Successful Easter weekend for Rianna Racing

Above: Rianna (69) leading the field into turn 2 at the Hamilton Kart Track in the National Final held last weekend.

Last July College Sport Media profiled Rianna O’Meara-Hunt tearing up the track in the super-competitive sport of KartSport.


Over Easter Rianna attended the KartSport New Zealand 2016 Nationals, the biggest and most prestigious event in the country, and the Year 10 student from Aotea College can now lay claim to the “3NZ” plate for the year for finishing third overall. 


In a field of 26 of the best racers in the country - all boys except her and one other female – Rianna was the most consistent junior driver throughout the event.  She never finished outside of the top three positions in all outings - she qualified in position 3, finished race 1 in 2nd, race 2 in 3rd, she won the pre-final and came 3rd in the final.


Kaleb Ngatoa from Rangitikei College finished first and Callum Hedge from St Kentigern College was second. 
Of note, Ryan Wood from Hutt International Boys’ School who CSM also featured in a story last year, qualified in fourth for the final but was unfortunately knocked off the track by another competitor with two laps to go. 


Over the past several months Rianna has been competing in events all over New Zealand and also in Australia performing well above expectations for her age and experience in this class and is the top performing and most awarded female driver in the country. She constantly races in all male fields of 20 racers and above and certainly gives them more than a run for their money - she is very highly regarded by many in the sport.


She is dedicated and committed to her sport and passion. She puts in the hard yards with a fitness trainer at the gym twice a week who has taken the time and effort to personalise his training methods specifically for what she needs as a racer, and she is either racing or training every weekend.  Since Christmas she has only had two weekends when she has not been in the kart.


Rianna’s team also acknowledges the support that Aotea College provides to Rianna in allowing her the time off to attend events like this and the opportunity that this provides for her to build her self-confidence levels through all aspects of her life by ‘realising her dreams and potential’ through her chosen sport.

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