Selwyn_Times: December 13, 2023

Selwyn Times Wednesday December 13 2023
22
SPORT
Sprintcar driver
has all he needs to
‘make a go of it’
• By Allan Batt
DYLLAN FORSEY is ‘living
the dream’ and he will have
a baptism of fire in his first
round of the Hydraulink War
of the Wings series at Ruapuna
Speedway on Saturday.
“Its been a dream of mine for
as long as I can remember. My
grandfather Myles, and aunty
Karen raced sprintcars. I raced
quarter midgets as a youngster
and the last three summers I
have been in the 750cc powered
TQs, but the sprintcars are
the ultimate,” the 18-year-old
Templeton driver said.
“I have done a few practice
laps in the car, and we raced at
Ruapuna’s third meeting. Then I
had the TQ nationals at Nelson.
That kind of puts my TQ racing
to bed a bit. The sprintcars with
their big 850 horsepower V8
engines are awesome to drive.
The power is unbelievable.”
Forsey hasn’t had an easy run
in the last year or so with a heavy
crash in the TQs, and then a
‘big one’ at Napier in the New
Zealand championship.
“I banged myself up a bit in
that. I broke my C3 and C4
vertebrae and tore ligaments in
my hand. While those took time
to heal it was my confidence that
took the biggest hit,” he said.
The opportunity to go
sprintcar racing came about
when Forsey’s grandfather
Myles wanted to step up his
involvement. Forsey says he has
everything he needs to make a
go of it.
“Grandad bought a really nice
car. We have plenty of spares
and a big trailer to move it all
around it. I have Kerry Bartlett
as the crew chief. We all call him
Elvis, and he raced sprintcars
several seasons ago up north
and occasionally down here.
He helped the late Paddy North
and he really does have a lot of
knowledge.”
Among Forsey’s opponents
on Saturday will be young
Americans Joel Myers jnr and
Brenham Crouch, who are a
similar age to him but race
up to 70 times a year and are
professionals.
“I still have to go to work on
Mondays,” said Forsey.
“I’d love to get some
experience in the USA but I have
plenty to learn first. I’m sure I’ll
get a chance to talk to Joel and
Brenham, and Max Guilford
from Auckland who races up in
the USA during our winter has
been really encouraging.”
Forsey is looking forward to
hitting as many rounds of the
War of the Wings as possible,
as it is a step up from regular
club nights.
“The War of the Wings is a
ON TRACK: Templeton’s
Dyllan Forsey, 18, will
compete in his first round
of sprintcar racing series
War of Wings at Ruapuna
on Saturday. PHOTOS:
MOTORSPORT FILES
great competition and really
competitive. The two Americans
are here to win it but they
won’t find our drivers a walk
over.
“I’m realistic enough to know
that I’ve got plenty to learn but
I’m hopeful that we can find
some speed early and build on
that. I’d love to get into the Dirty
Dozen, which is for the top 12
drivers in the points. Of course
anything above that will be
great.
“We will race over at
Greymouth which is where I
had one of my big TQ crashes,
Cromwell, Ruapuna, Ellesmere
and Woodford Glen, so I have to
adapt to them quickly.”
The Ruapuna event starts at
5.30pm with time trials before
drivers contest a series of heat
races. Up to 22 drivers will
face the starter in the 30-lap
feature.
SELWYN
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