Chris Pither, one of the best of New Zealand's young single-seater drivers, has headed across the Tasman to drive a ute this weekend.
Not just any old ute but a Holden V8 at Mallala in South Australia in the Australian championship, which pits Ford against Holden in contests that mirror
the V8 Supercar championship.
The 18-year-old Pither, from Palmerston North, joined the championship "for a bit of fun" at the Goulburn round in New South Wales.
The results were encouraging. He qualified fourth and finished sixth overall despite several off-track excursions.
With a bit of experience under the belt, Pither rocked the ute racing fraternity two weeks later at Eastern Creek by qualifying on the front row of the grid, winning the first race - and breaking the lap record. He bombed the second race by jumping the start.
His form earned him a drive at the Darwin round for the Kanga Loaders team and he has since been signed up for the next two years. The deal sees him employed by Alan Porter's Kanga Loaders organisation primarily as a driver, but he will also have the chance to complete a fitting and turning apprenticeship at the company's factory in Burleigh Heads.
Pither has been a precocious motorsport talent. He first came to national notice as a 12-year-old with braces on his teeth, when he raced and won in a Formula Vee at Taupo.
He moved through the ranks of Formula First and Formula Fords, winning the Bruce McLaren Scholarship. Last season he was fifth in the inaugural Toyota single-seater series.
Pither has always spread his interests. He was a representative hockey player and while competing in open-wheel classes also graduated to the grunty Holden HQs, winning two national titles.
His move across the Tasman to drive utes could be a stepping stone to V8 Supercars. The driver he replaced in the Kanga team, Gary McDonald, has moved on to contest the second-level V8 championship.
