YOUNG GUN: BRAD VAUGHAN
Young Gun: Brad Vaughan – Photo: InSyde Media
Eagle-eyed viewers may have watched a bright blue Excel emblazoned with Angaston Motors on the side during the support races at The Bend Motorsport Park. It was driven by 16-year-old Brad Vaughan, who only took up car racing this year.
By HEATH McALPINE
A veteran of dirt racing for more than 30-years, Vaughan’s father Steve travelled across the country racing Modified Sedans, so it was only a matter of time before his son sat behind the wheel.
“I was born straight into the speedway scene,” Vaughan Jnr told Auto Action.
“I travelled around Australia helping dad with the racing and it’s been two years since he retired to let me jump into the race car, just on the bitumen though.
“We did a lot of travelling, a lot of nights competing back-to-back so I pretty much learnt all the bad sides of racing.
“It’s certainly a lot easier racing on the bitumen and you also get to stay clean!”
It was a rather fortuitous situation that led the South Australian to transition to the bitumen after initially following his father onto the dirt ovals
“There’s a kart club three minutes away from where I live and it had a race meeting where you could bring whatever you wanted,” Vaughan explained. “We bought our dirt kart out there because I was racing that at the time and we had a bit of a run out there.
“As soon as I raced there, I never turned back.”
Vaughan continued to race dirt karts up until the end of last year before transitioning to the popular Hyundai Excel class for this year.
He competed in South Australia’s premier Excel event, the Ryan Pannowitch Memorial Trophy, where much to his own surprise he was among the front-runners, but a first lap incident resulted in puncture meaning a better result was on the cards.
“We were fifth on points out of the 42 that entered the weekend,” Vaughan reflected. “We were up within the top five all weekend, which I was super surprised about.
“I’ve never had so many people congratulate me for the success we had straight away.”
The Excel forms part of a dual program as Vaughan also joins the Toyota 86 Race Series for 2020, which kicks off for the South Australian at Bathurst.
“We looked at a few categories,” explained Vaughan. “We nearly stepped into the Aussie Racing Cars and we were nearly ready to step into them, but we won tickets to go to Newcastle at the end of last year and I showed dad the Toyota 86 Race Series.
“For the cost-effectiveness and where it races at, it’s the best category by far.”
By racing and testing the two cars, Vaughan’s learning has fast tracked as he is eager to test himself against the experienced Toyota 86 competitors including his mentor Luke King.
“I’ve been lucky with Toyota 86 this year, that I’ve been able to learn the throttle blipping, changing gears, the trail braking and all the different things you have to do,” Vaughan said.
“The exciting thing is there are probably seven or eight rookies going into this season with the 86s, but I’m well and truly confident with the right people around me that we can easily run top 10.”
The Year 10 student’s eventual goal is Supercars, but a mechanical pathway is also in his sights through his parent’s workshop situated in Angaston.
“My parents own a mechanic shop called Angaston Motors, I’ll eventually be a mechanic there and I’ve also done some work experience with Team BRM with the S5000s down there,” Vaughan said. “So maybe a mechanic or the data reading as well, but other than that I’m racing, racing, racing, there’s not much more.”
This web edition of Young Guns aims to highlight some of the talent from within the junior ranks. If, like Brad, 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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