Madeline Stewart
 | A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. (September 2024) |
| Madeline Stewart | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nationality | New Zealand |
| Born | 2 August 2000 Wellington, New Zealand |
| Porsche Carrera Cup North America | |
| Years active | 2024 |
| Teams | JDX Racing |
| Car number | 82 |
Madeline Stewart (born 2 August 2000) is a New Zealand racing driver competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup North America series in 2024.
Karting career
[edit]Madeline and her sister Ashleigh were well known in the karting scene in both New Zealand and Australia. The Stewart Sisters Racing duo competed on both sides of the Tasman Sea predominantly in Rotax based series before Madeline moved to KZ2 and Ashleigh to IAME X30.
Early years
[edit]Madeline began racing go-karts at Kartsport Wellington in 2010 at the age of 9. She raced in the Cadet Class for two years with her most notable achievement being a win in her local club's annual enduro race in 2011. The race started on a wet track with Madeline, the only driver to start on slicks. She endured a tough start to the race falling a long way back before a late-race charge on a drying track saw her take the lead with one lap to go, winning by 10 seconds.
In 2012 Madeline moved up to the Junior Restricted class, which she did not enjoy and moved quickly up to Junior where she saw significant success[1] including 2nd at the South Island Sprint Championships in 2015 and Pole position at the 2016 Kartsport New Zealand National Sprint Championship.[2]
Australia
[edit]In 2013, Madeline and her sister Ashleigh ventured across the Tasman for the first time to race in the Junior Rotax Trophy class at the Australian Rotax Pro-Tour. That was the start of a 4-year journey racing against the best karters in Australia. The challenge of racing in bigger and often more competitive fields than in New Zealand assisted greatly in the development of Madeline as a driver. In round 1 of the 2017 Rotax Pro-tour, Madeline took her maiden heat victory and her first podium.[3] In round two of the series, Madeline went one better becoming the first female in the 17-year history of the Pro-Tour to win a round taking the 2017 South Australian State Title at the same time.[4]
KZ2
[edit]Towards the end of 2016, Madeline had her first taste of the ultimate in go-karting, the KZ2 kart competing in the final round of the 2016 Australian Kart Championship (AKC)[5] before taking on the 2016 CIF FIA Asia Pacific Championship at Macau. She completed a full season of the Australian Kart Championship in 2017[6] with her best round finish of 10th in Emerald. In 2018 she added the New Zealand Pro-kart series to her KZ2 programme with a second-place at the 2018 Kart Sport New Zealand Nationals.
Madeline is also a two-time visitor to the US Supernationals in Las Vegas having competed in KZ2 in 2017 and 2018[7]
Car racing career
[edit]Madeline began her car racing career in 2019 stepping straight from go-karts to the third tier Supercar series Super3 Series with Brad Jones Racing[8] To accelerate her learning she also raced in the Western Australian Formula 1000 State Championship.[citation needed]
Madeline intended to continue to race in the Super3 Series in 2020, with Brad Jones Racing[9] as well as planning to race a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Car in the Thailand Super Series with Earl Bamber Motorsport. The global COVID-19 pandemic changed those plans. Madeline completed in round 1 of the Super3 Series at Sydney Motorsport Park finishing 3rd. She later competed in two rounds of the Aussie Tin Tops, a series created to give people an opportunity to race during the pandemic. Madeline won the Super3 class at Townsville[10] before swapping to a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Car with McElrea Racing[11] for round 2 at The Bend Motorsport Park where she finished 4th in the Super Stuttgart class.[citation needed]
In 2021, Madeline became one of the inaugural Porsche New Zealand Scholarship recipients.[12] The scholarship provides partial funding for her to race in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Australia in 2021 with Earl Bamber Motorsport/Porsche Team New Zealand.[13]
Stewart then made the shift over to racing in the USA for the 2023 Porsche Sprint Challenge North America series. She started her US campaign with a pole position and 2 podiums at the first round at Sebring. From there she collected podiums at Barber Motorsports Park, Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course and Circuit of the Americas.
Madeline has continued her journey with JDX Racing in 2024, making the move up into Porsche Carrera Cup North America. After a tough start to the season, Madeline recorded her first top 10 of the year at Road America.
In 2024 Porsche Motorsport North America and Mobil 1 announced Madeline as a part of their Female Driver Development Programme which aims to help female racing drivers hone their skills and pursue their dreams of becoming professionals in the sport.
Racing record
[edit]Career summary
[edit]| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | CAMS WA AUS F1000 State Championship | Arise Racing | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 288 | 4th |
| Super3 Series | Brad Jones Racing | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 124 | 14th | |
| 2020 | Townsville Tin Tops - Super3 | Brad Jones Racing | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 125 | 1st |
| The Bend Super Tin Tops - Super Cup | McElrea Racing | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 110 | 5th | |
| 2021 | Porsche Sprint Challenge Australia - Pro | Earl Bamber Motorsport | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ? | ? |
| Porsche Carrera Cup Australia - Pro | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ? | ? | ||
| 2022 | GT World Challenge Australia - GT4 | Grifcorp Racing | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | NC† |
| Porsche Sprint Challenge Australia - Pro | Earl Bamber Motorsport | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 365 | 8th | |
| 2023 | Porsche Sprint Challenge North America - 992 Pro/Am | JDX Racing | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 633 | 3rd |
| 2024 | Porsche Carrera Cup North America | JDX Racing | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 15th |
| 992 Endurance Cup | MRS-GT Racing |
Super3 results
[edit]| Season | No. | Class | PHI
|
WIN
|
QUE
|
BEN
|
SAN
|
Pen. | Points | Pos. | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 8 | C | 18 | 19 | 16 | 15 | Ret | 8 | Ret | 14 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 14 | Ret | 14 | 124 | 14th | |
Porsche Sprint Challenge North America results
[edit]| Season | No. | Class | SEB | BAR | VIR | MIO | ROA | COTA | IMS | Points | Pos. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 282 | PRO | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 633 | 3rd |
External links
[edit]Madeline Stewart career summary at DriverDB.com
References
[edit]- ^ "Madeline sets her eyes on top position in karting". Stuff. 11 May 2015.
- ^ "KartSportNews.com - competition kart racing news and information". www.kartsportnews.com.
- ^ "Madeline Stewart claims breakthrough Pro Tour podium in Melbourne". 31 January 2017.
- ^ "Kiwi karters make history with State title wins in Australia". 13 March 2017.
- ^ "Stewart sisters head Kiwi entry at Aussie kart champs final | Kart News". www.vroomkart.com. 23 September 2016.
- ^ "Kiwi karters head to Adelaide for Aussie Champs opener". 22 February 2018.
- ^ "'It's hectic' - Kiwi sister duo taking on go-karting's best at Las Vegas Supernationals". TVNZ.
- ^ "Kiwi karting star Madeline Stewart joins BJR Super3 line-up". 5 March 2019.
- ^ "BJR retains Madeline Stewart for 2020".
- ^ "Stewart to make street circuit debut at Townsville". 26 August 2020.
- ^ "Madeline Stewart to drive McElrea Racing Porsche at the Bend". 14 September 2020.
- ^ "Team Porsche New Zealand announces scholarship for Porsche PAYCE Carrera Cup Australia". 9 December 2020.
- ^ "Earl Bamber Motorsport Announces Drivers". 9 December 2020.