Strong performances in international competitions in Australia and America this year has showcased the talent of young Kiwi racer Liam Lawson and led to numerous inquiries from overseas race teams and management personnel.

After finishing runner-up in the Australian Formula 4 championship, Lawson headed to Phoenix, Arizona as the New Zealand representative in the Mazda Road To Indy Shootout, which carries a prize package worth more than $280,000.

An outstanding performance in the ‘mock’ race that concluded the Shootout, contested by just five of the 17 international drivers that started the weekend’s competition, was enough to raise interest in the 15-year-old from Pukekohe.

Although he failed to get his hands on the main prize, throughout the 30-minute race simulation, Lawson bolted from the front to gap those behind him, circulating throughout the race with laps that were no more than 4/10ths-of-a-second apart – the fastest and most consistent of the finalists.

During the mock race the five finalists were sent away from pit-lane at 10-second intervals, with the half-hour duration mimicking the length of a usual USF2000 race.

“Obviously a scholarship like this is more than just the driving on the race track but I gave it my all and couldn’t be happier with all of my performances over the weekend,” said Lawson.

The Mazda Road To Indy Shootout in association with Cooper Tires was won by Keith Donegan, 20, from Northern Ireland.

“To have driven the whole race without missing a single apex and never putting a wheel wrong while wrestling the car around quite a physically demanding circuit was hugely satisfying. I would have to rate that as one of my best performances ever.”

Held at the Bondurant Racing School in identical Formula Mazda single-seater cars, producing 180hp from a 13B rotary engine, the drivers were switched between the cars throughout the two days of competition. Lawson also clocked the fastest lap of the first day.

After the shootout Lawson was approached by a number of American race teams vying for him to contest the USF2000 competition in 2018 and he was also invited to test with a European Formula 4 team at Valencia the following weekend.

However he was already scheduled to appear at a Formula 4 test in Australia at Phillip Island with championship winning team AGI Sport, where he also produced the fastest lap of the day.

Lawson’s Australian Formula 4 campaign concluded on the streets of the Gold Coast last month with two race wins for rival team BRM, and it was only courtesy of BG World Wheels, cumulo 9 and Pukekohe Toyota that was able to make the follow up trip to America.

“It’s been an awesome year, and I’ve been blessed to have the support of so many wonderful people this year,” added Lawson.

With numerous offers on the table from Australia, USA and Europe the racing programme for next year will depend entirely on the financial support he can raise over the next few months.

One thing is for sure, the Pukekohe kid’s dream of one day becoming a professional race driver is far from over.

Liam Lawson will be in Arizona next weekend among a 20-strong international driver line-up, all vying for the $US200,000 Mazda Road To Indy Scholarship prize package.

Lawson could finally pack his bags after BG World Wheels offered their support to make sure the Pukekohe teenager will be in Phoenix to represent New Zealand, the youngest of all the competitors.

Champion drivers from 9 countries have been invited to compete, with Lawson’s invite coming after he won the NZ F1600 championship, formerly known as Formula Ford.

Since also finishing runner-up in the Australian Formula 4 championship last month, the 15-year-old has been busy fund-raising to make the journey to America. With time running out to confirm his entry, BG World Wheels stepped in.

“We’ve been impressed with Liam’s efforts in Australia this year, and the work he’s put in to get himself to the United States so we’re pleased to help. Now he can just focus on preparing for the competition,” said General Manager, Brad Dixon.

BG World Wheels recently celebrated 30 years of importing and supplying a wide range of automotive wheels and tyres for the New Zealand market.

It’s not the first time BG World Wheels has helped a young New Zealander racer try his hand in America. The company supported IndyCar champion Scott Dixon on his first venture into American open-wheel racing in 1999.

And that’s where the winner of the Mazda Road To Indy Shootout could end up. The programme can take a driver through three different open-wheel racing categories before reaching Indy Car racing, with the opportunity to win over $US1.5-million of assistance along the way.

