Young racing driver Mark Gibson is enjoying great academic success in very different fields of endeavour.

The 21-year-old, originally from Taupo but now based in Auckland, is currently sharing Dominic Storey’s Ford Falcon in the endurance section of the BNT V8 SuperTourers championship and aims to contest the full championship next year.

Success in two motorsport academies indicates that he is on the right track for a career in racing. Earlier he was a member of the New Zealand golf academy, and in the more traditional form of academic endeavour he is about to finish a degree in yacht design at Unitec.

Last year Gibson was the top performer in New Zealand’s Elite MotorSport Academy and that earned him a place in the Asia-Pacific Young Driver Excellence Academy in Australia organised by the world controlling body, the FIA.

This academy, last month, included psychometric testing, fitness and media components as well as track sessions with input from V8 Supercar drivers Cameron McConville, Karl Reindler and Andrew Jones.

“We drove Mazda MX5s on the track and I was the fastest,” Gibson said. “This was the most exciting part for me and I was very happy to have topped these sessions.

“Being involved with the Aussie driver trainers that are currently racing where I am aiming to be was a great learning experience.”

Gibson made the final three selected from drivers from 11 countries and was later told he might have won if he had said that his ambition was to race Formula One, rather than V8 Supercars as he had stated.

He believes that touring-car racing is the only realistic option for a Kiwi seeking a professional career in motor racing, because of the massive cost of racing single-seaters in Europe.

Gibson admits that his first experience of the powerful and sophisticated BNT V8 SuperTourers, at Hampton Downs last month, was a daunting one, especially as he had done no testing before the meeting.

“I wasn’t fast enough but I’m getting faster each time I go out,” he said. “I’m now doing times similar to Dominic’s.”

Now he is fired up to take on a full season in the championship next year, if he can make the right arrangements.

His ambition is to race in Australia’s V8 Supercar championship and he believes the BNT V8 SuperTourers – similar to the Supercars and very nearly as fast — are the ideal place to make his mark, in view of the number of Supercar drivers currently racing in the Kiwi series.

If he shows he can race with the established aces that will impress the Australian team managers, Gibson believes.

His next outing will be at the final round of the BNT V8 SuperTourers championship, the Pukekohe 500 on the weekend of November 30-December 1.