Karting is often considered one of the purest forms of motorsport. The raw speed from such a light machine is staggering. The requirement for precision without aid is demanding. The highs are unbelievably high, and the lows are excruciatingly low.
For young racers Nico Thomasen and Van Merrett, karting is more than just a sport — it’s a way of life. They live and breathe the competition, dedicating countless hours to their craft. Both drivers underlined their status as rising stars with standout performances at this year’s Kartsport New Zealand National Sprint Championship.
In one of the country’s most competitive junior categories, Vortex Mini Rok, Thomasen emerged as national champion after a commanding drive in the final. Merrett completed an impressive charge to second place following a weekend that nearly did not happen at all.
However, these results were not the result of a fluke or luck. Many years of hard work, support, and determination enabled them to perform when it was needed. As with anything, success can be traced back to a long journey to the top.
For Thomasen, the 11-year-old, motorsport has been in the blood. After his father raced a variety of cars, it seemed like a natural step to follow in his footsteps, having been exposed to motorsport so early.
For Merrett, it was a similar start. While his father was racing superstocks, the family went along to watch a family friend race at the Rotorua kart track when Van was nine. From there, after being hooked instantly, he asked his dad if he could join the fun.
Although this seems like many years ago to the young lads, neither has been short of success throughout their careers.
Thomasen has a plethora of titles to his name, including 2x North Island Sprint Championship titles, a National Schools title, a Top Half title, 2x New Zealand Karting Grand Prix titles, and was recently crowned New Zealand National Sprint Champion in the Vortex Mini Rok class.
Merrett, while racing for significantly less time than Thomasen, has had multiple notable championship finishes, including a third in the Top Half series and a fifth in the Hampton Downs Racing Academy Kart Stars series.
For both drivers, the achievement they are most proud of is their recent success at the 2026 Kartsport New Zealand National Sprint Championships.
Events as large and competitive as these are rarely predictable. Competitive drivers often over-subscribe fields, crashes occur, which change starting grids, and one error can kill your chance at glory.
Merrett entered the event with more uncertainty after struggling for pace earlier in the season, but a breakthrough during the final pre-event test session changed everything.
“We found quite a bit of pace, and then we were like, ‘Okay, we might actually have a chance,’” Merrett explained.
Preparation leading into nationals became critical. With track access limited in the weeks leading up to the event, both drivers leaned heavily on simulator training and data analysis to stay sharp, with team coach Daniel Connor leading the way.
“A couple of months prior, if we’ve got a big meeting, we’ll just get that track downloaded and spin laps there every single day,” Merrett said.
Thomasen believed the simulator work became one of the biggest advantages of their campaign.
“It was very important considering it’s basically like you’re in a kart,” he said.
Qualifying immediately proved how fine the margins would be. Thomasen made the most of a bad situation, qualifying P2 after encountering brake issues and being left without a tow.
“My brakes were dragging. I was still qualified for P2, and I had no tow, which didn’t help,” he explained.
Merrett’s session was more chaotic. Traffic and interrupted laps left him buried further down the order than expected.
“I was trying to get my three good laps, but two of them were taken by somebody slowing me up or cutting across,” he said.
“Qualifying basically sets your weekend. You don’t want anything to go bad.” Thomasen said earlier in the interview.
In typical Vortex Mini Rok fashion, the opening heat immediately delivered drama. Thomasen was shuffled backwards at turn one before fighting back through the field despite ongoing brake issues.
“Basically, my brakes were dragging again, so it was basically just a dogfight that race,” he recalled.
Even so, he still emerged with the win, while Merrett charged through the pack to finish fourth.
As the weekend unfolded, the pair continued working closely together through drafting, data sharing and analysing each other’s driving.
“That helps a lot,” Thomasen said of their teamwork.
Merrett credited Thomasen’s support and data as a major factor behind his pace throughout the weekend, with Thomasen adding that “data is a massive thing to your overall success.”
The pressure only intensified as the final approached, as years of preparation came down to one race. Thomasen started from the front and knew the race would be a “dogfight”, but once the kart came alive, confidence quickly grew.
“Once my tyre pressures came up, I started to build a gap,” he said. “Five laps from the end, I basically knew that I had it.”
