Alex Crosbie surpassed even his own expectations at Teretonga Park at the weekend.
The 15-year-old Invercargill driver claimed third place in the 2021-22 South Island Formula 1600 championship, which ended at his home circuit.
Crosbie, a year 11 pupil at Southland Boys’ High School, had raced an older car, a Van Diemen RF92, last season, finishing 12th in the championship in his first foray in the class.
This year, he contested the six-round championship in a new Ray GR21.
"I was meant to be learning the new car but I got to grips with it really quick and we were definitely in the running,’’ Crosbie said.
"The Ray had to be set up differently to the older car but it wasn’t too bad."
Christchurch-based Motorsport Solutions ran the car with Mitch King as engineer and Crosbie’s father, Jason, helping out.
The youngster scored good points at the opening two rounds before what he describes as his season highlight, getting his first podium finish, third, at Teretonga on the series’ first visit to the track in December.
He added more points at the next two rounds before arriving at the final round at Teretonga sitting fourth in the championship and still with a mathematical chance of winning the title.
The main protagonists for the title fought wheel to wheel virtually all weekend, with Crosbie battling with eventual championship winner Zac Christensen (Rolleston) and the vastly experienced Matthew Hamilton (Christchurch).
He finished third in the opening race, setting the fastest lap, and did the same again in the second race.
That put him on pole for the final in which he led for much of the race before eventually finishing second, giving him third place in the championship and second in his class.
While Crosbie is "pretty happy with the season", it is not over yet.
He heads to Taupo Motorsport Park this weekend for the opening round of the New Zealand Formula Ford championship.
It will be a baptism of fire for Crosbie as he has never driven at the circuit before, so his first laps will be tomorrow during testing.
The second round of the championship a few weeks later will be in familiar territory at Ruapuna.
After that, Crosbie will turn his focus to next season, when he will campaign in the South Island and New Zealand championships again.
Crosbie has a varied motorsport background, having successfully competed in karts, claiming third place at the national championships and a second at the New Zealand schools event while also competing across the Tasman.
He also competes in speedway, recently winning the Pits Media Trophy with six wins, two seconds and a third placing after rounds at Invercargill, Dunedin and Cromwell. He has also had the occasional saloon car outings at Teretonga.
- ODT.co.nz. Photo: Ron Veint.