“It’s a fantastic chance to test myself against a lot of other drivers from all over the world, all in the same cars, over two days of competition,” said Lawson.

The elimination style competition will see the field halved for the final on-track racing session from which the winner will be chosen.

Lawson leaves New Zealand next Wednesday for the Mazda Road To Indy Shootout presented by Cooper Tires which will be held at the Bondurant Racing School on December 9/10. The facility was once known as Firebird Raceway.

It’s been a remarkable twelve months for 15-year-old Pukekohe High School student Liam Lawson.

In less than a year, Lawson has won the New Zealand F1600 championship and finished runner-up in the Australian Formula 4 championship.

And from the points he’s scored in both series, Lawson is mathematically eligible for a CAMS Super License – required to race, for example, a V8 Supercar – but he’s too young. Apart from the minimum points, drivers have to be 17 years of age.

After his successful debut season in Australia, the next international venture on the calendar for Lawson is to represent New Zealand in the Road To Indy Scholarship Shootout in America early next month.

Lawson won an entry into the competition by winning the NZ F1600 championship, formerly Formula Ford, and will be among a group of invited international drivers from five continents to compete against the best young Americans for a $US200,000 prize purse.

The prize money is to assist a young driver on the path to a career in IndyCar racing, the category in which fellow Kiwi Scott Dixon has considerable success.

“We had two main goals at the start of this year. To compete in all rounds of the Australian Formula 4 championship and then go to America to contest the Road to Indy Shootout,” said Lawson.

“The F4 season all came together in the final round with some great results, so I really hope we can get to America and give the Shootout a really good go too.”

The race is now on to raise the funds for Lawson to attend the Mazda Road To Indy Scholarship Shootout at the Bondurant Racing School near Phoenix, Arizona, December 9-10.

At the end of two days of intense competition just one of the 20 drivers will be awarded the cash prize, to be put towards a racing programme for 2018.

Lawson is busy raising donations towards his travel and competition costs and has details and regular updates on his Facebook page, Liamlawson30.

“The fund-raising is going well. Friends and supporters, and people I don’t even know have made donations [to the bank account],” added Lawson.

“There’s still a way to go, but hopefully I’ll get to represent New Zealand at the Shootout.

Motorsport in New Zealand is on a high at present with Brendan Hartley making it into Formula One, Scott Dixon at the top in Indycars and several Kiwi drivers at the pointy end of V8 Supercar racing. Many motorsport pundits are picking Lawson to be the next rising star to perform on the international stage.

“I don’t know what next year holds yet. It’s a very expensive sport to reach the point where you’re a professional driver so I’ll keep doing my best and see where it takes me. I’m very grateful for all the support I’ve had so far and we’ll just see what options there are if I can get to America,” he said.

Pukekohe teenage racer Liam Lawson put on a sizzling display on the streets of the Gold Coast to win two Formula 4 races and clinch second place in the Australian championship.

Masterful in wet conditions, Lawson shot from his fourth place qualifying to convincingly win a rain-soaked opening race, and then took another victory by out-driving new F4 champion Nick Rowe over the closing laps of the last race.

A charge back through the field to fourth place in the other race of the weekend, also held in the rain, demonstrated Lawson’s dominance over the rest of the field on the wet track conditions.

But Lawson was lucky to even make it to the Gold Coast for the final round of the championship.

A week beforehand he was resigned to not being able to make the starting grid, because of a budget shortfall.

However, additional support at the eleventh-hour from some of his loyal supporters allowed Lawson to contest the last three races of the championship, which supported the V8 Supercars.

Collecting two race wins enough to also lift him from third to second in the championship.

“I honestly thought we weren’t going to make it [to the Gold Coast]. I thought I’d be watching it all on TV. I was only sure three days before I flew out!

“So to come here and win two of the three races and secure 2nd in the championship was a fantastic result for everyone who made not just the season, but this last round possible.

“To finish off the year with a win is really awesome.”

Lawson led the seven-round championship to the mid-season break, but struggled in later rounds and that handed the lead over to Rowe.

