The Toyota Racing Series was well represented at the 2008 Motorsport New Zealand Awards in Wellington in May.  Congratulations to all of our winners below;

 ANDY KNIGHT

GOLD STAR RACE CHAMPION – SINGLE SEATER

TOYOTA RACING SERIES CHAMPION

EARL BAMBER

THE STEEL TROPHY

 LYALL WILLIAMSON

 RON FROST AWARD

 LEE HOWELL

PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

Video highlights from the 2008 Toyota Racing Series can now be viewed online. See the “Caught on Video” link under our media gallery

“That was a superb event and occasion – almost unbelievable – and great to have been a part of the opening meeting at what I am sure will become an iconic event,” said Crighton who experienced his first street circuit.

“Qualifying wasn’t all that good, but that was me just getting used to the track and conditions and taking a while to adapt.

“I had a chat about the whole thing – attitude, car set-up etc – with my friends and advisors and then got into the first race on the damp track on Saturday and managed to finish seventh. Then came the second race in the dry on Sunday and I was very pleased to finish seventh after starting in 15th place. Most of all, the car was undamaged, we had no mechanical problems and we had a very enjoyable weekend.

“I just want to thank everyone who has been involved with my racing this season – especially my team, my parents, Nuplex, Sandvik and Counties Toyota,” said Crighton.
Crighton’s next race is this weekend (April 26-27) in the Formula three class at the Oran Park circuit, Sydney, Australia where he is driving for the Tandersport Team.

The new circuit was an unknown quantity when the teams arrived but most drivers enjoyed it with Andy among them, describing it as “pretty cool. It’s new and different,” he said. While the circuit was not as smooth as a dedicated race track Knight said the bumps were “not too bad.”

Andy’s drive on a wet track in the opening race over sixteen laps on Saturday afternoon was the standout effort of the race. The Milwaukee Power Tools Toyota started from sixth spot on the grid after only completing three laps in the qualifying session when a rear suspension pushrod bent. Knight dropped even further down the field when he overshot the first corner of the second lap after missing a gear. That put the Canterbury driver near the back of the field. However he was not to stay there for long. He was in tenth place when the

safety car made an appearance soon after and when racing resumed he put in a storming drive on wet tyres on a drying track. Within two laps of the restart he was up to sixth and that became fifth a lap later. He stalked Nic Jordan for several laps, getting past with a decisive pass at the chicane on the back straight. With just a few laps left he began closing on third placed man Daynom Templeman. Knight applied massive pressure to Templeman over the course of the last lap and as the two cars blasted through the corner onto the final straight Knight ended a brilliant drive that showed the qualities that won him the championship by snatching third place.
From the front row of the grid in Sunday morning’s race Knight got underway in second place before being passed by Australian A1GP driver Nathan Antunes. However he quickly repassed the Australian and set out in pursuit of early leader Earl Bamber. While he maintained second place throughout the race there were two safety car periods and at the

second restart the front wing on the Milwaukee Power Tools Toyota was damaged. Andy lost several places into the first corner but hung on well to bring the car home in fourth place despite the problem.

The race ended an extremely successful season for the twenty-one year old in which he won the Toyota Racing Series, the New Zealand Grand Prix and the New Zealand Motor Cup.

Support for Knight throughout the 2007/2008 season came from Milwaukee Power Tools, one of the world’s premium power tool brands, Mitre 10 Mega, Structex, Silencer Batts, Radio Sport and Latimer Hotel in Christchurch.

Regular drivers Nic Jordan and Michael Burdett were joined by the team’s recently crowned Formula Ford Champion, John Whelan of Dunedin for the event.

Both Jordan and Burdett were in the top half of the field throughout testing and qualifying while Whelan did a fine job to be just outside the top ten during those early sessions. Whelan had the daunting task of getting to grips with a “wings and slicks” car for the first time while also having to learn the new Hamilton track, the first street circuit he had ever raced on.

