Vodanovich takes the fast way forward
Peter Vodanovich joins the 2017-2018 Toyota 86 Championship with a mission.
The young Aucklander is a late comer to motor racing, and has taken a thoroughly modern approach to his new found passion.
Prior to stepping into a Toyota MR2 to race in the popular 2K Cup, Vodanovich’s first taste of motorsport was online – racing on a simulator.
After starting with racing in the 2K Cup, Vodanovich quickly stepped up his activity. The 16 year old St Kentigern College student contested both the SsangYong ute race series and the BMW E30 Series this year.
“I tried out for the E30 Scholarship and was runner up to Tim Dawson, scoring top marks for the driving sections. Then I tried out for the SsangYong Scholarship and won that.”
Part of the scholarship was a package of mentoring/driver coaching sessions with established racer Alexandra Whitley.
Vodanovich has also found another of his sports to be of benefit – he is a seven year devotee of martial arts to Black Belt level, and says the physical and mental conditioning involved are useful in the thick of the on-track action.
With the support of Kenny Smith, Tom Alexander and BMW series’ Todd Pelham, Vodanovich now steps into the Toyota series with the #4 car that took Reid Harker to second in the championship last year. He will run in the series with respected race team M2 Competition, more widely known in New Zealand for their regular presence in the Toyota Racing Series.
Peter Vodanovich’s goals in this year’s championship are to learn the cars and circuits and get himself prepared to win rookie of the year in 2018-2019.
