Stu Goldsworthy at home in Whangamata with some of his vehicles. Photo / Alison Smith
Stu Goldsworthy at home in Whangamata with some of his vehicles. Photo / Alison Smith
Stu Goldsworthy believes he "burned out" whatever gland produces nerves when a human races at 300km/h.
"My hit is adrenaline, cars and bikes."
Stu holds a New Zealand land speed record, achieved in 2019 on his H2R Kawasaki with a speed of 351km/h at the 6km-long Goudies Rd near Reporoa,which is set up for land speed attempts.
Raised in the formerly small coastal suburb of Howick, Auckland, the construction company director has lived in Whangamata for eight years and says he tries to go under the radar.
But he lives no ordinary life, and while his 1969 Camaro or his Harley-Davidson motorcycle might blend into the Beach Hop town, his Lamborghini doesn't.
Stu Goldsworthy is looking forward to getting back on the salt flats. Photo / HC Post
While many in Whangamata have a love of cars, Stu's love of vehicles is intrinsically motivated.
"I love bikes the most because it's open air. You feel more alive on a bike. At 300km/h, you know you can't sit up because the wind will blow you off the bike."
Stu is currently gearing up for an attempt at 500km/h in a production car - a 2500hp Corvette - which he hopes to achieve on the salt flats of Bonneville, USA after an unsuccessful attempt in 2019.
Growing up with cars and starting out on a minibike in Howick, Stu started racing motocross with Paul Manuel, a well-known car racer and engineer.
"The world of motorbikes and cars is a small world, especially at the top end," says Stu.
He is friends with Andrew Stroud, the retired champion New Zealand motorcycle racer who attended Stu's high school, McLean's College.
Andrew had told him if he was ever going to train somebody, he'd get them to do a few years of motocross first as a base for good circuit racing, which is what Stu then did.
A father of two adult children; Chloe and Joe, Stu took his interest in cars and bikes to the next level later in life.
He was spending a lot of time on his construction business when his father passed away and his need for speed became a calling.
"When my old man died, I saw him and I thought 'I don't want to die like that'. It took something from me. I just saw things differently. I was 45."
Stu Goldsworthy at home in Whangamata with some of his vehicles. Photo / Alison Smith
And then, in typical Whangamata fashion, he was introduced to another racing legend, Owen Evans.
In June 1996, Evans' Porsche clocked 216.385 miles an hour (348km/h) to break the national record by almost 30km/h.
It crashed later that day, and the story he told NZ Herald is one that Stu can understand, even though he's never experienced a life or death crash himself. Evans said he could recall just about every blade of grass in that fateful moment.
"You're thinking survival. Images of my family flashed through my mind. I think I actually got up there [to heaven] but he said, 'you owe too much money so go back and pay a few more bills'. No one should have survived that."
To ride a bike at high speed is not second nature to Stu.
He says racing requires the ultimate focus possible, and this is what he craves.
"It's almost like meditation. It's the most present you will be, in my opinion.
"I hop on the bike with my gear on, I look at the salt, the dragstrip or the road, and remember what I've got to do.
"Keeping the front down, knowing when to change gear because you are tucked down so low. The wind is trying to rip the helmet off your head and you have to keep your toes pointed.
"I have a lack of experience with it because you don't get the chance to ride at 250km/h, I've only ever done it once. And the difference between 250km/h and 300km/h is very different. In Bonneville, they say life begins at 200 miles per hour (320km/h) and I can see what they mean now."
Racing on salt reduces the risks, he says, because "there's nothing to hit and if you come off, you slide more".
"It's the safest place to go fast."
But to race on the renowned courses that he races, including on Lake Gardner in Australia and the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, you can't just rock up with your dreams and ride.
The Bonneville Salt Flats Race Track is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and you must go through a licensing process.
Stu has an Auckland-based team, including an experienced engine builder and Paul Manuel as his crew chief, who has raced for 40 years.
Stu says the places that racing takes him are adventures in themselves - an ultimate road trip with the sharpest focused ride at the destination.
When you next see Stu driving through the streets of Whangamata, know that he's being very restrained. Does he stick to the speed limit? "Absolutely."
"We're looking forward to having a crack at the New Zealand land speed record in the Corvette, hopefully at Goudie's Rd and then entering at Bonneville. Then it'll be trying to go 400km/h at Lake Gardner in Australia on the bike," he says. "That's the goal."
Stu's records - 2018, Australian speed record on salt at Lake Gardner, Australia on his Kawasaki H2R at 207mph. Stu plans to return to this course with a goal of 400km/hr. - 2019, New Zealand land speed record on the same Kawasaki H2R at Goudie's Rd, Reporoa.