Jordan, of Cambridge, had an extremely successful weekend ending the season with a second placing in the final race held on Sunday morning. The twenty year old was on the pace all weekend. He finished fifth in Saturday afternoon’s opening race and was comfortably in the top five from the very first test session. “It was a good weekend, but it was funny to race on the streets I normally drive on and see all the landmarks I know,” he said. When the track dried during the opening race his tyres “turned to jelly” as they deteriorated in the unfavourable conditions. However he drove a very mature race in the second contest. “I was hanging in there. I knew something would happen up front and the race just came to me,” he said.

Michael Burdett qualified fourth and fifth for the two races but after making by his own admission a bad start in the opening race he half spun at the chicane,

damaging the car and leaving him to limp home at the rear of the field. Michael was running well up the order in the second race before he again dropped down the order. However he recorded the third fastest lap of the race, testimony to the car’s pace. The Toyota Racing Series Rookie Of The Year loved the new Hamilton circuit describing it as “wicked” and saying that the bumps added to it’s charisma.

Unfortunately Whelan, after a season where he played the starring role in the Formula Ford Championship, failed to finish either race in his Toyota Racing Series debut.

Bamber, 17, was fastest in testing, took pole in dominant form in the two qualifying sessions and won both races. It was his first clean sweep of the 2008 season and included a new race lap record of 1:23.4252 that also becomes the fastest lap on the new Hamilton 400 street circuit.

His form underscores the young driver’s sheer talent and marks him as a name to watch in future years.

Behind Bamber at the finish was Cambridge driver Nic Jordan, who equalled his best finish in the 2008 series.

The race was interrupted by two safety car periods, the second for a spectacular smash when Bamber’s team-mate Mitch Cunningham spun into a tyre stack protecting the concrete safety wall.

Cunningham, who had yesterday followed Bamber home to give the International Motorsport team its only 1-2 race result of the season, had earlier spun , dropping out of fourth place. Running last, he slid sideways exiting the same right hand corner and hit the tyre stack, the impact breaking the car in half and bringing out the safety car.

“It was a real soft hit actually, the tyres absorbed a lot of the speed, and I was surprised to see the back of the car roll past me afterward,” Cunningham said afterward.

Despite the two safety car periods, Bamber drove a perfect race, defending an early challenge from Australian Nathan Antunes and only putting the Tradezone car off the fast line once when the tail flicked out over a “ripple” median on cold tyres after the second safety car period.

“The surface this morning was pretty slippery, and it was hard to get temperature into the tyres because the track was so cold. I just had to guide the car back into line and not worry about anyone getting close.”

At the start, Bamber lined up with 2008 champion and season-long rival Andy Knight alongside him. It was Bamber who got the clean start and took the lead at the first corner, Knight’s car slewing sideways under acceleration. Antunes was through into second place early in the second lap, but Knight was able to fight back and re-take second.

Bamber had stretched out a two second lead by lap two and posted a 1:25.3 second lap in the process.

Behind him, Knight was engaged in a duel for second with Antunes, Nic Jordan taking fourth when Mitch Cunningham had his first spin.

With these two focussing on their own battle, Bamber extended his lead out to 4.6 seconds and was able to concentrate on looking after his car.

“In qualifying I went out hard and used all the kerbs to set pole, but you can’t do that all race long with these cars. The surface itself is quite punishing, even without using the kerbs tha cars are bottoming out all round the lap. Lots of people have had problems after jumping these kerbs this weekend, it’s an easy way to break suspension.”

The other Australian racing this weekend, Jason Bargwanna, was making his first appearance in TRS and fought his way up from 12th to ninth but would fade at the closing laps of the race.

Mitch Cunningham’s accident and the safety car laps that resulted closed the field up, placing Bamber’s lead under threat from second-placed Andy Knight.

When the track had been cleared of debris and the race re-started, Knight was caught out by Antunes at Turn 1 and subsequently by Nic Jordan, dropping back to fourth and finishing the race in that position.

It was an elated Bamber who cruised through for the win ahead of Nic Jordan, with Antunes scoring third overall.

