YOUNG GUNS: JAYLYN ROBOTHAM

Young Guns: Jaylyn Robotham – Photo: InSyde Media

Jaylyn Robotham is the definition of a young gun. The 17-year-old has already forged a mighty reputation as one the nation’s quickest Hyundai Excel drivers, a talent which has transferred into the Toyota 86 Race Series as well where he finished on the podium on debut.

By DAN McCARTHY

Now, Robotham has kicked off an international career as well, partnering former NZ V8s driver Paul Manuell in the Asian TA2 Series.

Still a school student, Robotham doesn’t play footy or cricket on the weekends. Instead he can be found at the racetrack in a car that often sits on pole or has taken the race win.

His story began in BMX where he won state titles until his father David offered him a chance to race a kart.

“Dad asked if I would like a go kart, I loved racing the BMX so I said ‘yeah sure’,” Robotham recalled.

“I started go karting when I was 11 and I slowly got into that as a hobby and then every weekend we were at a go kart track.”

Robotham explained that his passion for racing comes from within, as he was born into a family of drivers going back a couple of generations.

“My Dad used to race go karts when he was younger and raced in speedway until I was born. It was built into us because my grandpa used to race as well, it was in the blood,” Robotham said.

Both his father and his uncle won numerous national and state karting titles but for Jay it was only a quick four-year apprenticeship in karts before he stepped up to become the youngest driver to ever compete in the Victorian Hyundai Excel Series.

“From the age of 14 I started racing in the Excel Series, which is a nice cheap way to come into car racing,” he said.

“The Excels taught you about racing with suspension, changing gears, racing on the big tracks and learning how to pass.

“When I started there were about 30-cars and then the following year 50-plus grids. It was always good, you knew you were always going to race with someone because of all the cars and how competitive it is being a one-make series.”

Robotham leading the Excel field at Winton Raceway – Photo: Neil Hammond

In 2017, Robotham won the South Australian Excel Series and finished runner-up in both the Queensland and National titles.

He was also awarded a $20,000 race budget for winning the now defunct Aussie Driver Search program in the Amateur section. This helped to fund his 2018 Toyota 86 Racing Series campaign, as he eyed a career in Supercars.

“Being one of the cheapest categories and being one-make definitely attracts a lot of people. There are always full grids and many people coming through, that is definitely the main reason why a lot of people do it. It is affordable close racing. You are racing at a national level in front of Supercars,” he explained.

“Supercars is the goal but you have to be realistic, it is very hard to get into that.”

Robotham finished an impressive fifth in his debut Toyota 86 season last year, despite having to sit out the round at Bathurst as he was under the age of 16.

This season he has not only raced in the Excels and 86s but also a TA2 car in Asia, on a variety of circuits ranging from Formula 1-grade tracks to tight and twisty street circuits, which Robotham admits is a challenge.

“It is good fun, big V8s on slick tyres, they move around quite a bit,” a smiling Robotham said.

“In Asia it was awesome, always up the front there. There are big tracks over there, I raced over in Sepang, Buriram – which hosts Moto GP – and a couple of street circuits. Asia has everything.

“It is a bit different to Australia, it’s a lot warmer and laid back. It was a good experience to go over there. I love driving any car, to be behind the wheel of anything is good for me.”

During the season Robotham co-drove alongside vastly experienced Kiwi Paul Manuell, a former New Zealand V8 Touring Car and NZ V8 Ute champion.

“That went really well. I finished that second in the championship which my co-driver won,” he said.

Robotham felt that the TA2 car could not be more different from an 86.

“525 brake horse power, slick tyres, paddle shifters, they have got everything,” he explained.

Locally in 2019 it has been more of a challenging year for Robotham, who competed in all five Toyota 86 rounds finishing sixth in the series.

“The 86 this year has been a bit of a struggle. After Townsville we found some things wrong with the car. We fixed it up towards the end of the year and stayed up the front,” he said.’

Robotham feels the competitiveness and close racing in the 86 Series has rapidly improved his racecraft.

“My driving has come a long way since I started in it last year. There are always people getting faster and faster, the lap times have dropped this year compared to 2018, and there were a lot more guys running up the front, it has gotten a lot more competitive this year,” he said

“It is good to gauge where you are at against other people, it is so close and you learn a lot of racecraft.

“Going into this series I didn’t have a lot of race craft but coming out of it I definitely learnt a lot, how to pass and race in packs of 10 cars, it is pretty cool.”

Despite it being the off-season here in Australia, Robotham is still cutting laps, competing in the New Zealand Toyota 86 Racing Series, which included a round win on debut at Pukekohe. It is his first-time racing across the ditch with new circuits, opposition and slick tyres to counter, as he aims to defeat the Kiwis on their home turf in an 86 owned by TA2 Asia co-driver Manuell.

Robotham is unsure of his 2020 plans in Australia, though he aims to progress up the ladder towards Supercars if budget allows.

“Next year we don’t know what we are going to do, we are still trying to find our budget and still exploring options,” Robotham explained.

“We want to try and move forward to bigger and better things.

“But obviously it comes down to budget. We might do 86s again if we can’t find funding to do other things.”

Article originally published in Issue 1776 of Auto Action.

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