YOUNG GUNS: REEF McCARTHY

Young Gun: Reef McCarthy

Currently in Year 11, Reef McCarthy is a student in the fast lane as he juggles schoolwork and racing a Formula Vee in Victoria’s state series as he pursues his dream of lining up in the Bathurst 1000.

By HEATH McALPINE

McCarthy has had a rapid rise since transferring his efforts from karting to Formula Vee two seasons ago, but the move is starting to pay off after winning races last year at Winton and Phillip Island, plus starting this year with a clean-sweep at Sandown’s opening round.

However, McCarthy’s family have no background in motorsport, instead his father Scott is a winemaker, but has encouraged his son’s trajectory towards achieving that 1000 start.

“Dad’s liked his classic cars, but no one in my family has had the passion for motorsport until me,” McCarthy told Auto Action. “I just remember when I was younger, I watched Supercars and old Formula 1 races, anything to do with speed I loved.

“For my 10th birthday my dad gave me a kart as a present. It was a bit of a hard time getting into however as I was split between Cadet 9s due to my kart, but I couldn’t do Cadet 12s because I didn’t have the right engine. So, for the first couple of years I went to the track and had fun, I was just there to learn tracks with a couple of mates.”

Coached by Steven Gawne, McCarthy competed in karts at a national and state level before jumping in the deep end with Formula Vee.

“My passion was always to hope in a car and I was very eager to do so at an early age, but I wasn’t actually expecting it to be a Vee,” he said. “When it was time to give nationals a go in karts, I decided to move into Vees of which I had no clue to drive, it was 10 times bigger with much more weight.

“It was a bit of a step!”

Beginning in an older model Formula Vee, McCarthy loved the class so the decision was made to progress into a leading chassis to tackle both the state and national titles.

“I raced in that for about a year in state just to get my head around it, then last year we moved up into a national winning Sabre 02, one of the frontrunning chassis in the class,” McCarthy explained.

“I had to get used to the new car, but I still managed to take a couple of victories at Winton and Phillip Island.”

This year, he has clicked with Sabre as demonstrated at Sandown when he took a hat-trick of wins, which McCarthy attributes to the category’s new tyre.

“The new tyre set Formula Vee are running this year really suits me because it is similar to the kart tyres, it still has tread, but behaves more like a race tyre,” he described.

“I’m really enjoying the new grip levels and speed through the corners.”

Under mentor Greg Beacham, McCarthy had aimed for a big year, but with the COVID-19 situation it has slightly dented his aims for the year. However, he has an eye on his future as he eyes a debut in tin-tops.

“We were really hopeful of giving the Formula Vee Nationals a crack this year, but those have been cancelled due to the circumstances,” McCarthy lamented. “It’s a shame because it was going to be held at Phillip Island.

“The two categories I am looking at next are Formula Ford and Toyota 86, which a Formula Vee team competes in and has been competitive in the series the last few years.”

He sampled the two-door coupe at Norwell as part of an Erebus Academy drive day as he strives to achieve his goal as a starter in Australia’s biggest race.

This web edition of Young Guns aims to highlight some of the talent from within the junior ranks. If, like Reef, you fit the criteria please email [email protected] with a blurb about yourself, the categories you’ve competed in, some imagery to go with the story and contact details.

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