Racing driver scores dream double

A young racing driver who works as an apprentice plumber in Silverdale, is several steps closer to his dream of becoming a serious Supercars contender, following two major wins this month.

Brock Gilchrist, who is 19, not only took out the 2023 Toyota Gazoo Racing NZ Toyota 86 Championship at Hampton Downs on May 7, he was also chosen as the winner of a test drive in the Ampol Red Bull racing Gen 3 Camaro Supercar in Brisbane in July.

Gilchrist will also be heading for Germany in August to race a Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO at the famous Nürburgring track in the third round of the ADAC GT4 championship as part of his prize for winning the Toyota 86 championship. He said winning both prizes was a dream come true.

“ These are two really major prizes – I didn’t expect to end up getting both,” he said. “I’m very, very lucky.”

Motorsport has been a part of Gilchrist’s life since he was born – he was named after Australian racing legend Peter Brock and he started racing when he was just 14, after his late father bought him a BMW e30.

“Dad was a massive fan of motor racing, so I grew up watching him go-karting and I started very young,” he said.

This was his fifth consecutive Toyota 86 championship, winning nine races throughout New Zealand, including all three races over the NZ Grand Prix weekend in February.

His achievements on and off the track made Gilchrist the obvious choice for the supercar test drive, according to the Tony Quinn Foundation, which was set up to support young Kiwi racing drivers by the owner of Hampton Downs, Highlands and Taupo International Motorsport Parks in 2021.

Foundation trustee and parks chief executive Josie Spillane said Brock was the outstanding performer and had come a long way this season.

“His motorsport talent is obviously evident and he has also worked incredibly hard on the off-track requirements of being a top line racing driver. Putting a racing season together these days and finding sponsors is not an easy job and he was the last guy on the grid for this season,” she said.

“He had a tough season last year and came back in emphatic style this season and that caught the eye of every trustee. He’s charismatic, engaging and is extremely professional in all of his off-track dealings with everyone. He is doing a great job of laying foundations for a shot at big future if he wants it.”

Gilchrist certainly does want it – although he’s keeping his feet on the ground with his day job as an apprentice plumber, his dream is to drive full-time in the future.

“It would be cool to go into Supercars, that’s where I’ve always wanted to go,” he said. “But anything where I’m getting paid to drive in a car full-time would be great.”