Rookie Champion at Taupo
Round five of the NZ Motul Honda Cup brought Sam's first season of racing to an end, and
with it the title of Rookie Champion and 3rd Overall for the Production class.
CareVets Scholarship Shootout
Sam was one of only eight drivers selected to compete in the 2026 CareVets scholarship day - the competition was tight and the trials were difficult, and although Sam didn't come away with the scholarship his results were very promising.
Mechanical Mischief at Hampton Downs
Round 4 at Hampton Downs started off well for Sam, however a spark plug was jettisoned from the engine in race 2 which had everyone scrambling to fix it! Despite the nature of the challenge, everyone did their best to provide assistance but the car was not able to make it back out on track for the final race of the weekend.
Getting up to speed with HDNZRA
Sam had the chance to train professionally with Kaleb Ngatoa, where he set a laptime 2.5 tenths of a second off the internationally renowned driver. The academy also gave Sam a unique insight to his data, which he previously had not been able to explore.
Race win at Hampton Downs!
Sam showed relentless pace over the weekend, scoring P2 in race two and P1 in race three. The racing was good and Sam was able to spend time honing his abilities and tweaking the setup of the car to find a quicker lap.
Madness at Manfeild
After a crash during Friday practice, Sam and the team managed to get the car back on track for the weekend's racing. Despite the car blowing a front engine mount off the line during race two Sam persevered, a new engine mount was fitted and Sam converted race three into his second race win!
Race win on debut!
Sam's first time driving the Production Class Honda Accord was qualifying for his first ever race weekend; not just for cars, but for any racing at all! Despite being up against the odds, Sam took many learning lessons away from this weekend and managed to take away his very first race win at the end of the day - cementing himself as the rookie to beat this season.
BMW Race Driver Series Scholarship Day
Sam was selected as one of the lucky few to compete for the BMW e46 Spec Series Scholarship - he quickly caught the eyes of those adjudicating, surprising the likes of Mike Eady (who was under the impression he had previous racing experience!) and was commended for his driving ability. Rest assurred he'll be back next year to take the title!
