MO TO RSPO RT PLUS MAGAZINE // ISSUE # NINE
COURTNEY DUNCAN / / MOTORSPORT PLUS I NTERVI EW Courtney Duncan, the reigning Women?s Motocross World Champion, shares her thoughts on her journey to the top step of WMX. A journey that has seen her overcome many obstacles along the way......
THE G.O .A.T SHARP SHOOTER MI CHAEL PI CKENS MATT DWEN
FLASHBACK2015
HALL OF FAMERHUGH ANDERSON
VALE: SI R STI RLI NG MOSS
I NTERVI EW KALEB CURRI E
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Very few people can claim t o be t he G.O.A.T, but t hose who can are t he ?Great est Of All Tim e?. I n t heir chosen sport . Muham m ad Ali, Michael Jordan, Tom Brady are oft en referred t o as G.O.A.T?s, t heir achievem ent s are undisput ed. Making t hat claim is relat ively easy as t he sport s t hey com pet e in have not changed great ly over t im e, t heir st at ist ics can prove t heir great ness beyond doubt . I n m ot orsport , t he G.O.A.T st at us can be som ewhat clouded, t he rules and regulat ions of different eras, m aking it difficult t o com pare Fangio wit h Senna, Moss wit h Ham ilt on, t he debat e rages on. Things are slight ly different wit h m idget racing however, t he cars (and t racks) have rem ained largely t he sam e for generat ions of racers, m aking it slight ly easier t o give a driver G.O.A.T st at us. Whet her you?re a fan or not , Michael Pickens m eet s t he crit eria wit h ease, his nine NZ Midget Cham pionships plus m ult iple I nt ernat ional successes put him firm ly at t he t op of any conversat ion about who is NZ?s great est Midget driver. To be a G.O.A.T, your nam e has t o be alm ost inseparable from t he sport it self, and if you go by t his definit ion, it ?s clear t o see why Michael Pickens is regarded by m any as t he New Zealands great est Midget car driver of all t im e.
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Motorsp ort Plus ha d the p rivileg e of ca tching up with the 2 0 1 9 WMX World C ha mp ion on her return home to Duned in.
gr at ef u l, gr at ef u l ju st t o b e r acin g an d r id in g in gen er al. Bein g laid u p o n t h e co u ch f o r six m o n t h s at a t im e w at ch in g yo u r co m p et it o r ?s r ace w as t o u gh an d it ?s given m e a n ew p er sp ect ive f r o m t h at sid e o f t h in gs. Ju st t o b e gr at ef u l ever y d ay
You st art ed riding at a very young age. Where did your M X journey
I get t o r id e an d also w h en I?m w in n in g. Bein g o n t h e t o p st ep o f
begin, and who or what was your
t h e p o d iu m at a w o r ld
inspirat ion t o st art riding?
ch am p io n sh ip level is so m et h in g I
CD: M y m o t o cr o ss jo u r n ey b egan
d o n 't t ake f o r gr an t ed like I p r o b ab ly d id in m y f ir st seaso n , I
w h en I w as 7 year s o f age, m y st ep -d ad go t m e a Ho n d a CRF-50, w e h ad a p ad d o ck in o u r b ackyar d
t r y t o m ake su r e I en joy a m o m en t af t er each r ace as w ell.
an d it kin d o f escalat ed f r o m t h er e. I?d r id e o n Su n d ays an d af t er sch o o l w it h m y m at es. We st ar t ed
Before your championship-winning season, you had t o endure many
at t en d in g Clu b d ays, t h en Nat io n al
injuries and set backs, t ell us
even t s an d t h en over t h e d it ch t o
about t he mindset required t o
Au st r alasia an d it 's ju st t aken o f f f r o m t h er e.
overcome t he set backs and get back t o t he t op? CD: I t h in k t o b e ab le t o ach ieve
It ?s a long way from Dunedin t o
w h at I d id last year I h ad t o p u t all
t he t op st ep of WM X, what has t he 4 seasons compet ing in WM X
t h o se in ju r ies an d all t h o se set b acks an d all t h at n egat ivit y
t aught you?
