Podjursky steps up to NZTC

Hi-Q Components NZ Formula First Championship runner-up Matt Podjursky will step up into the New Zealand Touring Car series later in 2017.

Podjursky makes the announcement fresh off his successful season in the NZ Formula First Championship where scored five wins and finished second overall to Bramwell King by only 11 points in a thrilling final round that went down to the last lap.

The Taranaki driver confirmed he has acquired a Ford Falcon BA to contest the Class Two championship this coming season. Podjursky will pilot the ex Richards Team Motorsport car that AJ Lauder drove to win the 2013 TL Championship.

“I’m looking forward to the step up” Commented Podjursky. “It’s going to be a good challenge, good learning curve and something I’m really looking forward to and something I think I’ll enjoy.”

Having already taken delivery of the car, Podjursky plans to hit the track in just over a months time for some testing at the Manfeild Winter Series.

“We’ve got some test days planned, we’ll do the Manfeild Winter Series to get me comfortable in the car. We’ll probably head up to Taupo, Pukekohe and Hampton Downs before each of their rounds to get used to those tracks in a new car.”

“The south island tracks will be a bit different with only having one session to learn the track, it’s not long so it’ll be interesting learning the track that quickly but she’ll be right!”

With a complete season budget still to be found, Podjursky has no firm aspirations for the season but knows what he wants if he can raise the budget to head down south and compete in the full championship.

“The first year is all about running as a rookie, hopefully winning rookie of the year. Unfortunately, that relies on doing the full championship so if we can get the funding we will go down south with that goal in mind.”

“If not then we’ll stay up north and just dial me into the car as best as we can in preparation for the second season. In an ideal world, we’d have the funding to do every round and win the rookie championship which is out aim, but we’ll see how it goes.”

“We’ve already signed up an engineer, who will help Dad and I with the running of the car. It’s going to be a huge learning curve with more tuning on offer and the car itself being more complex than what we’re used to.”

Podjursky’s campaign will be assisted by Powerbuilt Tools New Zealand, Ding4U Ltd, Elf Oils New Zealand, Vertex Lubricants New Zealand, Bring it On Spray Painters, Sign HQ and Face To Face Fitness Studio.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *