Young driver building his dream

GREG MURPHY RATES EMERGING DRIVER AS TALENT TO WATCH

Jack Milligan, above, and ( right) competing in the South Island Pro7 series. consistent during the season, and to get rookie of the year,” he said.

“The ultimate goal would be to win the series, I think it would be good publicity.

“I’m with this team for two years, so I want to grab the opportunity with both hands.”

Milligan is no stranger to the race track, with experience in karting and the South Island Pro7 series for Mazda RX- 7s.

But his connection to racing runs deeper, as he has experience as a race mechanic in New Zealand and overseas.

The second- year apprentice builder was the No. 2 mechanic for the 2014 Toyota Racing Series championship- winning combination of Neale Motorsport and Singaporean driver Andrew Tang. He has also worked with McElrea Racing in the Australasian GT Championship.

Among the scholarship judging panel was four- time Bathurst 1000 champion Greg Murphy, who rated Milligan very highly.

“Jack’s a clear winner — he’s hard- working and learns quickly,” said Murphy.

“The drivers who made it to the assessment all showed great potential, especially a couple of the younger drivers who didn’t have a lot of experience with manual gear- shifting. I’m looking forward to seeing the next steps all our drivers take.”

The single- make Toyota 86 Series that Milligan will join has experienced a surge of growth over the past season after a hesitant launch into the New Zealand motorsport landscape in 2013.

“There’s obviously heaps of cars, and they’re all the same. Plus I think it’s well promoted with the television coverage,” said Milligan.

“It’s a series that’s really good for New Zealand motorsport.”