The Hamilton 400 is the first street race for the bio-fuelled Toyota cars. They reach a top speed of 230 km/h down the front straight, dropping to just 60 km/h at the hairpin. The average speed in Bamber’s record-setting lap was 147 km/h – six km/h faster than the V8 Supercars that ran in warmer conditions later in the day.

The lap record is expected to stand as the outright lap record for the inaugural Hamilton 400.

Wanganui driver Earl Bamber made the most of pole position to win the first Toyota Racing Series at the Hamilton 400 today.

He got a clean start on the damp track and defended a mid-race challenge from Australian Nathan Antunes to lead all the way to the chequered flag.

Second at the end was his International Motorsport team mate Mitch Cunningham, while 2008 Toyota Racing Series champion Andy Knight fought through the field in an epic drive to take third overall.

A rain shower just before the start saw frenzied action in the TRS paddock as teams changed cars onto wet tyres.

Bamber and Cunningham ran a mixed suspension set-up biased toward a pure wet specification.

With the rain gone and the track drying the whole field lined up on wet tyres aiming to use the remaining wet section to keep their tyres cool – except wily Australian Jason Bargwanna, who chose to risk a change to slicks and started from pit lane.

The gamble almost paid off, as the drying conditions enabled him to lap faster than the field and a safety car period at the end of the first lap enabled him to close right up on the field.

When the safety car pulled off the track, he was well placed to make a charge but on the second gear change broke a driveshaft and was out of the race.
Bamber made the most of a clear track and pulled out a two second lead of the field, only Antunes able to stay in touch.

The Australian’s challenge faded when he ran over the kerb at the chicane on lap eight, breaking his rear suspension. This enabled Mitch Cunningham to grab second and elevated Daynom “Slim” Templeman to third.

Running fourth was Cambridge driver Nic Jordan, who came under increasing pressure from a charging Andy Knight as the race continued.

Knight had started from sixth place on the grid but been forced to use an “escape” road on the second lap while trying to overtake another car. He found himself 12th and facing a risky fight up through the field – all the while trying to preserve his tyres for a charge at the top three.

“It ’s always hard to overtake, and more so at a street circuit because there is no room to make a mistake.”

Toughest, he said, was getting past Jordan.

“He had a very wide car. I had to back out of a couple of moves when the walls got a bit close.”

Eventually, Knight’s speed enabled him to get alongside Jordan heading into the chicane, and he pushed through into fourth place on the 12th lap.

The fight then went to the last lap, Knight chasing Templeman and closing the gap remorselessly, Templeman trying desperately to hold him out. A clean launch onto the start-finish straight on the final lap saw Knight draw alongside and put his car’s nose in front as they crossed the line.

Stepping up from Formula Ford and in the process of developing plans for a 2009 Toyota Racing Series campaign, rookie Andrew Waite finished sixth and recorded fastest lap of the race, setting the new benchmark for the category at 1:29.4081.

The race was not straightforward for the young Aucklander, who survived a rear end impact from Mark Munro two laps before and said he was worried after the impact that his car’s structural integrity might have been compromised.

2008 Formula Ford champion John Whelan did not finish, completing only two of the 16 laps on the testing 3.4 km circuit.

Race Two, Toyota Racing Series, Hamilton 400
9.15 am Sunday April 20

Bamber, 17, posted fastest lap in testing on a drying track this morning, then capped that by taking pole position in both qualifying sessions.

Bamber was one of just a handful of drivers to break into 1:24 second laps. His fastest lap, a 1:24.2408, was set on lap five in the second qualifying session.

It was the overall fastest lap of the day, eclipsing even the 500 kW V8 Supercars.

In the first qualifying session, Bamber set a time of 1:24.3348 to take pole for the first race. Second fastest in that session and lining up alongside Bamber for the first race at 1.15 pm on Saturday was Australian driver Nathan Antunes, who posted a best lap of 1:24.8778. Both Bamber and Antunes set their times on the last lap of the session.