“We came into this weekend, after the last half of the year not going so well, and wanted to finish off with a good round.” said Lawson.

“I’ve been praying for rain all year and it finally came, unexpectedly on the Gold Coast!

While the street circuit was hammered with rain for most of Saturday, the racing on Sunday was held in sunny weather.

“From Friday practice we were a bit off the pace [in dry conditions] so made some radical changes going into the last race and they really worked.”

The 15-year-old has been motor racing for less than three years, and in that time has won the SpeedSport Scholarship and driven Formula First, won the New Zealand Formula Ford title last summer with 14 wins from 15 races, and has now finished runner-up on his international debut.

Lawson is the first international driver to contest the Australian Formula 4 championship, which now ranks as the entry category on the new FIA ‘ladder’ to Formula One.

After Formula 4, drivers progress to Formula 3 and then onto the re-branded Formula 2 category before they can reach the pinnacle of the sport.

Lawson’s Formula 4 campaign this year has been proudly supported by RetroCar.co.nz, along with the Giltrap Group, NZ Childcare Finance, BG World Wheels, Archibalds, Maugers, TACCOC, Cyrus International Cargo, Men at Work, The Porter Group, Showerdome and personal supporters.

Image by Dirk Klynsmith.

Liam Lawson returned to the podium in the final race of the penultimate round of the Australian Formula 4 championship in Sydney over the weekend.

The Pukekohe teenage missed out on two more podium chances after incidents deemed not to have been of his making.

In the first race, Lawson’s teammate Simon Fallon clashed with him while dicing for third place which forced them both off the track and in race two, Lawson was hit off the circuit from behind after making a great race start and looking likely to grab second place.

Lawson twice had to charge back through the field and recovered to sixth place in both races.

“I just had so much bad luck this weekend it was nice to end up back on the podium for the last race,” said Lawson, who struggled to find the pace in his car that he’d shown earlier in pre-event testing.

“It’s a bit of a mystery but there was no pace in my car,” he said. “We dropped nearly a second a lap from our testing pace and while we got some of that back I just didn’t have the car to take the fight to the front runners.

“We changed all the shocks for Sunday’s racing and the car was better, but I still could’nt take the fight to Cameron [Sheilds], he was just too quick all weekend.”

While Lawson was harshly penalised in his championship aspirations his BRM teammate Shields’ season took a turn for the better after switching to a different chassis for the Sydney round.

Sheilds recorded his first pole of the season, won the opening race and was runner-up in the other two races and snatched second place in the championship away from Lawson.

The CAMS Jayco Australian Formula 4 Championship leader Nick Rowe extended his series lead after Sydney and goes into the finale on the streets of the Gold Coast in October with a 52-point advantage over Sheilds on 268 and Lawson with 238.

Proudly supporting Lawson’s Formula 4 campaign is RetroCar.co.nz, along with the Giltrap Group, NZ Childcare Finance, BG World Wheels, Archibalds, Maugers, TACCOC, Cyrus International Cargo, Men at Work, The Porter Group and Showerdome.

Pukekohe student Liam Lawson will be the CareVets Racing Team’s scholarship driver in the coming 2017-2018 Toyota 86 Championship.

“It’s a real honour to be selected, the scholarship has been a fast track for the drivers chosen in past seasons and I’m looking forward to racing in a two-car, professionally run team like this,” he said.

He will contest the series alongside CareVets’ 2016-2017 scholarship winner and series rookie of the year Jack Milligan, Christchurch.

Though he is just 15 years old, Lawson is a young man in a hurry. He is currently second overall in the Australian Formula 4 Championship with two rounds remaining and won the 2016-2017 Formula Ford 1600 championship. Still a student at Pukekohe High School, he stepped up from karting with a string of race, event and championship wins to his name and moved into Formula First in 2015 then to winning pace in Formula Ford a year later.

In the scholarship test day at Hampton Downs, Lawson was up against nine other hopeful racers. He had his sights set on winning the drive from the first test – but struck an early setback on the day.

