Nikita Johnson: Motorsport racer previews the NextGen NZ Championship, New Zealand Grand Prix, and Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship grand final

It's round 6 of the NextGen NZ Championship, coinciding with the prestigious 69th New Zealand Grand Prix and the electrifying Grand Final of the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship! 

There are a number of categories including the Bridgestone GR86, Summerset GT New Zealand, Napa Formula Ford Championship, NEXEN TYRES Mazda Racing Series & Pirelli Porsche Series. 

A rising star out of the American Motorsport scene Nikita Johnson joined D'Arcy Waldegrave to preview the event.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the All Sport Breakfast podcast with Darcy
Wildergrave from News Talk SEDB.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Five weeks of intense open wheel racing. That's the Castral
Tour to Formula Racing Oceania Championship one a name, and
we're joined now by a guy who's going to be
competing on Sunday in the sixty ninth New Zealand Grand Prix,
which of course is a part of that series. He's
an American over here to sharpen his tools ahead of

(00:34):
a season up north, and he's with us now. Nikita Johnson.
Good morning, Good morning. How are you very good? Probably
not as excited as you are? New Zealand Grand Prix,
last round of the Castro Tour to Racing series, which
is the cap off of a pretty intense month's competition.
How calm are you around this?

Speaker 3 (00:54):
Yeah, I'm very excited for it. I mean, it's a
special race because it's a Grand Prix and as from
what I've been hearing, it's one of the biggest in
New Zealand and this part of the world. So I'm
very excited for it, and I think we have some
good pace for it.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
The experience out here you're out from the States, plainly,
what was the reason you tuned up and decided to
compete in the tras? Was it the likes of micas
I'm strong of course over at indiecan now what was
the driver?

Speaker 3 (01:24):
Well, we haven't really had a winter series like that's
a very good competition besides this in the Middle East,
and we were talking with my agent that's Terry Sodan,
and all the Oaks from high Tech and Phil Blow
from High Tech that are my team managers, and so
we all made a group decision that it would be
best to come down here and go race here in

(01:46):
the Frica with toyotas so doing this instead of the
Middle East Championship, and we just thought it was a
good deal because the all the cars are owned by Toyota,
so it's a very level playing field.

Speaker 2 (01:59):
Where about I see you primarily racing at the moment, Nikada.

Speaker 3 (02:02):
So I'm switching from the USF Pro Championships series in
the States to going to GB three, which is you
know British F three that a lot of F one
drivers have gone through and come out of. So I'll
be racing I think two or three race weekends in
England and then the rest in Europe, so it'll be

(02:22):
great prep for later on in my career.

Speaker 2 (02:26):
Yeah, a lot of guys that have come out of
the series you're in now. I've heard the former t
I race to had a racing series go Big, New
Long Crazy nine now have ended up in GP two
three and of course gone to eighth one. So it
makes seems to be involved in this series ahead of
the Rice today though the new sail on Grome Prix
you've had a strap around Holland's pot. What do you

(02:47):
make of that for a track?

Speaker 3 (02:49):
It's a pretty interesting track. I haven't driven something like this.
I mean we have high speed, low speed, mid speed.
You know, the walls are pretty close and turn one,
two and last turn so it's almost like a street
circuit there in a way. So at the mix of
a lot of different tracks that I've been on, and
I just can't wait to be racing on it because it's, uh,

(03:10):
you know, I love these types of tracks, narrow and
very high speed.

Speaker 2 (03:14):
And your goal plainly is to win the trophy. But
where you're sitting in the championship right now, are you
is there a possibility you can REALI it in or
is about a fight for second right.

Speaker 3 (03:25):
Now, it's going to be a fight. Well, I wouldn't say,
I mean, I just have to go secure second place
in the championship because with Arvid, he's done an incredible
job this year to build a good buffer room and
we would have to go win I think most of them,
and you'd have to do very poorly somehow. So we're
just trying to go finish second in the championship and

(03:47):
go win race one.

Speaker 2 (03:48):
M three, take the experience, take it back over to
Europe and go and kick some ass. And we thank
you very much for your time as well. Nikita Johnson,
look after yourself, keep it on the black stuff.

Speaker 3 (04:00):
Thank you. We'll do.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
Very last round of the Twitter Racing Series. Number of
drivers now that find themselves in Formula One or at
any car that have been involved in that series over
the last two decades extraordinary, well worth a look.

Speaker 1 (04:13):
For more from the All Sport Breakfast with Darcy Watergrave,
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