YOUNG Dannemora racing driver Andre Heimgartner’s reputation continues to soar after a successful saloon car debut.
The Saint Kentigern College student took numerous awards last season, including the 2009 Winter Formula Ford Series and 2009/10 South Island Formula Ford Championship, before making a successful single seater race car debut in Victoria, Australia.
Now Heimgartner has made a stunning saloon car debut in a Mini Challenge car.
His debut came at short notice when he received the opportunity to drive a Motorsport Services prepared Mini in the Altherm 1000 at Hampton Downs.
With no chance to test beforehand, Heimgartner was in at the deep end fronting for his first drive of the Mini in official practicing.
The 15-year-old was paired with former Mini Challenge series frontrunner Gavin Dawson and was quickly on the pace, setting the quickest qualifying time before taking the first driver stint in the race.
The Heimgartner and Dawson pairing, with a three-lap lead, appeared to be cruising to an easy victory until 10 minutes from the end when fuel became a concern and Heimgartner was forced to slow down dramatically.
There was also a noise coming from the front suspension and the steering became problematic. However, Heimgartner limped home to win the Mini Challenge Enduro Trophy by half a lap. At the end there was just a drop of fuel in the tank and the left front wheel was literally disintegrating.
At the following event and on his 15th birthday, Heimgartner was in Taupo for the final round of the North Island Endurance Series. Once again there were four Minis in the field, although in this series they were combined with a large class of cars of up to 2.5 litres engine capacity.
Mark Tordoff was his co-driver as Dawson was unavailable, and in accordance with the rules the slick tyres were gone too, replaced by road legal ones that were severely lacking in the wet conditions.
The quality brakes on the Mini impressed Heimgartner in testing, as he was able to bring the car down from 190kmh to 60kmh in 50m to make a tight turn at the end of the long back straight.
During the endurance race, Heimgartner mounted a strong drive punctuated by what he describes as his scariest moment ever in racing.
In the treacherous conditions he hit a “lake” across the track at the end of the back straight. The Mini spun through 360-degrees twice, demolishing the 150m braking marker-board and stopping just a metre from a barrier.
At the end of a very arduous and difficult race, Heimgartner greeted the chequered flag as the second Mini home and third in the class, 24 seconds behind the class winner. It was another noteworthy drive and netted him 10th place overall.