b eh in d m e, t h at w as key if I w an t ed t o m ake it . I kn ew t h at I n eed ed
CD: Yes, it is a lo n g w ay f r o m Du n ed in t o t h e WM X. Ho n est ly, t h e
ju st t o st ar t f r esh , h ave a p o sit ive m in d set an d go in t o last year
last f o u r seaso n s h ave t au gh t m e t o b e p at ien t , p at ien t w h en yo u ?r e
h ap py b ecau se h ad I car r ied o n
go in g t h r o u gh in ju r ies, p at ien t w h en yo u ?r e go in g t h r o u gh t o u gh t im es. I t h in k in t h e p ast I?ve t r ied t o r u sh all o f t h at , r u sh b ack f r o m in ju r ies an d ju st r u sh t h in gs in gen er al. I t h in k t o go t h r o u gh t h e last 4 year s I?ve h ad t o lear n t o b e p at ien t in t h o se sit u at io n s. Th e t o u gh t im es h ave m ad e m e
w it h t h at n egat ivit y it w o u ld h ave co n t in u ed t h r o u gh in t o last year as w ell, so I ju st h ad t o st ay p o sit ive, h o ld f ait h , even t h r o u gh t h e t o u gh
"B
t im es, w h en t h er e w er e d ays I q u est io n ed w h et h er I w as go in g t o m ake it . Yo u ju st h ave t o gr it yo u r t eet h an d b elieve t h at o n e d ay
s
yo u 'll get t h er e, o bvio u sly, w e d id an d it ?s I've p aid o f f !
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Bei n g on t h e t op st ep of t h e p od i u m at a w or l d ch am p i on sh i p l ev el i s som et h i n g I d on 't t ak e f or gr an t ed "
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"I d on ?t t h i n k a l ot of p eop l e u n d er st an d , y ou can on l y w i n so m u ch , som et i m es y ou ?r e goi n g t o get beat en "
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2019 saw you join a new t eam at
Your 2020 WM X season st art ed
Dixon Racing Team Kawasaki,
wit h an overall vict ory in Brit ain
t ell us about t he t eam and how
followed by a challenging
t hey have helped you achieve success.
weekend in t he Net herlands, what are your t hought s on t he
CD: In 2019 I jo in ed t h e DRT
season ahead?
Kaw asaki t eam , f o r m e, it w as
CD: It w as a d if f icu lt st ar t t o t h e
aw eso m e, f ir st an d f o r em o st ju st t h e n ew m o t ivat io n an d t o h ave
seaso n , w e h ad t w o m u d r aces t o st ar t , t h e co n d it io n s w er e r eally,
n ew p eo p le ar o u n d m e. I go t
r eally t o u gh an d I f eel f ar f r o m
b ack t o en joyin g m yself like I d id
m y b est , b u t t h at 's n o excu se. I
as a kid , en joyin g go in g t r ain in g an d t o t h e t r ack an d t h at w as a
w as st ill ab le t o w in t h e f ir st r o u n d an d t h en h ad a b it o f a
key. I t h in k f o r an y at h let e, t h e
d if f icu lt w eeken d in t h e
en joym en t f act o r h as t o b e h igh
Net h er lan d s, b u t yo u h ave t h o se
an d I h ad lo st t h at in t h e year s
d ays.
p r io r , I t h in k t h at w as r eally go o d an d I w as also ab le t o h ave a b ig say, w h ich w as co o l, m y t eam w er e w illin g t o h ear m e o u t an d list en t o w h at I w o u ld like t o d o an d h ow I w o u ld like t o p r ep ar e an d t h ey allow ed m e t o sp en d so m e t im e b ack h o m e d o in g so m e t r ain in g, so I h ad a r eally go o d b alan ce b et w een t h e UK an d b ein g b ack h o m e in Du n ed in , it h as w o r ked o u t w ell.
I d o n t t h in k a lo t o f p eo p le u n d er st an d , yo u can o n ly w in so m u ch , so m et im es yo u ?r e go in g t o get b eat en an d t h at d ay [ in t h e Net h er lan d s] I go t b eat en by a b et t er co m p et it o r o n t h e d ay. Fo r su r e it h u r t b u t t h er e?s n o t h in g like a lit t le ext r a m o t ivat io n m ovin g f o r w ar d . I'm st ill in a go o d p o sit io n , w e'r e st ill lead in g t h e ch am p io n sh ip so t h at 's p o sit ive.
