Bunnythorpe 16-year old Josh Drysdale outperformed his peers during a daylong selection process to win the $35,000 Castrol backed Suzuki Swift Sport Cup Scholarship position for the coming 2013 season.

Held at the Hampton Downs race circuit Friday 16 November, the Palmerston North Boys High School student drove away with a race ready Suzuki Swift Sport Cup car to contest the six events held during the New Zealand based rounds of the V8 SuperTourer series. Along with free use of the Winger Suzuki supplied car for the season the package includes a complete kit of safety clothing from Chicane Racewear, car signwriting from Hamilton Stripes and Signs and an engineer during the race weekends to optimise the car’s setup performance.

His first time at the north Waikato venue and behind the wheel of a race car, Drysdale impressed the eight selection judges with his fitness, aptitude, interview skills and on-track prowess. He sealed his position by setting fastest time in a one-lap shoot-out around the 2.7km circuit.

“Josh sealed the deal with his flying lap,” Castrol New Zealand marketing manager Jayne McEwan said.

“Being fit, personable and able are all required traits but to perform under pressure is the true litmus test. We believe Josh has the right mix of ability and capability to fit our Castrol EDGE campaign at a grass roots level, and be part of our marketing strategy.

“His ability to communicate what was happening with the car showed a high level of experience at getting the most from the tools he has and we believe that’s a strong asset working with our top-end drivers.”

Other New Zealand drivers involved with the Castrol EDGE brand include Greg Murphy and John McIntyre – who both race in the V8 SuperTourer series that Drysdale will be a part of.

The fifth time the series has held the Castrol backed scholarship programme, class co-ordinator Paul Burborough said the judges had to work as hard as the prospective winners before settling on who it would be.

“Each of the tests is designed to let the cream rise to the top – and they pretty much all did,” said the dealer principal of Winger Hamilton.

“All of those present showed grit, determination and desire to be Castrol’s brand ambassador in the Suzuki Swift Sport Cup series. Given the age variation of 15 to 23 their individual performances meant they would all do well in the series and we expect to see a couple of them make their way to the start grid before the season starts.”

Making up for the day away from school, Drysdale affirmed the selection tests where exhausting but his extensive and successful karting portfolio made the transition to a race car much easier. Assessed by New Zealand V8 championship winning driver Angus Fogg, Drysdale thrilled at the experience:

“It was very cool to have someone next to me who is so well known as a race car driver and who had the faith at encouraging me to push a bit harder meant he had the confidence in me. He was able to help me in areas where I was struggling, turning negatives in to positives but it was scary too as I didn’t want to stuff it up,” said Drysdale.

“Being able to apply so much of what I already knew to the race car made the transition much easier and I was able to spend more time learning how to be faster.”

Announced as the winner late in the afternoon Drysdale then spent time on dad’s phone to deliver the good news to the rest of the family at home, starting with his mum:

“She couldn’t believe it that I’d actually won – she was very excited – over the moon. So too was my gran – I think she was in tears when I told her on the phone. I couldn’t believe it myself. I had my mind set on this day all week – that it was what I wanted to do. So for everything to work out is a pretty amazing feeling.”

Drysdale will now partake in extensive pre-Christmas testing at his home Manfeild circuit before a further test day at Hampton Downs in late January – where the first round will be held 16-17 February 2013.