Former Bathurst winner and V8 Supercar driver Jason Bargwanna, making a one-off appearance in the series, made a cautious start and was fifth fastest in testing and 11th fastest in session 1.

In the second session, Bamber once more set his stamp on the time sheets, posting his pole-winning time of 1:24.2408 on the fifth lap of eight.

Jason Bargwanna once again made a cautious start, posting a best of 1:26.6596 on the fifth lap but overshooting a corner and spinning on the next lap.

Nathan Antunes completed only three laps but still psoted a time good enough for third on the grid. He was forced to drive down an “escape” road after Mitch Cunningham spun in front of him at the hairpin, then broke an axle when he tried to spin the car around and rejoin.

The 2008 TRS champion, Andy Knight, only placed sixth in the first session after bending a rear suspension pushrod but bounced back to line up alongside Bamber on the grid for the second race with a 1:24.4782.

Four drivers recorded times in the 1:24 bracket in the second session.

Making an early start in TRS are 2008 Formula Ford champion John Whelan and Andrew Waite, who was third in this year’s Formula Ford series. Dunedin driver Whelan set times of 1:27.2774 in the first session and 1:26.4391 in the second. Waite set times of 1:26.599 and 1:25.4299. Both reported no problems in either session.

It is the first street race for the bio-fuelled Toyota single seaters. The series is New Zealand’s premier single-seater category, and the fastest in the “Tier One” summer motor race series.

The top cars are reaching 230 km/h on the long front straight of the 3.4 kilometre street circuit, dropping to a low of 60 km/h at the tightest corner.

The entry list includes most of the 2008 series regulars including champion Andy Knight and his key rival Earl Bamber. The Hamilton race offers the pair a chance to continue their season-long battle for TRS glory.

Australian V8 Supercar driver and Bathurst 1000 winner Jason Bargwanna has been confirmed this week to drive for the Concut Racing Team from Christchurch alongside fellow Australian driver Nathan Antunes who is competing this season in Trevor Sheumack’s European Technique Team.

Sheumack, himself a former race driver, has a long history of supporting the series with Australian drivers including Formula Three racer Leanne Tander.

The Hamilton Street race will be the first serious open-wheeler outing for Bargwanna since finishing second in the 1997 Formula Brabham Championship in Australia. He has extensive street race experience having driven in the Australian V8 Supercar Series for 10 years.

Though he is looking forward to the Hamilton experience, Bargwanna says he’s not expecting an easy run.

“I’ve watched the series and I know the front runners are very quick. I want to be at the sharp end of the field and I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

Also making their TRS debut at Hamilton are 2008 Formula Ford champion John Whelan and Andrew Waite, who finished the Formula Ford series in third place. Both are preparing TRS campaigns for 2009.

Series manager Barrie Thomlinson says interest in Hamilton’s inaugural V8 Supercar round has been “incredible”. It will be the first time that TRS cars have raced on a street circuit.

“This year we had the closest ever finish to the Toyota Racing Series, and from the first race at Pukekohe in November to the finale at Invercargill in March the field throughout was the most competitive in the four year history of TRS. I believe the quality of the field for Hamilton will make for very close, exciting racing and the winner’s spoils will be hard earned.”

Series regulars and rookies alike are keen to learn more about setting up and driving these fast, agile cars in the tighter than normal confines of a street circuit with the unpredictable grip levels provided by the changing surfaces and undulations.

“The big challenges faced by the TRS will be the low driving position which provides a very real tunnel feel while driving at speed between the concrete walls and these cars weigh only 550kgs so the bumps do throw the car about”

Thomlinson says for any racer who is serious about their craft, and for those aiming to build a career, early experience of street circuits is essential.

“The set-up is often quite different as public roads are often bumpy and can throw a car off line and into the wall in a flash. Speed and precision are paramount.”

An understanding of the unique demands of street circuit racing, he added, would stand drivers in good stead as they progressed.

“You need only look to the Macau Grand Prix each November, which is held on one of the narrowest, most challenging street circuits in the world. That’s where the Formula Three and Formula One teams come to look for new recruits, and to stand out in the talented fields of drivers that come to Macau must know what street racing’s like before you arrive.”

