NZ’S DOMINATORS“I guess we like to beat Aussies but that’s beside the
point. We definitely punch above our weight inter-
nationally in a whole range of sports and activities
and motorsport is one of those. We’ve got a proud
motorsport history going back to the days of Denny
Hulme, Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon just to men-
tion a few.”
Budd believes many young Kiwis have a go behind
the wheel from a young age, which helps aspiring racers
develop their skills early on.
“A lot of young guys, particularly ones that are on
farms, are driving vehicles at a young age,” he says.
“We’ve got a very strong karting scene and most major
towns and cities have a kart club and a kart track. If you
look at most of those drivers that are succeeding inter-
nationally they have all come through karting.”
Budd says the progression from karts to Formula
Ford is still seen an important development step in
New Zealand.
“With Formula Ford, even though numbers fluctuate
from year to year, we still push that heavily as a cham-
pionship class and as a stepping stone from karting
through to other categories,” says Budd.
“We have a junior-licence regime where young com-
petitors from the age of 12 can get a competition licence
that allows them to compete at quite a wide range of
events – hillclimb and some clubman racing events. And
the only restriction on that at the moment is they can’t
drive anything that’s more than 2500cc.”
But Budd claims the jewel in the New Zealand
motorsport crown is its Elite Motorsport Academy,
which has been running for 13 years now.
“All those drivers that we are currently talking about
who are competing with distinction overseas except for
Scott McLaughlin and Scott Dixon have been through
that academy,” says Budd.
“It’s an event that is run over a one-week intensive
in Dunedin, which is a collaboration between the New
Zealand Sports Academy and the Otago University
physical education department. It’s a sports science-
focused academy rather than a driving academy and
there is a 12-month mentor follow-up program with
those participants.”
The academy came about after a perceived lull in
Kiwi international motorsport following the success of
Hulme, McLaren, Amon and others.
“We had about a 20-year period where nobody from
this country excelled at an international level and it was
established that part of the reason was that other young“WE’VE GOT THREE
BRILLIANT KIWI
DRIVERS WHO’VE
ALL ENDED UP
IN THREE OF THE
BEST CARS IN THE
CHAMPIONSHIP.”- GREG MURPHY