It may only be fledgling, but the next three days will form the biggest in the racing career of birthday girl Jemma Barnes.
The upcoming Year 8 pupil at St George's School turns 12 today, which makes her eligible to compete in the Youth Ministock class at the Oceanview Speedway event tomorrow night.
Barnes will be following in the footsteps of her veteran racer father Adrian, who will be crewing for her, as well as her older sister Aimee, who in 2012 was awarded the New Zealand Youth Ministock Competitor of the Year trophy.
Proud sibling Aimee, who now races Adult Ministock, said Jemma has learnt the skills of manual race car driving from a lot of practice and coaching from the family.
"Many traits are said to run in the genes," Aimee said.