Toyota Racing Series graduate Brendon Hartley raced at the Macau Grand Prix last year on his way to a Formula Three career in the UK.

“Having two leading Formula Ford drivers progressing into TRS in 2009 is fantastic and demonstrates the path TRS offers to aspiring New Zealand drivers. Hamilton gives John Whelan and Andrew Waite a valuable chance to get used to their new cars.”

Names such as Hartley, Van Gisbergen, Cunningham, Gaunt and Knight will appear in New Zealand’s motorsport history as examples of what TRS offers to those who can show their potential.

“Having the likes of Jason Bargwanna commit to racing TRS at Hamilton is an indication of the international profile the series has generated and demonstrates the Australian race scene’s respect for the quality of its competition.”

Here he looks back on the highs and lows of his 2007/08 TRS season and looks forward to the next stage in his career behind the wheel.

Q. First up Earl congratulations on your TRS season. You managed to wrest the lead off Andy Knight heading into the final round only to be hobbled by coil problems. Still, your stats make impressive reading. Better go through them for us.
A.8 race wins, 8 Pole Positions, 9 Fastest Laps, 3 Lap Records (Manfeild, Timaru, Teretonga) plus first in the International Series, and winner with my teammate Mitch Cunningham of the Teams’ Championship for the International Motorsport TradeZone A1 Team.NZL Junior Development Team.

Q. With seven championship rounds plus the upcoming Trophy round at the V8 Supercar meeting in Hamilton it’s been a busy season. Better go through the TRS meetings round by round to jog our memories.
A.
Rnd 1 at Pukekohe we were quickest in the final practice session, didn’t go as well as we would have liked in qualifying then had a misfire in the first race which saw me spend four laps in the pits and eventually finish13th. The second race we finished fourth but in the final we had a problem with the gearshift mechanism on the warm up lap which meant I ended up finishing 12th. It was pretty gutting at the time but we had to look to the future – I knew we had a very fast car and I was confident in Stephen (Giles, the team’s Chief Engineer) and in the International Motorsport Team.
In between the two races I had the chance to test the A1GP car. This was a great confidence boost and give me great experience.

Rnd 2 was the Lady Wigram Trophy round at Powerbuilt Tools Raceway in Christchurch in early January where we had Daniel Gaunt back in a car. He really helped me over the weekend. It was a good meeting in that we qualified on pole and won the Lady Wigram Trophy race. It was the perfect way to start the new year and was what we needed to get our championship campaign back on track. It was also a special race for me as it was my first race win in the Toyota series.

Rnd 3 at Manfeild for the New Zealand Grand Prix where we were back on pole for the second race which I won by over five seconds. The team had given me a fantastic car and we were getting stronger every time we raced together.

Rnd 4 was at the A1GP meeting where we were in with a chance to win the International Series which runs over the three rounds in January. Qualifying went average ending up sixth, fourth and fourth for the three races. In the first I was able to work my way up to third place and in the second I was in second by the first corner. I then attacked Ben Harford and coming out of Turn 7 he spun handing us the race lead and win. With Matt Halliday having a bad weekend and Ben Harford’s spin in the second race it was between Andy Knight and I for the International Series. At the start of the race their was a big crash which Andy got tangled up in. This meant I just had to finish the race but as it was I ended up third to take overall round victory and the International Series which was fantastic. We had also moved from 10th in the championship into third but were going to need some luck on our part if we were ever going to catch Andy. He was doing a very good job always finishing in the top three and finishing all the races which was making him very hard to catch.

Rnd 5 was back at my ‘home’ track, Manfeild, where we qualified on pole for all three races this time, exactly what we needed to do. I won the first race from pole but in the second I made a mistake going into turn one and locked the front brakes letting Andy and Nelson slip through on the inside. We had good pace but it is very hard to pass around Manfeild and we didn’t want to risk having a DNF. The last race was more like the first where I got the best start of my life and led away but Andy was right behind me and got by in Turn 1. Fortunately my car came on and the pair of us started to pull away. It was at this stage that I set a new lap record then with just two laps to go Andy slid off the road in the last corner. That put us within striking distance of Andy his series points lead having been cut to 13 compared to the start of the season where it was over 140.