Merrett’s final was considerably more frantic. Locked in a fierce battle pack, he repeatedly traded positions before finally breaking clear late in the race.
“I got back to second and just tried to push as hard as I could,” he said.
As the laps wound down, Merrett realised the result was within reach.
“Second to last lap, I gained like a two-second gap, and I was like, ‘Okay, no mistakes now,’” he recalled.
When the chequered flag finally fell, a lifelong dream had been achieved for Thomasen – a national sprint title under his belt. For Merrett, although not where he set out to finish, a second place after huge questions about whether he would even compete is a monumental achievement within itself.
It is clear to both the young drivers that overseas racing is well on the cards in the future. With Thomasen expected to jet off to Italy for the ROK Cup later this year, both drivers have also been competing in the Australian Karting Championship and other races across the ditch.
Thomasen first raced in Australia several years ago at Ipswich before later returning to contest Australian Kart Championship rounds and high-profile events such as Oakleigh’s Top Guns meeting, where he was invited to race for the JND Kart team run by former Supercars driver Nick Percat.
Despite suffering poor luck at several meetings, including mechanical issues and contact while charging through the field at AKC Coffs Harbour, Thomasen believes the intensity of overseas competition has rapidly improved his racecraft and ability to race aggressively in large packs.
“There’s just so much competition,” Thomasen said. “It helps with the battling heaps.”
Merrett has also built substantial Australian experience through campaigns at Oakleigh, Golden Power and AKC events, with the young Kiwi even travelling to Australia by himself earlier this year to continue testing and racing at Puckapunyal ahead of further competition. He believes the experience gained overseas has sharpened nearly every aspect of his driving, particularly racecraft, reaction time, and his ability to adapt to different tyre compounds and track conditions.
“It helps with passing, reaction time, and just having time on a different compound,” Merrett explained.
Both drivers admitted that one of the biggest challenges in karting is dealing with setbacks in the moment, particularly in categories like Vortex Mini Rok where one incident or mechanical problem can completely derail a weekend.
Thomasen and Merrett said the key is to immediately reset mentally and focus on the next session.
Thomasen also explained that after difficult moments, whether it be contact, penalties or mechanical dramas, his approach is just to “keep pushing” and “never give up.” He said that experience gained over years of racing has helped him remain calm under pressure and continue attacking races, even when circumstances are against him.
Merrett approaches setbacks similarly, explaining that frustration can often become motivation once the helmet goes back on.
“I just try to use the not-so-good result as a mongrel to fight through the field,” he said.
Both drivers had to rely on their own advice in Australia from the 15th to the 17th of May, where the Kiwi duo faced different fortunes throughout the weekend.
Thomasen endured a rollercoaster weekend but still emerged with a strong overall result. After qualifying P2 despite being down on straight-line speed compared to his teammates, mechanical limitations hurt his ability to break away in races, although he still showed front-running pace throughout the weekend.
The biggest setback came in Heat 1 when Thomasen was spun before fellow Kiwi Iver Spence made contact and flipped, leaving both karts heavily damaged. While neither driver was injured, Thomasen’s kart required significant repairs, whereas Spence’s appeared beyond repair.
Despite the incident, Thomasen rebounded strongly in Heat 2, leading much of the race before ultimately finishing P2, while difficult wet conditions in Heat 3 exposed the team’s lack of experience on slick rain-affected surfaces.
A strong recovery drive in Sunday’s fourth heat saw Thomasen climb from 11th to sixth with the second-fastest pace on track, before charging from 16th to sixth again in the final, narrowly missing the podium despite the earlier setbacks.
Merrett, meanwhile, endured a far tougher weekend after a dragging brake issue left him trapped in traffic and unable to make meaningful progress through the field across the heats. After finishes of 23rd, 29th and 25th, combined with a DNF caused by a chain issue in Heat 3, the young Kiwi narrowly missed qualification for the final.
With such a depth of karting experience at such a young age, both Thomasen and Merrett show the qualities that their idols, like Liam Lawson, Scott McLaughlin, and Ryan Wood, still hold to this day: grit. To them, though, at this stage of their life, it is all about enjoying the moments, taking every hurdle as it comes, and just having fun.
