Experienced young racer Matt Gibson – who has been competing in the Pro 7 class for the past two seasons – is to step up to V8 racing when he makes his UDC V8 Ute series debut at Taupo next weekend.
Matt, who lives in Auckland but hails from Wanganui, will stand in for Hamish Cross in the BNT Ford Falcon for at least one round.
He started racing when he was 12, first in karts and then in Formula Vee before winning the coveted Castrol Scholarship and a drive in the Suzuki Swift series. He also raced a BMW Mini in Team Kiwi colours but has focussed on Pro 7 Mazda racing in the past two seasons – finishing second in the North Island series and third in the New Zealand series in the most recent 2012-2013 season.
He is looking forward to the challenge of racing the 400 horsepower 1850kg Ute, but admits it is a big change from the machinery he has been used to racing.
“My first impressions at our initial Taupo test was that it is a big brute of a thing which you have to muscle around the corners. It was huge fun and definitely requires plenty of concentration and skill to wring out a good lap time. The more and more time we get on track, the quicker we’ll be. For the weekend we’ll be aiming to keep it clean and really show what we can do.
“We did some respectable times in the testing today. I don’t expect to win, but it would be great to get up at the front and mix it with the faster boys.”
At this stage the drive is a one-off for Gibson, though the youngster has good sponsors in Lighting Plus and could be back if the weekend goes well. With Gibson, Kris Walton and Rod Dawson from Australia and Utes marketing man and Honda Cup racer Richard Gee making his series debut – the grid of Utes should swell up to a mouth-watering and action-packed field for the Taupo weekend.