Righ t n ow w e?r e o n h o ld w it h t h e Co r o n avir u s, it 's u p in t h e air o n w h en w e co m e b ack, b u t I'm st ill t r ain in g t h r o u gh it n ow an d t r yin g t o
an d t h at st em s f r o m m y f am ily an d f r ien d s an d m ed ical t eam , t h er e?s su ch a b ig list o f p eo p le I?d like t o t h an k an d I kn ow I w o u ld n ?t b e
get as m u ch b ike t im e as I can , so
w h er e I am t o d ay w it h o u t t h em . A
w h en w e r et u r n t o r acin g I'm go in g
b ig sp ecial t h an ks t o m y f am ily,
t o b e r ead y.
t h ey've b een t h er e sin ce d ay o n e.
What advice would you have for a
Finally, for our readers who would
young Court ney Duncan just
like t o follow your progress, where
st art ing out riding t heir dirt bike t hat would help her (or him) on
can t hey find you on social media?
t heir way t o success?
Yo u can f o llow m e ?o n t h e gr am ?at @CDu n ca n 151. I p o st o n b o t h m y
CD: Fir st an d f o r em o st is en joym en t ,
In st agr am an d m y Faceb o o k p ages,
r id e b ecau se yo u love it , set go als an d w o r k t ow ar d s t h em an d d o n 't
b ef o r e an d af t er each r ace t o keep m y f an s u p d at ed alo n g t h e w ay.
sh y aw ay f r o m a ch allen ge. I t h in k it 's t o o easy t o go d ow n t h e easy p at h an d d o w h at ?s easy, b u t so m et im es it ?s im p o r t an t t o h ave t h o se ch allen ges f o r yo u n g r acer s. Fo r in st an ce, an d st ep p in g u p t o a m o r e d if f icu lt class ear lier o n , w h er e yo u m igh t n o t h ave su ccess st r aigh t aw ay, b u t t h o se lesso n s t h at yo u 'r e go in g t o lear n ar e go in g t o b e w h at w ill h elp yo u as yo u get o ld er . Ju st ch allen ge yo u r self , set n o lim it s , alw ays en joy w h at yo u ?r e d o in g an d r id e w it h a sm ile.
M ot orsport is very much a t eam sport , is t here anyone you?d like t o t hank who have support ed you along t he way? CD: I t h in k an y sp o r t in gen er al, w h et h er an in d ivid u al sp o r t o r a t eam sp o r t , t h er e?s a b ig gr o u p b eh in d t h at at h let e o r t h at t eam , it ?s n o t ju st t h em o u t t h er e co m p et in g. Th er e ar e h eap s o f p eo p le b eh in d m e t h at h ave h elp ed m e su cceed
"Ju st ch al l en ge y ou r sel f , set n o l i m i t s, al w ay s en joy w h at y ou ?r e d oi n g an d r i de w i th a sm i l e."
CO URTNEY DUNCA Court ney shares a rare glim pse int o t he em ot ional WMX t it le, as well as t he dedicat ion t hat m ade t he
we keep going. And here we are? winning t he World
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AN // GIRL O N FIRE t oll of t he injuries endured on her way t o t he 2 0 1 9 vict ory even sweet er. ?When we feel like quit t ing,
d Cham pionship,?
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place. Things were more difficult in the 125cc, facing Luigi Taveri and his Honda, Hugh would finish third in the championship. He had his revenge in 1965, with seven wins and another world title! He couldn?t defend his 50cc title, with Ireland?s Ralph Bryans winning for Honda. The 1966 Japanese Grand Prix at Fisco (now known as Fuji Speedway) was to be his last race for the Suzuki factory team. Anderson continued racing for decades after winning his four World Championships, with motocross and then classic racing giving him two more opportunities to showcase the talent that made him one of New Zealand?s most successful racers. In 1994 he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and in 2005 was inducted in the New Zealand Sport Hall of Fame. His autobiographic book, ?Being There?, which was self-published in 2014, tells his story, from humble beginnings as a boy on the family farm to the heights of world domination, he explains in his own words the motivation, race strategies, psychology of winning, heartache and triumph that helped him deliver Suzuki its first major Grand Prix successes in the 1960?s ? ..you can find it on Google!
d
In a world of Google, i phones and instant messaging, it?s difficult to comprehend the determination an bravery of the early motorsport pioneers who left New Zealand and travelled to the great unknown on the other side of the world. Hugh Anderson is one of those pioneers who led the way, in whose footsteps today?s young Kiwi drivers and riders follow.