Rnd 6 was at Timaru. This was a track that I had struggled with in the past and one that Andy held the lap record at so it was going to be a hard weekend. However I was .01 off pole in the first qualifying session and on pole by over two-tenths in the second to claim pole for both the second and third races. This was the first meeting that I won all three races and the meeting when I finally took over the series points lead from Andy so we headed south to the final at Teretonga quietly confident that we could achieve our goal of winning the TRS series.

Rnd 7 at Teretonga and what can I say? The team did a great job to give me a fast car but unfortunately we had a misfire in qualifying. This meant we would start sixth, 13th and 13th in the three races. Because of that it was going to be hard to hold our small points lead no matter how quick I was in the races, then we had to start the first race from the pit lane when the misfire – which we thought we had fixed – came back. I was able to work my way from last to sixth in that race but lost the championship lead back to Andy who finished second. The next day the weather was changing by the hour and though it was drying by the time the second race started we all went out on wets. A red flag after a few laps gave us the chance to change to slicks again and we continued our charge through the feild finishing the race fifth. That meant we were still in with a chance of winning the championship but it was going to be very hard with us starting the third race from the back of the grid and Andy off P3. I got a great start and got to eighth by the end of the second lap and set another new lap record as I chased down the leaders including a couple of ’round-the-outside’ passes round Teretonga’s famous Loop corner. Going into the last corner Nic Jordan went off giving us third place and third for the weekend but that was not enough enough though I finished just behind Andy in both the second and third races. All credit to him and his team because Andy did a great job all season and was a great competitor. Stephen and the International Motorsport team did a great job all season and I would love to work with all the guys again one day.

Q. International Motorsport has won the past two TRS titles with Daniel Gaunt and it was a pleasure to watch you, Stephen Giles and the technicians constantly improving and optimising the two TradeZone cars. What a lot of people seem to have forgotten is that you actually ran in the 2006/07 series and didn’t really feature until the end of the season. There’s obviously a lot to getting a good set up in the cars.
A. Yes, we struggled for most of the season last year with a combination of my inexperience with the car and not having a good setup. We changed engineers for the last two races of the year and had a third overall at the last round which was a big improvement from where we were running. They are a very different car to drive and you need experience or an experienced team to know how to get the most out of the car which tends to favour drivers that have been in the class longer and also with the limited testing in the cars this becomes even more of a factor. That said, having driven other cars now like the Formula 3 Dallara, the A1GP car plus Formula Renault V6s in Asia I can say that the TRS car is very close to a Formula 3 car in speed and is a very good stepping stone for young guys to get their grounding here in New Zealand in the Toyota Series before they move overseas. Before young drivers only had Formula Ford and then they had to go overseas. The Toyota Series fills that gap and gives young drivers a better chance before they make the move out of New Zealand.

Q. Speaking of which you had your fair share of highs and lows this season yet you were always utterly professional about it. There were no tantrums, no black moods, just a desire to get on with it. Who ‘taught’ you this, or have you had to learn it thru karts and/or thru your family etc.
A. As a driver you always have to remember that everyone in the team is doing their best to win and when it happens you just have to keep a clear head and do the best with what you have got. At the last round I was very fortunate to have a very good team that gave me a fantastic car to come through the field. You must always be professional because you are representing sponsors and many other people and there just isn’t any place for throwing out your toys. I never give up, never have, never will. It’s not over till the race results are confirmed.

