2010 TRS Rookie

Birth date: 24 June 1994

Home town: Auckland

Team: Giles Motorsport

Team Principal: Stephen Giles

Engineer: Nikhil Raghu

Sponsors: Wet and Forget, Giltrap City Toyota, Geni, Banklink, XT Network, Evans European Panel & Paint

Website: www.mitchevans.com

At the age of just 15, Mitchell Evans has won more races and more titles than most racing drivers achieve during an entire career in the sport.  Not surprisingly, the talented Auckland teenager is being groomed for an international motorsport future; and TRS is the key stepping-stone.

Mitch debuted in the new TRS Lites class late last season and took a clean sweep, winning pole, both races and setting fastest laps at Manfeild and repeated his domination in both TRS Lites races on the Hamilton streets.  This year he steps up to the full TRS Championship season, driving for Giles Motorsport and taking over the chassis Mitch Cunningham took to overall TRS victory for Steve Giles last season.

But Mitch will face some formidable challenges, not least the late confirmation that the very experienced Earl Bamber will be lining up on the TRS grid with a new, yet already-proven TRS Team…

Mitch already has an impressive single seater record that includes – according to his own website – 20 race wins, 40 podium finishes, eight pole positions and no less than 22 fastest laps. His impressive race winning average in single seaters is 25 per cent.

Coming off the back of a solid Rookie season in the New Zealand FF Championship that saw him finish runner-up, Evans strutted his stuff across the Tasman at the end of last year.

After his storming attack on Aussie egos in the latter half of 2009, the Auckland schoolboy is now the ‘youngest’ of virtually everything they’ve got in Australian single seater motorsport.

Driving for the Sonic Team in Australian FF, Mitch set a new yardstick in motorsport career tracking. Highest placed rookie on Debut (2nd), Youngest ever to be on the Podium, Youngest ever to get pole position, Youngest ever to Win a National Australian race and the youngest ever to Win a National Australian Round. Mitch finished second in FF the Championship and was Rookie of the Year.

That strong finish to the FF season saw Mitch take the runner-up place in the 8 round series to his Mygale teammate Nic Percat. His first win didn’t come until the fifth round at Sandown but he then won all three races at Queenland.

After his runaway success in TRS Lites in early 2009, and encouraged by his FF results, Mitch turn his attention to the year-end Australian Formula 3 Super Prix at Sandown.  He won on debut becoming the youngest ever winner of an Australian F3 race and the youngest recipient of an Australian Gold Star Award in 53 years.

Like the majority of up-and-coming kiwi talent, Mitch’s skills have been honed well during his long ‘karting career’ Mitch started racing after he was given a go-kart for his sixth birthday. From the Cadet class he quickly progressed to take the 100cc New Zealand Junior Restricted title in 2005 and at the age of 12 Mitch won a New Zealand CIK Trophy.

That was in 2007 when Mitch also won the Rotax Max Challenge Series and the honour of representing his country at the Karting World Champs in Dubai where he finished 13^th.

In 2007, he graduated to single seaters and the Formula First series in which he finished ninth. The step up to Formula Ford in 2008 saw him take out the winter series at Manfeild with nine wins from 12 race starts – including coming through from the back of the grid to win on debut.

Stepping up to the National FF series last season Mitch took six wins in his Stealth chassis to finish second overall to the Mygale of Richie Stannaway.

Mitchell could hardly have escaped an interest in motorsport – his father Owen is a long-time Porsche racer and holds the New Zealand Land Speed Record; while grandfather Laurie had a long and distinguished racing career.  His older brother Simon (19) has progressed from FF to compete in Porsche racing.

This St Kentigerns schoolboy has one pure ambition; a Formula One drive by the time he is 19.