Born in Auckland in 1936, he spent his youth working on his parents?farm in Huntly, taking part in club events using his elder brother?s bike, showing plenty of talent.
In 1960 he paid his own way to Europe gaining instant success, including finishing third to John Surtees in the Ulster GP. The promising results saw him being noticed and signed by Shell, which in turn saw him join the Suzuki factory team, this was to be the beginning of almost a decade of racing in Europe. 1962 was a character building season with the 125cc still under development and Anderson was regularly confronted with engine seizures and other part breakages. Fortunately the 50cc was competitive and he ended the season with his first Grand Prix win in Argentina. 1963 would be his most dominant year: two World Championship titles in the same season, including two Grand Prix wins in the 50cc and six in the 125cc, plus several second placings. The 125cc was very efficient, leading to Honda developing the famous five cylinder 125cc machine, in an effort to match the Suzuki?s performance. In 1964 he would again win the 50cc World Championship with four wins, one second and one third
I n m em ory of BRYCE TOWNSEND 1968 - 2020
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4 . 9 8 5 SEC @ 2 8 8 . 2 M PH Som et im es, seeing words on a screen, or num bers on paper just doesn?t do it just ice. Sat urday, January 10, 2015, a day ( and night ) t hose who were t here will never forget .- Ant hony Marsh at t he wheel of NZ?s first ever 4-second pass, covering t he quart er m ile in 4.98 seconds at 288 m ph. In t he words of Ernest Hem ingway -?Th e r e a r e on ly t h r e e sp or t s: b u llf ig h t in g , m ot or r a cin g , a n d m ou n t a in e e r in g ; a ll t h e r e st a r e m e r e ly g a m e s? It was a privilege t o wit ness t he Mount Shop Lt d ? Marsh Mot orsport Lt d t eam in act ion t hat day, a day filled wit h passion, com m it m ent , det erm inat ion, and t eam work, highlight ing all t he values t hat we love about m ot orsport , a day t hat will rem ain wit h us for a very long t im e.
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I n a wo r l d o f Go o g l e , i - p h o n e s a n d i n s t a n t me s s a g i n g , i t ? s d i f f i c u l t t o c o mp r e h e n d t h e d e t e r mi n a t i o n a n d b r a v e r y o f t h e e a r l y mo t o r s p o r t p i o n e e r s wh o l e f t Ne w Z e a l a n d a n d t r a v e l l e d t o t h e g r e a t u n k n o wn o n t h e o t h e r s i d e o f t h e wo r l d . Hu g h An d e r s o n i s o n e o f t h o s e p i o n e e r s wh o l e d t h e wa y , i n wh o s e f o o t s t e p s t o d a y ? s y o u n g Ki wi d r i v e r s a n d r i d e r s f o l l o w. Bo r n i n Au c k l a n d i n 1 9 3 6 , h e s p e n t h i s y o u t h wo r k i n g o n h i s p a r e n t s ? f a r m i n Hu n t l y , t a k i n g p a r t i n c l u b e v e n t s u s i n g h i s e l d e r b r o t h e r ? s b i k e , s h o wi n g pl ent y of t al ent . I n 1 9 6 0 h e p a i d h i s wa y t o Eu r o p e gai ni ng i ns t ant s uc c es s , i nc l udi ng f i n i s h i n g t h i r d t o J o h n Su r t e e s i n t h e Ul s t e r GP. T h e p r o mi s i n g r e s u l t s s a w h i m b e i n g n o t i c e d a n d s i g n e d b y Sh e l l , wh i c h i n t u r n s a w h i m j o i n t h e Su z u k i f a c t o r y t e a m, t h i s wa s t o b e t h e b e g i n n i n g o f a l mo s t a d e c a d e o f r a c i n g i n Eu r o p e . 1 9 6 2 wa s a c h a r a c t e r - b u i l d i n g s e a s o n wi t h t h e 1 2 5 c c s t i l l u n d e r d e v e l o p me n t a n d An d e r s o n wa s r e g u l a r l y c o n f r o n t e d wi t h e n g i n e s e i z u r e s a n d o t h e r p a r t b r e a k a g e s . F o r t u n a t e l y , t h e 5 0 c c wa s c o mp e t i t i v e a n d h e e n d e d t h e s e a s o n wi t h h i s f i r s t Gr a n d Pr i x wi n i n Ar g e n t i n a . 1 9 6 3 wo u l d b e h i s mo s t d o mi n a n t y e a r : t wo Wo r l d Ch a mp i o n s h i p t i t l e s i n t h e s a me s e a s o n , i n c l u d i n g t wo Gr a n d Pr i x wi n s i n t h e 5 0 c c a n d s i x i n t h e 1 2 5 c c , p l u s s e v e r a l s e c o n d p l a c i n g s . Th e 1 2 5 c c wa s v e r y e f f i c i e n t , l e a d i n g t o Ho n d a d e v e l o p i n g t h e f a mo u s f i v e - c y l i n d e r 1 2 5 c c ma c h i n e , i n a n e f f o r t t o ma t c h t h e Su z u k i ? s p e r f o r ma n c e .
