Palmerston North 19-year-old Blake Dowdall is a significant addition to the field in this season’s Bridgestone GR86 Championship. Stepping into the championship in between Australian GT4 seasons, Blake brings with him years of experience of all the tracks on the calendar.
He’ll also bring considerable racecraft honed during racing seasons in Formula Ford and most recently in a GT4 Mustang in the Monochrome GT4 Australia Championship with Miedecke Motorsport.
He will take the seat of a second Syndicate Motorsport entry – the ex-Josh Bethune car – alongside Justin Allen, having engineered the Allen car throughout last season.
His secret weapon for his first GR86 campaign may well turn out to be that inside knowledge of the car on the engineering side. He certainly believes it will be a huge bonus.
“It should be,” he said. “I spent last season engineering the #99 GR86 for Syndicate Motorsport, so I already know the GR86 car well from an engineering perspective and I do intend to apply everything I know to getting the car up to speed from the very first session on track.”
A rising star who picked this championship because he loves the cut and thrust of close racing, Blake is looking forward to the action on track despite very limited track time in advance of the first weekend.
“The GR86 field is so close that every session is a scrap, and I love that,” he said. “After a year away in Australia I’m also really looking forward to racing at home again, at tracks I know, with my family and supporters there to see it.
“Everyone’s in the same car, so the whole field is covered by tenths and there’s nowhere to hide. Qualifying is massive, and so is looking after the tyres until the end of the race, because you can’t make up for a mistake with horsepower.
“For me personally the challenge will also be adjusting from the aero and grip of the GT4 Mustang back to a car where it’s all about mechanical grip and racecraft.”
And his prospects? Dowdall has been competitive in every branch of motorsport in which he has raced and intends to carry that on in the Bridgestone GR86 Championship.
“To win races, that’s really the sole focus,” he explained. “We’re late to the party but it’s not like everything is new to me though I will have to take a little time getting used to the tyres and getting the most out of them at the best time.
“But I know the car from the engineering side, so I want to be at the front as soon as I can be.”
A solid group of sponsors are getting behind Blake for his NZ season, including NZ Performance, Ramson Machinery Limited, J.A. Russell Ltd, GGL Ltd, Civiltrain.nz, Team DH, Ultimate Motor Group, MRP Sim Racing, Nutrition Systems and Cellucor/C4 and a couple of private backers.
It all gets underway for Blake and the team at the Taupo International Motorsport Park at the PTS Logistics season opener this weekend.
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