Fresh from successfully completing the 2024 Elite Motorsport Academy week in Dunedin, Auckland’s Hunter Robb is heading to Australia to test a Porsche Michelin Sprint Championship car as he prepares for the next step in his career.
“The Elite Motorsport Academy was a great experience,” commented Robb. “ It was all about becoming a more complete driver with focus on off-track stuff such as nutrition, media, sponsorship and fitness. I’m definitely going to make changes and have already started to do this with my diet. Certainly, I’m looking forward to applying a lot of what I learnt into a race weekend.”
The 17-year-old will test with Jones Motorsport at the Queensland Raceway this Wednesday under the guidance of Harri Jones, the current leader of the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia series.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” said Robb. “I just want to learn and gain knowledge from the Australians and get a judgement of where my speed is at.”
It’s not Robb’s first time out in a Porsche, having recently tested and competed with a Porsche 991.2 in the North Island Endurance Series.
“That was a pretty good experience,” commented Robb. “The practice sessions really helped leading up to the One-Hour races. I learnt a lot about both tyre and fuel management.
“We finished second in the first round then unfortunately had a snapped axle in the second and got run off the track and caused some damage in the third round. However, it is all good experience heading into the coming season.”
Having competed in Kartsport from the age of six, Robb’s first car racing experience was winning the BMW E46 Spec Class Championship in the 2023 and 2024 series.
“In 2023, we also did a couple of rounds with some podiums in the TR86 Championship before a full season over the 2023/24 summer, during which I won the Top Rookie prize and finished second overall.
“I learnt a lot about race craft and the need to be consistent and make as few mistakes as possible, as these add up. The TR86 is a great car to drive. I gained a lot of confidence in that I knew how it would react as a car.”
The test in Queensland will be his second time on track in Australia.
“I recently competed in the Bathurst 6 Hour back in the autumn. Three of us from the NZ TR86 Championship teamed up and finished fifth in Class D. Summer Rintoule’s family put the team together, driving her Australian TR86, which is essentially a road-going car. Tayler Bryant and I went over to join Summer and had Shaun Hayes from Action Motorsport looking after the car.
“It was an awesome experience as each of us got plenty of track time leading up to and during the race.”
Meanwhile, Robb’s focus is on Wednesday’s testing session at Queensland Raceway as he prepares for the coming season and into 2025 with a number of exciting options on the table.