I n 1 9 6 4 h e wo u l d a g a i n wi n t h e 5 0 c c Wo r l d Ch a mp i o n s h i p wi t h f o u r wi n s , one s ec ond and one t hi r d pl ac e. T h i n g s we r e mo r e d i f f i c u l t i n t h e 1 2 5 c c , f a c i n g L u i g i Ta v e r i a n d h i s Ho n d a , Hu g h wo u l d f i n i s h t h i r d i n t h e c h a mp i o n s h i p . He h a d h i s r e v e n g e i n 1 9 6 5 , wi t h s e v e n wi n s a n d a n o t h e r wo r l d t i t l e ! He c o u l d n ? t d e f e n d h i s 5 0 c c t i t l e , wi t h I r e l a n d ? s Ra l p h Br y a n s wi n n i n g f o r Ho n d a . T h e 1 9 6 6 J a p a n e s e Gr a n d Pr i x a t F i s c o ( n o w k n o wn a s F u j i Sp e e d wa y ) wa s t o b e h i s l a s t r a c e f o r t h e Su z u k i f a c t o r y t e a m. An d e r s o n c o n t i n u e d r a c i n g f o r d e c a d e s a f t e r wi n n i n g h i s f o u r Wo r l d Ch a mp i o n s h i p s , wi t h mo t o c r o s s a n d t h e n c l a s s i c r a c i n g g i v i n g h i m t wo mo r e o p p o r t u n i t i e s t o s h o wc a s e t h e t a l e n t t h a t ma d e h i m o n e o f Ne w Z e a l a n d ? s mo s t s u c c e s s f u l r a c e r s . I n 1 9 9 4 h e wa s ma d e a Me mb e r o f t h e Or d e r o f t h e Br i t i s h Emp i r e b y He r Ma j e s t y Qu e e n El i z a b e t h I I , a n d i n 2 0 0 5 wa s i n d u c t e d i n t h e Ne w Z e a l a n d Sp o r t s Ha l l o f F a me . Hi s a u t o b i o g r a p h i c b o o k , ? Be i n g T h e r e ? , wh i c h wa s s e l f - p u b l i s h e d i n 2 0 1 4 , t e l l s h i s s t o r y , f r o m h u mb l e b e g i n n i n g s a s a b o y o n t h e f a mi l y f a r m t o t h e h e i g h t s o f wo r l d d o mi n a t i o n , h e e x p l a i n s i n h i s o wn wo r d s t h e mo t i v a t i o n , r a c e s t r a t e g i e s , p s y c h o l o g y o f wi n n i n g , t h e h e a r t a c h e a n d t r i u mp h t h a t h e l p e d h i m d e l i v e r Su z u k i i t s f i r s t ma j o r Gr a n d Pr i x s u c c e s s e s i n t h e 1 9 6 0 s ? . . i t ' s we l l wo r t h a r e a d , y o u c a n s e a r c h f o r i t h e r e o n GOOGL E!
