Back on track with motorsport course

Ben Niu has swapped boy-racing for race-car building and a safer future. Photo / Paul Estcourt

After a drunk Ben Niu ploughed his car between two trees and crash-landed upside down after a mid-air flip, he knew it was time to re-assess his life and what he was doing with it.

Now, two years on, the 24-year-old boy racer is doing something constructive with his love for fast cars - he's building one from scratch on a course at Manukau Institute of Technology.

MIT introduced its new certificate in Motorsport Level 3 this year and the $5000 course is proving popular with students, including Mr Niu.

"I come here every day, we all get along. Every day you are learning something new, which is pretty good," said.

By the end of the year the students will have each built a Formula First racing car, valued at up to $15,000, which they will then be able to test drive at a track.

The cars are being built for Sabre Motorsports and will eventually be used in Formula First racing, a nursery for such famous drivers as IndyCar racer Scott Dixon.

Programme leader Trevor Hennessy said many young people with a love of fast cars tried to build them at home on their own, often with disastrous results.

The course taught them how to do it safely - and legally. Those who complete it are able to go on to apply for an apprenticeship as an automotive engineer.

Before starting the course, Mr Niu was a panelbeater who waited each week for pay day so he could buy petrol and go racing.

"I was working as a panelbeater pretty full on, six days a week, 12-hour days just to get money for the boy racing. I also needed cash for alcohol and parties."

After his accident, from which he escaped without serious injury, he realised he'd reached a crossroad and it was time to refocus his life.

Mr Niu says the course has opened doors for him, giving him the ability to move into anything from auto electrics to the mechanical side.

As well, building a racing car from scratch was rewarding.

"It's like when you cook dinner, things always taste better when you cook it yourself. It's not only that, it's also a bit cheaper."

The students began the term with tubes of steel which have been transformed into the race-car frames. When they return from the Easter break they will begin work on the engines.

Later, they will design colour schemes and livery for the cars so they are recognisable as MIT cars when racing.

The School of Motorsport is in Pukekohe and has attracted a wide range of students, including 20-year-old Zameer Mohammed, who is deaf and is supported on the course by a sign language interpreter and transcriber.

But deafness is no hindrance to his work - he is able to tell if an engine is misfiring by feeling the vibrations in his chest.

His goal is to find himself a job in motorsport.