Sixteen year old Kings College student Emerson Vincent brings wide experience from karting, speedway and circuit racing to what he hopes will be an eye-catching first season in New Zealand’s premier one make one model championship.
Another of the experienced karters joining the inaugural Bridgestone GR86 Championship, Vincent was a karter for a decade.
He has a career CV that includes fourth this year in the New Zealand Kart Grand Prix in the KZ2 class, as well as fifth overall in Kartsport Manawatu’s Rose City Challenge, again in the KZ2 class. In 2023 he was first in the Rotax Light class at the Kartsport Schools Championship.
2022 was another year brimmed with success with wins in the Rotax Junior class in Auckland’s City of Sails competition and in the Top Half Series.
Interestingly, like several drivers in previous seasons of the championship, he brings experience from domestic and international speedway racing to the grid, and is well-known to fans at Western Springs for his speed on the dirt. He’s also got some circuit experience in a Toyota Altezza from endurance racing and NAZCAR.
Looking ahead to what promises to be a very close competition – in testing as many as 20 cars in the field have been covered by less than a second.
“It’s been great being in the team so far and I have learned a lot,” he said. “Working through the data we are confident we can go well and be on the pace quickly.
“Being smooth and effective on the brakes are areas where I can improve a little more and we can definitely fine tune a little more out of the car. The main thing though is getting lots of laps in the car. There’s definitely people in the field who have done more racing than me but you’re never perfect in racing, there’s always something to improve on and that will be my focus.
“It’s going to be a tough season but I really hope to stay around the top five or even top three and try and be as consistent during the season as I can possibly be.”
Emerson’s car will be run by Action Motorsport and he will carry support from Turners Car Auctions, Higgins Concrete, Top Gear Trailers, Wolfbrook Motorsport and Mr Whippy when the season gets underway this coming weekend at the Taupo International Motorsport Park.
He’ll be part of an impressive 25-car line up.