“First up we had to run the track – and running just isn’t my thing. I can cycle or do gym work or whatever but I can’t run.”

Fearing the run challenge may have harmed his prospects, Lawson redoubled his efforts in the remaining fitness tests and the other off-track challenges including a media interview.

“I hadn’t ever done any media training so that was interesting too, but I’ve had a camera in my face at every round of the Aussie F4 championship so I’m familiar with how it works,” he said.

Once in the car, Lawson said, the day gelled and he could enjoy the challenge of driving the Toyota 86 sports coupe race car at competitive pace.

“It’s very different from single-seaters, because the power steering takes some getting used to and it’s not as easy to feel what the front of the car is doing – but the cars are so nicely balanced that it’s relatively easy to get dialled in and go fast,” he said.

Now entering its third year, the scholarship is based around the competitive two-car CareVets team and offers substantial support to one new competitor entering the Toyota 86 Championship for the first time.

The CareVets Scholarship was created in 2015 by company owner Dr Keith Houston, a passionate motor racing enthusiast who was looking for ways to help foster rising talent in motorsport.

Dr Houston says the CareVets Scholarship puts the successful driver in a competitive car in a two-car team environment and gives them the tools to visualise, plan and work towards their ultimate goal as a professional racing driver.

“CareVets is very proud to help identify and support a talented young driver through the scholarship. Liam is an exciting new talent and has huge potential so we are looking forward to a season of racing with him and Jack as our drivers,” he said.

In the meantime Lawson will return to Australia to compete in the final two rounds of the F4 championship with the penultimate round at Sydney’s Eastern Creek this coming weekend before the final on the streets of the Gold Coast in October.

The Toyota 86 series starts with support races to the V8 Supercars at Pukekohe at the beginning of November.

Teenage racer Liam Lawson survived a tough weekend of racing in the Australian Formula 4 championship at Queensland Raceway but has returned home still holding down second-place in the series.

Lawson was handicapped in the final race after avoiding a collision in front of him and dropping to the back of the field. However he stormed back to finish the race in a points-collecting sixth place.

A similar recovery drive in race two from the back of the grid to fourth was another demonstration of Lawson’s driving skill, making good passes under brakes on a circuit known to be notoriously hard to pass on.

“I struggled for pace in turns one and two during the two races on Saturday, but the changes we made to the car for the last race on Sunday helped,” said a disappointed Lawson, who saw his early championship lead slip further behind West Australian, Nick Rowe.

“We entered the weekend one-point behind [in the championship] but Nick had a great run and has pulled away on us,” said Lawson, who retains second place, tied on points with his BRM teammate, Cameron Sheilds.

The 15-year-old from Pukekohe is having his debut season driving a ‘wings and slicks’ Formula 4 car and initially led the series through the opening rounds before the experienced Rowe was able to capitalise on Lawson’s misfortune and move to the top of the points table.

Driving the RetroCar.co.nz sponsored F4, the Queensland round was the first this season at which Lawson has not finished a race on the podium.

“A few incidents didn’t go my way so it was about recovering as much as possible and still bagging some [championship] points,” said Lawson.

The CAMS Jayco Australian Formula 4 Championship resumes in three weeks time at Sydney Motorsport Park, again as support to the V8 Supercar.

The final round will be held on the streets of the Gold Coast in October.

Proudly supporting Lawson’s Formula 4 campaign is RetroCar.co.nz, along with the Giltrap Group, NZ Childcare Finance, BG World Wheels, Archibalds, Maugers, TACCOC, Cyrus International Cargo, Men at Work and Showerdome.

New Zealand’s young single-seater star Liam Lawson heads back to Australia this weekend for the Formula 4 series, which resumes at Queensland Raceway following a mid-winter break.

Lawson led the championship through the first 11 races and starts the next round just one point behind last year’s F4 runner-up Nick Rowe.

During the break from racing in Australia, the 15-year-old from Pukekohe also got his first taste of driving a local Toyota Racing Series car for the first time.

