Motorsport: Young Kiwis in a hurry to the top

Rally driver Hayden Paddon is one of several New Zealanders making waves on the international stage. Photo / Sarah Ivey

During 2010, several young New Zealand drivers and riders started to make a name for themselves on the international motorsport stage.

To stay in the spotlight these young guns need to kick on and blaze a path along the lines of Bruce McLaren, Denny Hulme, Chris Amon, Steve Millen, Graham McRae, Scott Dixon, Hugh Anderson, Graeme Crosby, Aaron Slight, Shayne King and Josh Coppins.

In recent years there has been a lull in Kiwis hitting the high notes in motor racing, with only IndyCar driver, Dixon, showing the way internationally. However, there is a bunch of talented young drivers, and the odd rider, who are ready to launch their careers in a big way in 2011.

Below are some who achieved in 2010 and may push on to become household names down the track.

Hayden Paddon
Top of the list has to be young rally driver Hayden Paddon, who became the first New Zealand rally driver to finish on the podium at the end of a world rally series. Despite some last-minute hiccups, Paddon hung on to finish third in the Production World Rally Championship (PWRC) and prompted Autosport magazine's David Evans to rank him the 10th-best rally driver in the world.

Paddon came to world rally's notice during the New Zealand round of the World Rally Championship, when he won the PWRC category, and continued to turn heads in Europe with his speed on tarmac, especially in Germany and France.

Mitch Evans
At just 15 years, Mitch Evans won the New Zealand Toyota Racing Series title and followed that with a close-fought second place in the Australian Formula Three championship.

Australian Formula One driver Mark Webber has had his eye on Evans for a while now and has become his mentor, showing him the F1 ropes in Europe. Webber has an interest in GP3 Team MW Arden and is in discussion with Evans and his backers with a look to the Kiwi racing in the GP3 series in 2011.

Richie Stanaway
This young chap made those who know motor racing in Australasia sit up and notice, when he plonked himself in a TRS car at the Hamilton round of the V8 Supercars and promptly put everyone to the sword.

Soon after, he won the German ADAC Formula Masters Championship at his first go. He led the most distance, won more races and had more podiums than any other driver in the history of the series.

By winning, Stanaway was given a German Formula Three test, which he completed successfully and it looks like he may receive a Volkswagen sponsorship to contest the series. He has been selected as one of two nominees from New Zealand to be considered for the FIA Young Drivers Academy in Austria in 2011.

Tom Blomqvist
The son of legendary rally ace Stig Blomqvist, Tom has carved out his own niche early on in his racing career. Although born overseas, he has grown up in New Zealand, learning his race craft along the way in karting, and he travels on a Kiwi passport.

The past year has been successful for Blomqvist after he became the youngest-ever winner of the Formula Renault UK championship. His on-track success also saw him shortlisted for the McLaren Autosport BRDC award, for which the winner receives an official test drive in a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 car.

Chris van der Drift
After one of the most spectacular racing crashes ever likely to be seen, Dutch Kiwi Chris van der Drift managed to get back in a race car for the last round of the Superleague Formula where he had been winning races before his big off.

A special training programme accelerated van der Drift's recovery and he managed a seventh finish at the last round of the series in Spain.

He has been keeping his name in lights by thundering his Superleague car through the streets of Welsh city Cardiff and is looking to cement his plans for 2011 in January.

Earl Bamber
The 20-year-old driver competed in everything from the New Zealand Grand Prix to the Superleague Formula in 2010. Bamber was a commentator for the championship until he got a late call-up. In the space of three days,he went from talking about racing to a winner in a car he'd never driven before on a circuit he'd never seen before in Inner Mongolia.

He won again next time out in Beijing and the only other driver to have shone so much on debut in this championship was Sebastian Bourdais, the former Toro Rosso Formula One driver.

Another last-minute opportunity happened when the team boss of the XXX Motorsport asked Bamber to drive his Porsche GT3 Cup Car. The result - third place for the weekend in a car and class he had never driven in before.

The V8 Supercar championship is ultimately where Bamber has his sights set, and he is working to progress the jump into this championship as soon as possible.

Brendon Hartley
The youngster was within touching distance of lining up on a Formula One grid as part of the Red Bull Junior Development Team but it wasn't to be. After several years with the F1 team, Hartley will be in demand but he needs to raise thousands of dollars in sponsorship to get a seat in something like GP2.

With five years' experience as an F1 test driver and simulator tester, someone is bound to pick up his services soon. There's no doubting Hartley is fast as he was consistently the quickest driver for P1 Motorsport in a Formula Renault 3.5 and he was sixth fastest in GP2 testing in Abu Dhabi recently.

Shane van Gisbergen
Closer to home there's a Kiwi plying his trade in the Aussie V8 Supercars and Shane van Gisbergen is proving he's no mug. He finished a strong sixth in the 2010 season and just missed out on getting his first race win at the last round of the series in Sydney when he ran out of gas. He still had a standout year finishing on the podium 10 times and will be a force to reckon with next season.

Andy Lamont
It's a bit lean on the motorcycling front, but according to the website bikesportnz.com, motocross ace Kayne Lamont is making all the right moves.

He has just signed a deal to race for the Suzuki team in Britain to contest the British Motocross championships with a view to moving up to the world MX2 championship soon.