Hartleys celebrating their boy
Rising to the F1 ranks
Fair to say more talking and less work is on the agenda at Hartley Engines and Motorsport in Palmerston North on Saturday.
The garage, which has built engines for many a top driver around the world, is now the heaving family hub of New Zealand’s newest motorsport star, with Brendon Hartley confirmed to make his Formula 1 debut at next week’s US Grand Prix.
Confirmation came early on Saturday morning that the 27-yearold would drive for the Red Bullowned Toro Rosso team at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) track in Austin, replacing French rookie Pierre Gasly, who has clashing commitments in Japan, where he’s trying to win the Super Formula Championship.
Brendon’s father Bryan - himself a former notable racer in Formula Atlantic, Formula Holden and several other single-seater classes - said the business he has owned for 20-plus years had already had a steady stream of well-wishers to their boy in the few hours after the Formula 1 news broke.
Then, come the big day next Monday, many of those from the local motorsport community will meet at the usual gathering spot of the Rose and Crown Olde English Pub to watch Hartley on the big screen, with the 8am start nicely coinciding with champagne breakfast.
With the callup happening so quickly, Bryan said dropping tools at work and heading to the States would let others down, but that he, wife Lynda and the eldest of their two children, Nelson (31) would take it in from the atmosphere of the pub, with the Labour Day timing fitting, so the garage where all three of the Hartleys work, with two other employees can remain closed for the day.
When contacted by Stuff on Saturday morning, Bryan was still to speak to Brendon, because he’s in Japan and the time difference there, but was looking forward to making an ‘‘emotional’’ congratulatory phone call.
He had known a callup for him was in the pipeline, but the realisation that it had played out for real was something to be seriously chuffed about, with Hartley to become just New Zealand’s ninth F1 driver, and first since Mike Thackwell in 1984.
‘‘We’re very excited about it, it’s been a big dream of ours for something like that to happen, and for one of my boys to do it, I’m a very proud person,’’ Bryan said.
Hartley’s first taste of F1 came all the way back in 2008 with a test drive, then had been made a reserve in subsequent years, but 2017 will go down as the real highlight, with him winning the famous 24-hour Le Mans race for Porsche in June, currently leading the FIA World Endurance Championship he won in 2015, and now the ultimate callup.
Bryan said racing was inevitably going to be in the blood of his boys - Nelson still competes in sprint cars and Lynda has also done some - after being ‘‘carted around motor racing tracks all round New Zealand’’.
An extraordinary amount of time and money has been poured in over time, but Bryan said it had been a pleasure rather than any burden, and the F1 chance was the ‘‘reward’’.