Edendale's Nixon Cripps will line up for his first South Island Formula Ford Championship round at Timaru's Levels circuit this weekend. He is 13.

The Year 8 Menzies College pupil has already done most of what there is to do in New Zealand karting. He won the Vortex Mini Rok national title in 2025 along with the Kart Stars Series and the ROK Cup Series, two of the country's three main karting crowns, on top of a string of South Island titles.

He has also raced for New Zealand twice in Italy. At 11 he finished fourth in the world at the Rotax Grand Final, and the following year he won a heat and placed third in the heats of the ROK Cup Super Final before failing to finish the final.

Now he is swapping the kart for a Spectrum 015 single-seater, and he plans to contest both the South Island and New Zealand Formula Ford series.

Learning a new craft

The family took delivery of the Spectrum in mid-2025, but Cripps was advised to stay out of it until after the ROK Cup Super Final because the driving style is so different from karting.

His first races in the car came at Classic SpeedFest at Teretonga Park earlier this year, and he has since finished third at Euromarque Motorsport Park in Christchurch and second and third in the last two rounds of the Winter Series at Manfeild, a track he had little time to learn.

He has had a single day of testing at Levels, which he describes as challenging but a cool place to drive.

"I always wanted to aim higher than karts," Cripps said.

In his corner is Jordan Michels, the Invercargill driver who won the 2018-19 New Zealand Formula Ford Championship and claimed a third straight South Island one-hour endurance title at Teretonga this month. Michels met Cripps through karting and now helps guide his career.

"Nixon displays talent and work ethic well beyond his age," Michels said.

An accidental start

Motorsport was not a family tradition. Cripps' interest began when his father was watching Formula 1 on television and the speed caught his eye. His parents took him to the Invercargill kart track for a have-a-go day, and the family bought a second-hand kart just before the first Covid-19 lockdown.

Away from the track he plays netball, touch and basketball, golfs and fishes.

He shares a hometown with Burt Munro, who grew up in Edendale, about 35km from Invercargill. His sponsors include Leithfield Nursery, Haakman NZ Bulbs, Circa Marine & Industrial, OneForest/IFS Growth, Sign Solutions and Evolution Motorsport.

Cripps says he is going to Timaru to do his best and make everyone proud, and that he is not afraid of the hard work it will take.