophies and numerous top 3 finishes culminating in a fourth place overall in the Warden Law Championship.
2008 started off well with numerous top 3 finishes giving him a healthy lead in the Warden Law Club Championship, however this lead was diminished towards the end of the season resulting in a second place overall.
Toward the end of 2008 we decided that for him to improve he needed to compete on other tracks with larger grids and therefore his MSA license was obtained. He has since visited PFI, Wombwell, Wigan and Teesside.
2009 started with the purchase of a new Intrepid Maky Chassis. He has used this three times so far gaining a 1st place at Warden Law and a 1st place at DYKC in February. At the last Three Sisters meeting, near Wigan, he competed in his biggest field yet of 22 drivers. Starting from the back in each heat, he managed 7th in the first heat, 6th in the second heat, dnf in the 3rd heat as someone spun leaving nowhere for him to go, damaging stub axle, trackrod etc. The situation was bleak as no spares were available so the only option was to try and straighten the parts. This was achieved with the help of the Intrepid team, allowing him to make the grid for the final. He was allocated grid position 6 due to his earlier finishes so we were hopeful of a top 3 finish. It did not take long for our hopes to be dashed as on the warm up lap he was hit from behind and spun putting him in last place again!! After a fantastic drive he had worked his way through the field to finish a very creditable 6th, picking up the 1st Novice trophy on the way.
As this is written he has obtained 4 signatures on his novice license……………1 more to go before he can compete on a level playing field.
In the two years Tom has been competing he and the family have made lots of good friends without whom karting would not be such a pleasure to take part in.