• Suzuki and Castrol delivers all-time best prize to young Christchurch racer
• Johnny McIntyre to mentor Swift scholarship winner
• Race scholarship backs rising race talent
He’s just 15 years old, but Christchurch racer Tom Barker has six years of motorsport experience behind him and has just won a sponsored scholarship drive in the most competitive one-make championship in New Zealand.
Barker is the youngest ever winner of the Castrol Suzuki Swift scholarship, and the first to win a new package of mentoring support offered by Castrol and Johnny McIntyre Racing that will culminate in a test day with McIntyre’s NZV8 team.
“I’ve always dreamed of racing the V8 Supercars, and this is a huge step forward to achieving that goal.”
Barker has raced karts since he was 11, and his passion for motorsport has driven him to seek any possible way to get alongside, under or in race cars. He has worked for Canterbury Motor Racing School, and in the 2009-2010 premier motor race season secured a prized role trackside as pit crew with the champion Triple X race team.
“I’ve wanted to go racing since I was seven when I hung around with my dad, who was driving a transporter for one of the NZV8s team. That started the obsession!”
Now, he is about to embark on his biggest challenge yet: the 2010-2011 Castrol Suzuki Swift Sport Cup.
On Saturday, Barker won the 2010-2011 scholarship, defeating nine other finalists in a multi-disciplinary day of testing designed to challenge every facet of an aspiring racer’s make-up. He said it was his toughest test so far.
“I like to visualise the race day, work through everything I’ll do and how I’ll do it. But I couldn’t really do that with the scholarship final, I didn’t know what to expect.”
At stake was a whole-season racing package that is worth up to $50,000 – including the use of a Castrol-branded scholarship race car. All cars in the series are prepared identically, meaning the emphasis is strongly on driver ability and the racing is close and often spectacular.
“I’ve been aware of the series from the start, it’s got a very high profile. The first winner, Cody McMaster, came down to the kart track I was at on the day he won. He gave me lots of input then and I’ve managed to watch lots of the races since.”
Having the scholarship final at Ruapuna was a “home” advantage psychologically.
“The day started at Latimer Lodge, then we all went down to a gym to do some testing. I think I went okay at the gym, felt pretty good afterward, but when we got to the track everything fell into place.”
Laps in the car with local race driver Andy Knight helped Barker acclimatise to the agile Suzuki’s, and the final shootout – though a nerve-wracking affair – went smoothly.
“I really, really wanted to win this and the shootout was where I knew I had to be my best.”
Barker says for aspiring racers, the scholarship experience is worthwhile just for the insight it offers into all aspects of racecraft.
‘We all had a lot of help from the judges and Andy and the people from Suzuki and Castrol, it was fantastic,” he said.
“Now I’m just buzzing, I can’t wait for the championship to start.”
Mentor support adds value to scholarship
For the 2010-2011 season, Castrol is raising the stakes in New Zealand motor racing with an additional offer to the winner of this year’s Castrol Suzuki Swift scholarship.
The scholarship is already one of the most desirable in New Zealand circuit racing with its offer of a season racing in the Suzuki Swift Championship and has brought to light a string of fast race drivers in its three year history.
Now, Castrol has spiced up the challenge with the offer of an extra enticement: a chance to ride with multiple champion Johnny McIntyre in the Castrol EDGE backed JMR Ford Falcon NZV8 Touring Car.
Announcing the programme during judging of the 2010 scholarship at Ruapuna race track near Christchurch, Castrol’s Marketing Manager, Jayne McEwan said competition for the prized Suzuki Swift drive grew tougher every year.
“This programme is our way of acknowledging the winner and giving them an additional helping hand. Many drivers now look to the Castrol-supported Swift Championship for its close racing and well managed format. This additional offer gives racers an idea of what it is like to take the next step into a NZV8 drive. The rest is up to them!”
The package offers Barker a mentoring programme at every track with Johnny McIntyre and a rare chance to experience V8 Touring Car performance first-hand. Along with the full Castrol Suzuki Swift Scholarship package at a value of more than $50,000, he will receive:
• Up to 15 minutes per race meeting with Johnny McIntyre to talk through the circuit, race tactics or anything else required
• A 20 lap NZV8 test at the end of the season at Taupo Motorsport Park. Time and date to be agreed but likely to take place at the end of April-May
• Personal tuition from Johnny McIntyre for this test.
The test will start with a series of laps sitting alongside Johnny McIntyre in his NZV8, followed by five laps driving with Johnny McIntyre in the passenger’s seat. The next part of the test session will be a stop to debrief and examine vehicle data from the laps completed.
The winner will then be given three five-lap stints in the car on their own, pitting at the end of each set of five to examine data and discuss their progress with the pit crew and Johnny McIntyre.
McIntyre says the Castrol-JMR opportunity is unique in this country.
“This is a serious opportunity for any aspiring touring car racer: they not only win a sponsored drive in the most competitive and successful one-make championship in New Zealand, they also get unprecedented access to one of the best NZV8s and also to the car’s driver. Tom’s a worthy winner of the scholarship and a very determined young man who has everything it takes to succeed.”
“Getting started in motorsport is hard, that’s well known. Few young competitors receive much in the way of mentoring, but with this offer Castrol is giving Tom an incredible opportunity and I am sure it is one he will make the most of,” he said.
Jayne McEwan says the Suzuki Swift Sport Championship – and the integral scholarship supported by Castrol – are an important addition to New Zealand motorsport.
“We are giving young racers a chance to show their abilities in a close, exciting, hard fought and cost effective category,” she says.
…..ends….
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
Automotive Marketing Team
admin@suzuki.co.nz
