What an awesome opportunity

First off, a massive thank you to the BMW Race Driver Series team, committee, sponsors, volunteers, members, and everyone involved in making this Scholarship Day happen. What an awesome opportunity. The day started with a chilly run from Helensville down to Hampton Downs, car packed with the Mrs and the baby… minus the bag with all the nappies and the snacks (rookie mistake 😅). Driver briefing and registration kicked things off — heaps of fresh, eager applicants ready to give it a crack. We rolled into a familiarisation session (a new part for me, and very cool). The Mrs and bub loved the ride-along too.

Being the old fart of the group, I was first up in the hot seat. Luckily, I’d been out with Mike Eady a few times before on previous scholarship days, so I was pretty relaxed. Feedback was solid — happy days. After a few hot laps it was time for lunch and the top 10 announcement. I was through!

Next up, Angus Fogg took us for a demonstration run with the simple advice: be smooth, be yourself, don’t be a hero. Then straight into the scholarship car. My instructions from Mike were: “Just do exactly what you did in the first drive” (easier said than done when you’ve got him in the passengers seat!).

Then came the part I always get nervous about: the panel interview. I’ve never been good at talking myself up, but the familiar faces helped. I reckon it went alright (though I’ve thought that before 😅).

We then had a trip up to race control — an eye-opening look behind the scenes of how slick and professional the operation is, plus the best view in the house. After that, I somehow squeezed myself into the 777 for a few hot laps — what a ride!

As the day wound down, the big announcement loomed. My name was called for the top 3 — a spot I’d been in before, so I tried not to get ahead of myself. But this time, I managed to sneak the win against some very talented competition.

The rest of the evening was a bit of a blur, but I can say it was surreal, humbling, and something I’ll never forget. Massive thanks again to everyone involved. Huge respect to the other applicants too — the level of talent out there is unreal and it really could have gone a number of ways.

If you’ve ever thought about getting into motorsport, this is 100% the series to do it in. Affordable, welcoming, and properly competitive.

Big thanks again to the team, and of course to the sponsors who make it possible:
BMW Car Club New Zealand
@NEXEN Tyres NZ
DTM Wheel & Tyre
Hampton Downs
Taupo International Motorsport Park
The Motorsport Club
1907 Water
NZIGP Events
Kayne Barrie Motorsport Ltd
P&S Autocentre Limited
Racetech NZ
Classic Cover Insurance
Tracktime Driving Academy
Takapuna Panelbeaters
Todd Leathem & Pak n Save
Matt Smith Photography
All of the BMW Race Driver Series Volunteers and Scholarship Committee

I can’t wait to get stuck in and see if I’m actually any good 😆

– Darren Mudford

📸 Matt Smith

Test Day Wrap-Up – Hampton Downs 22nd Oct

Awesome day out at Hampton Downs for the Tracktime Driving Academy trackday as part of the BMW Race Driver Series Scholarship. Huge thanks to Mike Eady for running such a well-structured day, always top notch.

First time meeting Jason Leifting, and man, he’s definitely someone to check out. Super knowledgeable, easy to chat with, and full of really useful insights. We spent a good chunk of time going over data and footage, chatting about car setup and tyre models, and managed to pull together some solid lap times. Big shoutout to Jason , learned a heap!

The car ran mint all day with no issues, and even though the weather was a bit on and off, the track stayed dry the whole time.

John was there helping out again too , massive thanks to him as always. I’m stoked with how the day went and feeling good heading into the first round at Manfield.

🏁 Race Weekend Wrap-Up – Manfeild 🏁

Packed up the family and headed off to Feilding the day after the test day for a weekend of racing.

I had never been to manfield before so it was all a bit new to me .

Friday testing went pretty well , just working on finding the flow of the track and slowly pushing the limits. Following a few of the other competitors helped a lot, and a good chat with last year’s scholarship winner Matt Day gave me some extra insight that definitely came in handy.

Saturday qualifying, I managed to lay down my fastest lap so far, which put me 19th on the grid, plenty to build on.

Race 1: Sitting on the grid, I was honestly crappin’ myself 😅 but once the lights went out, the adrenaline kicked in. Didn’t get the best start, but managed to avoid the chaos and keep it clean. Once I settled in, I picked up a few of the spots I’d lost early on and found a good rhythm.

Race 2: Got an awesome start and picked up a bunch of spots early on… then proceeded to give them all back over the next few laps. Guess I’m just too generous! But I was getting faster and more confident every session and race I went out on so that's a plus.

Race 3: Decided it was time to get the elbows out and put up a bit more of a fight. Had a few good battles out the back which were great fun — right up until I decided to introduce myself to the kitty litter two laps from the end.

All in all, it was an awesome weekend away with the family. Car ran well ,Great to learn a new track, meet a bunch of good people, and be part of such a cool series. Couldn’t ask for a better way to spend a weekend!

📸 Matt Smith

Scholarship report coming soon!

Scholarship report coming soon!

Scholarship report coming soon!

Scholarship report coming soon!

Scholarship report coming soon!