Young Maria Ruberto clinched another karting title on the weekend of her eighth birthday.

Fresh from landing her maiden electric championship, the Gravesend schoolgirl took the bambino crown at Rye House.

She finished 66 points clear of the runner-up, to become a quadruple bambino champion.

Ruberto was fastest in morning practice but when the rain rolled in for qualifying, her kart broke down and required an engine swap.

The replacement would cut out on idle and damage limitation appeared to be the name of the game in heat one but Ruberto proved she was queen of the wet - as nicknamed by a fellow driver - winning by 13 seconds.

With the original engine repaired in time for heat two, Ruberto led from pole position and finished 3.3sec clear.

She completed a hat-trick of wins in a dry final, crossing the line second after some superb defensive driving, but promoted to first after the winner was disqualified for being under the weight class.

Ruberto is chasing another title at Bayford Meadows to finish the season.

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