Thomas Duncan is halfway through his first ever racing series, but he’s done well enough so far to indicate he may go far in motor sport.
The 20 year old from Glen Alpine even has his own cheer squad – four mates who have attended every race of this year’s Mazda RX8 Cup series.
“Heaps of my mates turn up to whatever state I’m racing in,’’ he says.
“Four mates, from the time I started go karting to now, have turned up to every race.’’
He’s not really sure of the exact moment he decided to become a racing driver, but one thing he knows is that it was always going to be there somewhere for him.
“I always had an interest in cars and racing when I was growing up,’’ says Thomas.
“I played with hobby wheels as a kid, and I would have wheels everywhere in the house.
“My passion for cars in general started then.
“Later on, I got interested in racing and going fast, and got a racing simulator and I’ve been playing like crazy on it.’’
When Thomas finished high school at St Gregorys College, Campbelltown, he was into go karts and decided to buy one to race.
Then Covid hit.
“I could only race the kart on and off for those two years so eventually I decided to give car racing a go,’’ he says.
Thomas did his homework before joining a racing team, and discovered two things.
One was the Mazda RX8 Cup series was probably the right kind of racing for someone like him who was transitioning from go karts to cars.
It doesn’t get any more grassroots car racing than the Mazda series.
The second was that it was important to get to know your team beforehand.
“When I was looking at going to cars from go karts, I came across the RX8 series, and I got in touch with a number of teams asking to get on board,’’ says Thomas.
“The intention was to become a driver.
“But a lot of people recommend becoming a mechanic first and meet the team to learn about the people you’re going to be working with.
“So I joined up with a team called ninety9motorsport up on the Central Coast.’’
Thomas, who attended Catholic primary school Our Lady Help of Christians in Rosemeadow, would have no doubt said a few Hail Marys as he sat in his Mazda RX8 for the first race earlier this year at Phillip Island.
“Yep, it was a bit intimidating, being a rookie it was a bit scary going into my first race,’’ he says.
At Phillip Island the cars reached speeds of up to 225kmh on the straight of the track, but the young debutant driver from Campbelltown was up to it, having qualified fourth during practice out of 28 cars.
After three races – there are six all up in the series – Thomas was a respectable fifth out of almost 40 drivers.
He has since dropped to seventh, but considering that it’s his first season he is doing remarkably well in such a tough – and dangerous – sport.
Last two races will be in Sydney and back where it all started, Phillip Island.
His long term aim is to drive in the Supercar Series, but that’s down the track.
Short term is all about improving his skills while driving the Mazda in the series.
“I started a little cautiously and the team at ninety9motorsport have encouraged me to bump a bit, and when I did, they were proud of me for being a bit more aggressive,’’ Thomas said.
“I know I have to be a bit more assertive with my moves.’’
