They're not clowning around: two rising stars of Australian motor racing are coming to race the 2016-2017 Toyota 86 Championship - and perhaps salvage some national sporting pride - when it begins at Pukekohe next week.
With Australia reeling from its recent rugby drubbing and a New Zealander leading the Aussie V8 Supercar Championship, Will Brown and Drew Ridge aim to redress the balance when the Kiwi championship starts at the ITM Auckland Supersprint round of the V8 Supercars, November 4-6.
Will Brown, 18, won the Australian Formula 4 single-seater championship on Saturday and leads the inaugural Australian Toyota 86 series. He is currently second on points in the Australian national Formula Ford series, just 30 points adrift having missed the first round.
Drew Ridge, 17, is a race winner in Formula BMW Asia and Australian Formula 4.
It's been a frenetic six years since Brown first started in karting and the wins have come thick and fast for the Toowoomba-based driver.