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VALE : Sir St irling Moss
Oft en referred t o as t he great est driver never t o win t he world cham pionship, Moss cont est ed 6 6 Grands Prix from 1 9 5 1 t o 1 9 6 1 , driving for Vanwall, Maserat i and Mercedes, where he fam ously form ed a cont ent ed and rut hlessly effect ive part nership wit h five t im e World Cham pion, Juan Manuel Fangio. He was superb in sport scars and t ouring cars, as well as set t ing speed records wit h a st ream lined MG at Bonneville. Few ot hers can lay claim t o such all- round versat ilit y. His philosophy was always t hat he would rat her lose a race driving fast enough t o win, t han win a race driving slow enough t o lose. ?I am a racer, I 'm not a driver,? he st ressed, wit h careful dist inct ion. ?And I t hink t hat is not an int elligent t hing t o be; one should be a driver and a racer as well, but I enjoy racing. I enjoy dicing wit h ot her guys. To m e t hat 's what it 's about ." St irling Moss was one of t he great est of t hem all. One whose behaviour on and off t he race t rack will forever serve as a rem inder t hat you don't have t o wear a crown t o be a cham pion.
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The tea m a t Motorsport Plus ha ve followed with interest the prog ress of young Auckla nd ra cer Ka leb Currie, with corona virus pla cing a ll of us in the pits, for the time b eing , we tra cked d own Ka leb to g et his thoug hts on ra cing a nd his b rea kthroug h sea son. Q: While we here at MotorsportPlus have been fans of Kaleb Currie for many years, some speedway fans may not be familiar with the multiple Springs Speedway feature winner & 3rd place finisher at the Australian Midget Car titles. Let the fans know who you are? KC: It?s quite hard for me to describe myself and let people know who I am, I?ve always tried to fly under the radar, you guys at Motorsport Plus have been following me for years, covering the POWRI races when no one else did. I?m just another TQ driver, I don?t see myself as a big star or anything like that. Q: You spent your early years in motorsport competing amongst some of the premier names in New Zealand Kartsport. How has Kartsport assisted in your development curve during the recent years of Three Quarter & A Grade midgets? KC: I was 6 or 7 years old when my grandparents bought my first go-kart, and I?ve been racing ever since, I?m 22 now so that was a long time ago. We weren?t too serious at the beginning because I was pretty hopeless!! Eventually, we started improving and I came up through the ranks driving against NZ?s top karters, guys that are in Europe and racing all over the world now. Karting has helped a lot because you are racing against a field of 34 karts that are all within .2 of a second, which is a bit different from the speedway scene. You have to work on your racecraft, you have to work out how to save your tyres, throttle control in the wet, all those elements have helped a lot when transferring over to the dirt.
Q: The Currie name has been synonymous with open wheel speedway in recent decades. Is this something that has influenced your motorsport direction? KC: I wouldn?t say the Currie name is as well-known as some of the other ?well known? names at the Springs. My great grandfather used to race midgets, back when they had lap belts and no roll cages and biscuit tyres, back when they were real men! That has influenced me and what I want to do in my racing career. I want to go midget racing and follow my uncle, Steven Currie, he?s outshone me having the #1NZ in the TQ?s and I haven?t managed to beat that yet? .. Q: The 2020 Australian Speedcar Championships will go down as one of your more memorable events. Talk us through that weekend. After showing promise in an event earlier in the season, was the podium performance something of a surprise? KC: Finishing on the podium at the Australian Speedcar Title is the highlight of my career thus far. I?ve done some pretty big races but I?ve never got a result on a stage like that before. For the Australian trip, I was lucky enough to drive the Hardwyer Motorsport/SA6/Spike/Esslinger for car owners Mark Harrington & Alison Dwyer, who are based in South Australia. Building up to it, we had a few problems the week before at Avalon Raceway for the Victorian Titles, we managed to finish 5thafter starting 11th, having come through from the ?B?Main, grabbing the ?HardCharger ?award along the way. The Australian Titles were a pretty ?nuts?weekend. We were going into it thinking if we could get a top 10 finish it would be a pretty solid result, as it was only my seventh night in a midget, spread over 4 years, so it?s not as though I have a lot of experience in one. Qualifying night, we ended up beating Carson Macedo in a heat race and we thought to ourselves, ?hang on a minute, maybe we can do this?. We had good heat races, although we didn?t have an easy heat race all night, we had either Michael Pickens or Carson Macedo in every one of our heat races. It was good to be able to follow Michael from the back as he would always start a car in front of us, so I would follow him all the way through. For me, the Western Springs mentality of from lap one you go and you go as hard as you can, definitely helped. In the end, we had a good run, finishing on the podium with the 3AUS, we shocked ourselves though, we would have been happy with a top ten. Q: It seems recently, the common thought process for many ?A Grade?midget sponsors or owners looking for new talent, is that it?s necessary to claim a 1NZ TQ title first. Do you think, with the likes of yourself & Ryan Baker showing podium speed and potential from the first few laps, will change the perception of promoting talent from within the TQ class? I don?t think to have the #1NZ is necessarily a ?must-have?before moving up to Midgets, I?ve proven that and Ryan has proved it. The #1NZ is one race meeting, not necessarily whose best over the whole season, Ryan narrowly missed out on the title this year and has been ready to move up for a while. We?ve had offers from a few car owners, in particular Brett Morris, allowing me to drive that beautiful King/Toyota last season. I feel I?m ready, it?s a matter of finding the funds and knowing how to go midget racing.
