Motorsport: Teen prodigy changes gear for TRS series

Nick Cassidy. Photo / Supplied

Young Aucklander Nick Cassidy is on the fast track to progress through the junior ranks and head overseas.

The 16-year-old Westlake Boys High School student from the North Shore has already proven he's a winner in karts, formula first, formula Fords and speedway.

This season he's turned his gloves to the Toyota Racing Series and after two rounds has set the fastest lap, finished second in a race and had a round second-place podium at the recent round in Timaru.

Although a rookie in the TRS, he is part of the Giles Motorsport team who also have defending champion Mitch Evans in their stable, so he's not short of advice. After two rounds of the series, at Teretonga and Timaru, Cassidy is looking to Hampton Downs next weekend (February 5-6) to continue his march to his first win.

"I really love these cars and it's a car I find you can push a lot," said Cassidy.

"The nature of the car is a bit twitchy and to be honest I'm not really a driver who likes that. But at the end of the day it's a race car and you've just got to get the best from it.

"The wings and slicks are the biggest difference. You're able to brake so much later from a higher speed and the car carries a lot more corner speed.

"That's taking a bit of getting used to - the amount of speed you have and how steep you can brake. In the Formula Ford you were always mindful of the limits of the tyres but now it's all about the wings giving you the most grip."

Mature words from someone who's still at school but not that surprising when you consider he's already been involved with various forms of race cars for about 10 years.

Cassidy was fizzing himself around karting circuits at age 6 and when he moved up to junior restricted he started winning titles.

Speedway, believe it or not, has also featured heavily in Cassidy's racing development. He spent a season in quarter midgets at Western Springs when he was barely 8 years old.

The next season and after, Cassidy concentrated on karting and it wasn't until he turned 15 that he was back in an F2 midget. The following year he was in a full-blown Synergy V8 midget.

After just a handful of outings at Western Springs this season, Cassidy got his first feature-race podium at his second attempt, finishing third behind Graham Standring when the Auckland veteran won his 100th feature race.

He also competed in the International series after Boxing Day and was going head-to-head with the same drivers who finished second to fifth at the Chili Bowl.

"I have two very different styles for the two different things [road racing and speedway].

"My background in speedway has given me a lot more car control but it's something [sideways] you don't really want to happen on a road track. If it does, that's the lap gone.

"My dream has always been circuit racing and my passion is single seaters, but you never know what's in the future."

Having that much talent that young didn't go unnoticed and Cassidy nailed a Speedsport Scholarship into Formula First after he won the 2008 Manfeild Winter Series. He finished second in that championship and the following year also finished second in Formula Ford, and is now making his mark in the TRS series.

This category has been the stepping-stone for a number of Kiwi drivers, including Brendon Hartley and Richie Stanaway, to getting a drive in Europe. That's where Cassidy ultimately has his sights set. But he's got a series here in New Zealand to deal with first.

"I'm new to the car and gaining more confidence after each round and my goal is to get to the NZGP and win that.

"As the series goes on I'm only going to get better and I'm pretty close [fourth] to the leaders in the series.

"The points don't really reflect just how fast we have been," said Cassidy.