Motorsport: Johnson's talent spotting

Andre Heimgartner (right), picturing going head-to-head with Greg Murphy, is a young talent. Picture / Euan Cameron

Kiwi snapped up, writes Eric Thompson

V8 Supercars' long-serving team Dick Johnson Racing knows a thing or two about talent spotting and the most recent signing to their roster is young New Zealander Andre Heimgartner.

The team snatched him up after he impressed at pre-season testing at the Sydney Motorsport Park and inserted him into their Dick Johnson Racing's Junior Development Driver Programme.

Heimgartner was actively involved with the team at the first V8 Supercar outing of the season, the annual test day a week and a half ago, where he did 15 laps in one of their cars alongside all the regular drivers in the V8 Supercar main game.

"Andre is a talent that we had to latch on to," Dick Johnson told Speedcafe. "We keep a very close eye on the Dunlop Series and we know his results last year were no reflection on his ability.

"We sat down at the end of last year and agreed that to have a young guy under our wings, just as FPR did with Chaz [Mostert], was a sound strategy and Andre fits the bill for our plans."

Heimgartner will work with DJR's 2014 main game drivers Scott Pye and David Wall through the year and have a hands-on role within the squad.

The 19-year-old Aucklander started in karting and by the age of 12 was competing in Formula First. At 14 he won the Winter Formula Ford Championship at Manfeild followed by a South Island Formula Ford Championship title. He then became the youngest New Zealand Formula Ford Champion at 15. Some Formula Ford appearances in Australia followed before Heimgartner made it back-to-back NZ Formula Ford titles the next year.

His first V8 SuperTourer campaign (2013) followed while he was also contesting the Porsche Carrera Cup in Australia where he finished seventh. In doing so, he notched another first, becoming the youngest driver (16) in the world to race a Carrera Cup car.

Heimgartner also notched a one-off Formula 3 drive with Erebus Motorsport and several appearances at Bathurst in a variety of machinery, a win in the Production Turbo Class at the 2013 Bathurst 12 Hour race amongst them.

Last year Heimgartner stepped up to the Dunlop V8 Supercar Development Series and this year he again will race with Matt White Racing.

"I am so proud to be selected by DJR to become their junior development driver. We had already signed with Matt White Racing for the Dunlop Series so this is just the icing on the cake," said Heimgartner.

"The plan outlined by Dick, Campbell Little and the management is fantastic. It allows me to focus on the Dunlop Series but the programme behind that will give me so much more experience."

An established V8 SuperTourer driver, Heimgartner lies second behind the experienced Greg Murphy in the series after two rounds. He's raced New Zealand's equivalent of V8 Supercars since their inception two seasons ago, finishing inside the top 10 on each occasion. This year he has taken a more strategic approach to the series and rather than chasing race wins at every opportunity, the championship is his focus.

Heimgartner starts his Aussie season this weekend at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide, where he first raced as a 14-year-old in a Formula Ford.