Motorsport: Munro a quick learner

Christchurch driver James Munro is rapidly making a name for himself.Picture / Euan Cameron

Neale Motorsport makes a considered but strong bid in Toyota Racing Series

James Munro, who turned 17 on Monday, has made a pretty good transition into "wings and slicks racing" after winning the NZ Formula Ford title last year.

After six races of the scheduled 15 in the Toyota Racing Series, Munro has already experienced the highs and lows of international racing and is relishing contesting the series against three other Kiwis and 19 overseas drivers.

Munro and teammate Andrew Tang are hooked up to a new team in the series, Neale Motorsport, and have won half the races so far. Munro has one win and Tang, who was here last year, has two.

Team owner Andrew Neale might be new to this championship but he is no stranger to single-seater racing and knows a good driver when he sees one. He's been behind the wheel and has an astute understanding of the technical side, having worked for the BAR Formula One team.

"Last year was a 'toe in the water' exercise. "This season we launched Neale Motorsport into a bigger environment - the Toyota Racing Series," Neale told the Paddock Scout website, which profiles future motorsport stars.

"I've been engineering for other teams since the series' inception and now in the 10th season of the category I have got my act together to get my name above the door.

"We're running James Munro after last year's success (in Formula Ford) and also Singapore driver Andrew Tang, whom I met last year when he did the Toyota Racing Series. James is a local boy and this is part of his career progression. He will be gunning for Rookie of the Year."

Munro is keen to continue to learn from Neale for the rest of the series and knows that the more he listens the more he'll learn.

"He explains things very clearly and he focuses on the basic things as well as analysing all the data and video from the car," says Munro.

Although early success has made Munro realise he can mix it with the best of junior formula drivers he knows there's a long way to go in the series. Last weekend the Christchurch racer amazed everyone - including himself - by qualifying on pole for the first race and winning it relatively comfortably. He came third in the final race at just his second meeting.

"I'm not expecting anything this weekend and I don't have any specific goals for this meeting. Just because I had some success at Timaru it hasn't raised any hopes for this weekend at Highlands Park.

"I'm just going to go out there and give it my best. If I try to change anything with the car or how I race I might lose some focus. I haven't raced at Highlands before but have driven a road car around the track."

Neale says that while success has come early in the championship, he's not sitting back. There's still a long way to go and everyone needs to stay focused. "I believed James could win races, but not so soon. He had good preparation and he's with a pretty focused group of people.

"Early success is good but you need sustained success. In race two last weekend we saw that James can still make a rookie mistake."

Munro made contact with another car and had to pit for a new nosecone, losing a lap.

Russian Egor Orudzhev also has two victories and Briont Jann Mardenborough took one race and the overall win at Timaru. Estonian Martin Rump has not won a race but a succession of top placings have put him in the lead, eight points ahead of Mardenborough with Orudzhev third. Best of the Kiwis is Damon Leitch in fifth with Tang sixth and Munro seventh.