Brothers making victory salute their own

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7: Racing runs in the blood for Nathan and Ryan DeCosta. The two Saltus primary school students have a long history of family who have taken a turn behind the wheel in a kart.

Nathan, six, is in his inaugural season but big brother Owen is a veteran having competed last year, too.

Owen said he was excited to get into the sport after seeing his dad and his cousin Ryan Lopes race. 

“I wanted to get into it and eventually I did. I started in one of the club karts and I liked it.”

The Bermuda Karting Club has vehicles available for people to race for a $50 fee as a way of introducing potential karters to the sport.

“After that I wanted to get my own,” said Owen.

“My cousin Ryan started off before me by three races and he kind of had the advantage but I finished the season in second.

“But I hope this year I’ll finish off in first in points but that could change.”

Owen is leading the Junior Stock Clone Class for 10 to 15 year olds in points with 354, 24 ahead of Corey Lewis.

His success has seen him pick up Red Laser and Keen Limited as sponsors of the #84 Ital kart. However, Owen is in a very competitive class that not only includes Lewis, but Blake Horseman, Gianni DeSilva and Zavier Smith. 

Owen said what he likes about racing “is the freedom and I can go pretty fast. It’s also really fun.”

The last race day he won two of the three heats, including the double points race. 

Nathan, meanwhile, says he loves to kart but “I scared my mom when I went on two wheels”. Needless to say, he wasn’t scared.

In the pits the brothers have their dad Andrew working on their karts to make sure they perform optimally on the track. 

And this season mom Hannah has even been there to help out in anyway possible, including pushing the kart up to the starting grid. 

When they aren’t racing, the DeCosta brothers like rooting for their uncle David Barbosa who competes in the TAG Senior Class, but they also learn by seeing Scott Barnes race.

Owen said: “We watch their lines and how they take them. We watch and see if we can go faster around the corners.”

They also help by marshaling when the brothers aren’t strapped in to their karts.

Owen said: “If there is an accident we kind of help.”

Owen and Nathan said a typical race day sees them attend church before heading to the track. Sometimes we bring my bike or a football to have fun with while we are down there.”

Hannah added: “This is the only day they don’t have to be awakened.”

Owen said it is “fun” to have Nathan racing this year and shows distinctive pride when his little brother does well.

“Two weeks ago he dominated everybody else. He was having one of those good days where he won every race.”

Owen said when his dad and his uncle Louis Martins were racing, he looked up to them as the example, but now he admires Barbosa and Barnes. 

Gates open at noon on Sunday at the Bermuda Motorsports Park in Southside for the next round of racing.