When karter Alex Newlove is careening down the back straight at damn near 100km/hr, he has a guardian angel riding with him.

'Every time I go out to the track I say to him, ‘Come on boy, let's do this'.”

‘Boy' is Trent Haywood, a lifelong inseparable best mate, who was killed in a motocross accident in Christchurch last year. The sort of mate whose importance you don't appreciate until they are gone.

'Every time I go out racing now, it's for him and I know he's keeping me safe. Well, I hope that's what he's doing up there.”

Because Alex needs divine guardianship, like the time this spunky kid went through a fence racing at Edgecumbe.

'I hit the grass and there was no stopping. I just sat there and braced myself. I hit the fence and whiplashed.” Alex gave himself a fright, gave everyone a fright, but he's here talking about it. The spirit of Trent Haywood must have been on duty that day.

Alex, 16, is a young man coping with grief, coping with loss in his own special way.

'I am always talking to Trent on race day. Dad must think I am crazy.”

However, if it gets Alex in the zone and Trent is keeping his back, then all good.

At risk of harping about the dark side of this sport, karting is a dangerous sport. 'Can be if you are not focussed,” he says.

So he's not another bullet-proof teenager as death is always in the back of his mind. 'But you keep it to the back because of you are thinking about dying you aren't going to drive smart and fast.”

Alex is a fresh-faced slip of a kid with attitude. He wears a shock of blond hair and one of those infectious, but very expensive orthodontic smiles. And he has an even more expensive past time.

'The engine is worth $3500 and the chassis $7000.” So who underwrote this state-of-the-art Italian racer?

'My number-one fans – Mum and Dad,” he says with just a hint of smugness. A parent's love knows no bounds.

'It's also cost us about $25,000 to go racing so far this year.” A parent's love knows no budget either. And I am told some parents are spending three or four times that much.

We're talking to Alex because the Visi Line 2015 KartSport New Zealand North Island Sprint Championships are this weekend, a big meet at Te Puke Auto Electric Raceway.

And his prospects? Well, losing doesn't sit comfortably.

'Second isn't second – second is losing.” It's a competitive, cut-throat attitude.

'Yes, but who doesn't want to go out and smash all their friends? I just do it by messing with their heads, pressuring them to make mistakes.” He used be Mr Nice Guy until he started winning things.

People tell Alex to just do his best. 'Doing my best is winning. I like to exceed people's expectations, prove them wrong.”

If karting has made him ruthless, he doesn't look ruthless. However, hidden beneath his helmet and 125 screaming CC's mounted behind him, Alex could be quite menacing.

Does he fantasise about Ayrton Senna, Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg? After all, their Formula One careers all started in karts.

'It's pretty much everyone's dream.” However, he is realistic as it would cost at least $8 million to get there. 'It's probably not going to happen.” There are other options such as Formula Fords or V8 Super Cars.

'I just want to progress from karts and for people to notice me.”

While we all like to be noticed, Alex is delightfully cocksure enough to talk about it.

How big's your ego? 'Yeah, pretty big. I like the feeling that people can notice the talent, my talent.”

Do you have potential? 'I like to think so.”

What about girls? There always seems to be bevies of beautiful women on the fringes of Formula One.

'I would like to think I am mentally strong enough to turn my mind off to that sort of thing. I have a job to do at the track and I need to get it done. Girls – the only thing about girls is they are a distraction.”

And, he adds, you don't need them. We will see Alex. But at the moment he is one driven and focussed 16-year-old.

'There are so many teenagers going out to parties and drinking and smoking. I like parties, but I also know when to stop. Racing keeps me in control of things.”

If he's not in the driver's seat he's at the gym. Karting is a delicate balance of physical and mental wellbeing. 'And I am finally getting it, which is good.”

And as a result Alex is winning heaps this year, often when he wasn't expected to win. That's because he has the spirit of Trent is riding with him.

'I could have sat around being sad, but I thought I would put those feelings into racing.”

And Alex puts talent and ego aside to share a secret. 'Not many people know, but my racing this year, my successes, have been dedicated to Trent.”

And they'll be racing again next weekend.