Q. Let’s look at your career to date for a minute. You’re still just 17-years-old yet you’ve got a CV (and obviously a passport) the envy of someone twice your age. Why take the particular route you have?
A. After karts, we ran Formula Ford in New Zealand and won a race at Ruapuna at the second round and Meritus (a top motor racing team operating in Asia) was out here running Hamad Al Fardan. They offered me a test after the BMW World Finals in Bahrain, that test went well and we decided to run the championship up there which I subsequently won. It’s a great championship, gave me a good grounding in wings and slicks and opened doors overseas in other areas. Obviously everyone is different and looks at things in different ways but I’m still a big fan of the Formula BMW series. The cars are identical and with a carbon fibre tub very safe, you race on F1 circuits, you learn all about wings-and-slicks and data and you have a TV audience of over 200 million watch each race. Also BMW Europe follow the racing and you have a chance to race at a World Final.

Q. And Asia. Earl. It seems that just over the horizon there are all these brilliant tracks with fantastic facilities just waiting for us to fly up and use. Yet most New Zealanders seem to think that they’re better off going to Australia, the US or Europe. You obviously have a different opinion?
A. Absolutely. I think Asia is a great stepping stone into Europe and also for professional drives. Motorsport in Asia is growing every year. They have fantastic Formula 1 tracks like Sepang where I do most of my testing. The teams are very professional with a lot of European engineers running teams so I think it’s the closest thing to Europe.

Q. While we’re on the subject, you’ve got a close working relationship with the Meritus team. How did that develop and what do you do for them?
A. They are Asia’s most successful race team. The relationship started when I was running BMW and has just continued from there. Peter Thompson who is the man behind the Meritus team, has backed me since my first teast and we have become good friends. Meritus obviously helped me in my first year in BMW and we won the championship together. Last year I did a few one off races for them in the V6 Renault but we didn’t have a full budget. They also took me to Europe to meet with some Formula 1 teams (Renault, Williams, Toyota and McLaren). More recently I’ve been doing driver coaching for the team with their new BMW drivers. It’s a good thing for me as well as it lets you look at the racing from a different angle. Plus I do a lot of laps for them doing development testing in both the BMW and V6 Renault.

Q. For a teenager who last year was still ‘at school’ at Wanganui Collegiate you certainly get around? So in closing It’s probably worthwhile asking you which is your favourite circuit around the world? Also What’s your favourite place? And what’s your ‘next preferred’ step? GP2, Champ Car, IRL, F3 Euro series?
A. My favourite track would have to be Autopolis in Japan. I also really enjoyed my first street race at Clipsal so I can’t wait for Hamilton. My favourite place would have to be going to Europe visiting all the Formula 1 teams. I would love to have the chance to race A1GP for New Zealand or even GP2 Asia with Meritus but after that it would have to be the F3 Euro series.

Q. Everyone in racing seems to have advice for young blokes like you. But so far you have done pretty well making your own decisions (or at least you and your Dad Paul). Having seen what you have so far, what does it take for a young man to make progress in a career in motorsport? It looks to me like you have to be quick on your feet, and be constantly seeking out and making the most of opportunities., no matter where they might be? Is that right?
A. You’re right. We have had the chance to talk to a lot of people round the world in motorsport and have got advice from them along the way. Last month in Malaysia, for instance, we met with Formula One people to get help preparing for Europe and this week I am working on finalising some testing in the US.

Q. And finally Earl, you must have a lot of people you’d like to thank. Here’s your chance!
A. The team I have here in Wanganui help to make a lot of the decisions and it’s great to have such enthusiastic team behind me. One thing we’ve never done is just sat around in New Zealand and waited for opportunities to come to us. We have been all around the world searching for opportunities, and a lot of the time it’s just been me getting on the plane. You just never know who your next sponsor or who you will meet next so its important to be out their meeting people. Also I have been very fortunate to have had fantastic sponsers in New Zealand. For the last two years in the Toyota Series TradeZone and the supporting brands CRC, Koken, Fuller, Hitachi, Bahco also the Club 500 and the people of Wanganui who have been fantastic supporters. And of course I couldn’t have done what I have done in the TRS this season without the help of Lyall Williamson and everyone at International Motorsport plus I would like to thank Colin Giltrap for giving me the opportunity to drive Black Beauty.