Although not able to race that car until he turns 16-years-old, Lawson’s championship leading streak in Australian Formula 4 car led to an offer by the TRS organisers to test their car at the Hampton Downs circuit.

“The TRS car is much more powerful than the F4 car and was just amazing to drive. Absolutely loved it,” said Lawson, who dreams of one day of driving the car in the local series and the New Zealand Grand Prix.

Watching Lawson’s first stint in the Toyota Racing Series car was his mentor, legendary single-seater champion Ken Smith.

“I’m very impressed at how quickly Liam picked up driving the car,” said Smith.

“He did a terrific lap time and showed he could be very, very competitive. After just a few laps he looked so good in the car, you’d have thought he’d driven 10 meetings in it, not just 20 laps.”

Meanwhile, Lawson is focused on regaining the lead in the CAMS Jayco Australian Formula 4 Championship, which has three rounds to go, all of which are support to the V8 Supercars championship.

“Continuing to bag good points at each round has been the key to leading the championship early on, so I just want to keep on doing that and hopefully the overall result will come,” said Lawson.

Qualifying for the Formula 4 cars is this Friday, with two races on Saturday and a single race on Sunday. All racing will be televised live as part of the V8 Supercars coverage on Sky Sport.

In the intervening weeks between rounds Lawson has been feverishly working away to gather further financial support for his title bid and is delighted to have Christchurch traffic management firm Men At Work among his new supporters.

Lawson’s Australian Formula 4 campaign is proudly supported leading sponsor RetroCar.co.nz, along with the Giltrap Group, NZ Childcare Finance, BG World Wheels, Archibalds, Maugers, TACCOC, Cyrus International Cargo and Showerdome.

New Zealand’s young single-seater star, Liam Lawson, left behind a torrid weekend of racing at Phillip Island in the CAMS Jayco Australian Formula 4 championship and surrendered the series lead by a single point.

The 15-year-old from Pukekohe looked certain to extend his command of the series after a stunning display of driving in the final race, which left his rivals scrambling behind just to stay on the greasy race track.

Lawson disappeared into the distance after the race restart, building a 7-second buffer over just a handful of laps to take the chequered flag in an impressive display of driving in the wet, on slick tyres.

However, Lawson was penalised 30-seconds post race for passing the leader, just as the race was called to order behind the Safety Car.

“Ryan [Suhle] saw the Safety Car [display] board before I did and jumped on the brakes. I did too, but had to go right to miss hitting the back of his car. Braking later put me in front,” said Lawson.

“F4 has a no redress rule so I had to stay in front and worry about the consequences after the race.

“After the restart I pushed on as hard as I could to get the biggest gap incase I got issued [with] a penalty. I was surprised it was as much as 30-seconds.”

That commanding race win in tricky conditions then turned into a 7th in the official results.

Lawson had crossed the finish line third in both of Saturday’s races.

After four rounds, Lawson (186 points) is now one-point behind rival Nick Rowe (187) who spun off the track and out of the final race. Cameron Sheilds holds third on 158 points.

Lawson has notched up an impressive record in the RetroCar.co.nz-sponsored Formula 4 over the first-half of the season. Only twice he has not finished on the podium over 12 races. Two, time penalty instances cost him a perfect score-sheet.

The Phillip Island round passed the halfway stage of the CAMS Jayco Australian Formula 4 Championship, with nine races to go after the series recommences in late July as support to the V8 Supercar championship.

While Lawson might have relinquished the lead in the Formula 4 title chase after racing at Phillip Island, in Wellington on Saturday night he beat off two other finalists to win one of motorsport’s most prestigious trophies.

At a gala dinner at Te Papa, Lawson was named the winner of the Steel Memorial Trophy for Best Young Driver at MotorSport New Zealand’s annual awards night.

The Australian Formula 4 campaign is proudly supported by RetroCar.co.nz, Giltrap Group, NZ Childcare Finance, BG World Wheels, Archibalds, TACCOC, Cyrus International Cargo and Showerdome.