Lining up for his second season in class two of the BNT V8s, 19-year-old Matt Podjursky of Inglewood is hopeful of a strong season and aims to capitalise off his rookie year.
Matt Podjursky.
Contesting four out of six rounds of the 2017/18 season, Podjursky finished fifth overall, grabbing five podium finishes out of 12 races along the way. This season the young driver is setting his sights on the overall title when the championship gets underway at Pukekohe, November 2-4.
“Coming out of last season and having a couple round podiums, that’s definitely helped the cause for me to be a favourite for the entire season,” says Podjursky.
“We’ll take it as it comes. At the end of the day it’s all about consistency, getting podiums and winning races.
“That’s really the goal for me this year is to be consistent, have a lot of car pace and build on last season.”
During the off season break, Podjursky has been working hard on his fitness and believes the extra preparation will help him once the racing gets underway.
“After graduating the New Zealand Elite MotorSport Academy I’ve ramped up my training thanks to Formula Fit with Alastair Wooten.
“It’s good to have him on-board for the first two rounds as well. He’ll be my data engineer so we’re definitely thinking we can win the first two rounds and then head to the South Island and learn the tracks. Hopefully we’ll snag a couple of wins along the way and go from there.
“I’ve been working with Alastair doing some simulation stuff and training to get my brake pressure up. In any V8 that brake pressure is a huge part of not just how the car performs, but how to get a quick lap time out of it as well.”
Podjursky will contest a full season this year, which will see the championship race in the South Island at Teretonga Park as well as a maiden voyage to Highlands Motorsport Park near Cromwell.
With himself and a lot of his fellow class two competitors have never raced on the southern circuit, Podjursky believes it could provide a level playing field for the drivers.
“I’m looking forward to Highlands, that one is the golden child of motorsport here in New Zealand at the moment. It’ll be cool to rag the old V8 around there and have a bit of fun and enjoy it.
“Going to a new track, at least for the Class Two guys, will definitely even the playing field out. I think we can put in a strong performance and get a round win or podium.
“Then we’ll start looking at the championship after the third or fourth round and see how we’re going.”
The BNT V8s Championship has six rounds starting at the Pukekohe in November and finishing at Hampton Downs in March.