The next year, we took the first step into racing. Nothing major, just club days. I was cautious about jumping in too deep, not wanting to get in the way of the kids who'd been doing it for years and were inevitably quicker. But with every club day, the confidence grew, the lap times dropped, and the hunger to compete properly got harder to ignore. Dad and I agreed, 2017 would be the year to step up to a proper series. But not just yet.

This was the year things got serious. I entered my first Goldstar Championship in Cadet Rok and set the Kartsport Taranaki lap record, a record that still stands today. It was my first taste of proper competition, racing against the best young kart drivers in the country. The series carried into 2018, where I took out the championship title and earned something I never expected: my first international racing experience, competing at the City of Melbourne titles in Australia. For a kid from Palmerston North, that was a huge moment.

After wrapping up the Goldstar Championship, I had a brief stint in Rotax before the opportunity came to test a Formula First car with Sabre Motorsport. That test changed everything. After watching me out on track, the team owner pulled Dad aside and said, "You're going to have to get your funding sorted, your boy has some real potential." That was all the confirmation we needed.

In 2021, I entered the Formula First Winter Series at Manfeild, and won it. The plan was to carry that momentum into the summer series, but Covid had other ideas, and the season was cut short. Still, the message was clear: I was ready for the next step.

Fresh off the Formula First Winter Series title, I made the jump to Formula Ford, and won the Winter Series on debut. Back-to-back winter series titles in two different classes. Not a bad way to introduce yourself. With that momentum, I entered the 2022–2023 North Island Formula Ford Championship, going up against more experienced drivers and learning what it takes to compete at the sharp end of New Zealand's most competitive single-seater category.

The 2022–2023 North Island Formula Ford Championship went all the way to the wire, the title was decided on the very last lap of the very last race, and I came up just short, finishing as runner-up. It stung, but it proved I belonged at the front. I also had my first crack at the New Zealand Formula Ford Championship, finishing 6th overall. For a first attempt, it was a solid result, but I knew I had more to give.

Not every chapter is a highlight reel. 2024 was tough... The budget fell short of where it needed to be, and the car wasn't performing mechanically the way we needed it to. Rather than turning up underprepared, we made the hard call to sit the season out. At the time, it felt like a setback, but looking back, it might have been the best thing that could have happened. It gave me time to regroup, refocus, and come back stronger. More importantly, it meant I lined up for the 2025 season, the first year with Rodin Cars backing the Formula Ford championship...

This was the season I'd been building towards. I entered the New Zealand Formula Ford Championship with one goal, to win it. And that's exactly what I did. Seven wins from 14 races, a 50% win rate, 10 podiums, and I extended the championship lead every single round. My worst finish all season was 6th. I clinched the title with a race still to go, finishing with a 131-point lead and taking home the Morrie Smith Memorial Trophy for the second time. Everything I'd learned - the crashes, the runner-up finish in '23, the years of development - it all paid off in one dominant season.

Winning the New Zealand Formula Ford Championship was the goal, but what came next was beyond anything I could have imagined. As the champion, I was selected to participate in the prestigious Rodin Cars Formula Ford to F1 program. I was flown down to their world-class facility at Mt Lyford in the South Island for an all-expenses-paid evaluation program.

Over the course of the testing, I got behind the wheel of a McLaren 570s GT4, a Formula 4, and a Formula 3 car, the fastest and most incredible machinery I'd ever driven. But it wasn't just about seat time. Every session was an evaluation; they were watching everything. Speed, adaptability, feedback, consistency, how I communicated with the engineers, and how quickly I could learn in unfamiliar cars.

At the end of the program, I was named the top graduate. Out of all the drivers evaluated, I was the one they chose to progress further. That meant a fully funded trip to Europe, two days on the simulator and two days testing a Formula 4 car with Rodin Motorsport's F4 team. During that test, I was the second fastest driver on track in the rain, despite having just one day of experience in the car, while some of the other drivers had up to three years. I left the test absolutely stoked with the time in the car, and the experience as a whole.

It was the moment that confirmed I could compete on the international stage. And it opened a door I never expected to come from this... I got the opportunity to race in the Australian GT4 Championship with Miedecke Motorsport.

Everything I've worked for has led to this. I've signed with Miedecke Motorsport - Ford's factory GT4 team, to compete in the 2026 Monochrome Australian GT4 Championship, racing a Ford Mustang GT4. The team was officially launched at the Bathurst 12 Hour, and I'll be sharing the car with Cooper Cutts, the Radical Australia champion. It's a strong pairing and a serious team, and I can't wait to see what we can do together.

The championship broadcasts live on many channels, including GTWorld YouTube to over 820,000 subscribers, it's the biggest platform I've ever had. This is the next step on the path toward my ultimate goal of becoming a World Endurance Champion.

But none of it happens without the people backing me. I'm a self-funded driver, and the reality is that every partner, every supporter, and every person who buys something from this store is helping keep me on the grid. It's as simple as that. I don't take it lightly, and I'll always make sure the people behind me know exactly what their support means.