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Q:Recently, you've had the chance to run both a torsion bar car & a coil spring rear TQ, with success in both. For the fans of the class, how would you describe the differences? KC: With my Mum's partner being Tim Clark from Clark Performance, we went down the CP3 route with the torsion bars. The first season with the car was my rookie season, we were fairly good, we had 5 podiums and nearly won a few of them. As the track changed over the seasons we couldn?t get the car in the setup window, which is quite small with the torsion bars, so we ended up cutting the car up and changing it to a ?coil?car. There?s not a lot of difference between the two types of suspensions, although the coil seems to be more forgiving and doesn?t want to ?sink?into the track as a torsion car does, it?s more lively, more like a go-kart. Q: In the wake of social isolation, off-season & COVID-19, what does an Australian Midget Car title podium finisher do to keep sharp? KC: Like everyone, we?re all getting a little bored sitting at home. I?m just glad over the years I?ve been able to build up a pretty good SIM with the three screens, good steering wheel, and computer. I probably should be still training, but iRacing has taken priority at the moment. There?s a lot of the drivers from the Springs on iRacing still battling away and crashing into each other. Q: Sponsors and supporters are as key as a component as your crew. Who would you like to thank for the support over the years? KC: First of all I?d like to thank my uncle, Steven, he?s the one that?s got me into speedway, he owns the TQ and always helps me, whether it be to ?kick my arse because I?m driving like a dick?or whether I?m short of funds, he?ll always help me out, I can?t thank him enough for that. Tim Clark, for building and preparing the cars. My Mum for being the world?s greatest race mum, there are not many mothers that would fight for her son to race the way she has, she organised and funded my drives in the POWRI series which led onto the Chili Bowl drive which led onto the Seamount opportunity, a massive thanks to her. I?d like to thank my crew, Alex and Sean, over the years I?ve given them some challenges when I?ve destroyed the car and we have to race in 2 days, they?ve always had the car ready to go when we pull up to the track, I always trust the work done on the car is correct when I climb into it. There?s a whole lot of guys that are behind me and talking to me, helping me through things, we?ve had a few tough seasons and everyone still believes in me, which is nice. Q: Social media is a massive industry at the moment, let the fans know how they can get in touch! KC: Social media is massive these days, you can follow my racing on Facebook @KalebCurrieRacing and keep up to date with all my news and results.
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we would have by now watched Scott McLaughlin's first IndyCar race driving for Team Penske at the GMR Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. One has to wonder whether the disruption to world motorsport will alter his career path, although McLaughlin has made it clear that while he?s willing to continue racing Supercars for DJR Team Penske for the next two seasons, he eventually wants to move to the U.S. and continue his racing career there. While assumptions were once made that he was headed for NASCAR, McLaughlin himself has never specified which series he is more interested in, deflecting inquiries with the comment, ?I?d race a wheelbarrow if it had a Penske sticker on the side.? The compressed 2020 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season will begin Saturday, June 6 with the Genesys 300 at Texas Motor Speedway while Supercars are yet to announce a date for the restart of their season.
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