Clayton Pyne Racing

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01/08/2006

CLAYTON Pyne has a driving history that reads like an Australian motorsport honour board. He’s graduated from the same motorsport crop that has produced household names like James Courtney, Ryan Briscoe, Michael Caruso, Mark Winterbottom and Jamie Whincup.

Pyne raced for the factory Tony Kart team in the 1996 World Kart Championships in Belgium. That same year he was on the podium of the Oceania Kart Championships, finishing just shy of Briscoe. In 1997, he placed third in the Margutti Cup in Parma, Italy. Pyne also received an invitation to race alongside Michael Schumacher for the Tony Kart team at the Race of Champions in Monaco.

At 16, Pyne became the youngest driver to win a V8 Super Sedan feature race, at Parramatta City Raceway. At a time when it seemed the motorsport world was his oyster, a greater desire yearned to achieve an academic degree. Subsequently a senior role with global giant IBM evolved and driving was put on the backburner, other than a few Formula Ford cameo appearances.

In 2006, with his career now established, Pyne’s back driving and he’s serious!

Pyne has purchased an ex-Perkins Holden Commodore VX and will be contesting his maiden Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series event at his home circuit, Oran Park, in two weeks time.

“Its just great to be back in the seat and to be back out there in what is Australia''s most elite motorsport category- V8 Supercar.... it’s just a dream come true,” said Pyne.

“I’m really looking forward to Oran Park. It’s going to be a steep learning curve for all of the team. We have set modest goals for ourselves this year as we understand the time it takes in motorsport - especially in the fiercely competitive Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series.”

“Obviously I’ve been keeping a very close eye on the V8 Supercar series over the past few years and to see the same guys like [James] Courtney, [Mark] Winterbottom and Jamie Whincup that I used to compete with, doing so well, it has really spurred me on,” Pyne added.

“It’s taken most of those guys some time to get to the top in V8 Supercars, so I’m being realistic about our first season but knowing that I have been more than competitive against some of the best drivers gives me the confidence that we can do really well in the Fujitsu Development Series,” Pyne commented.

Clayton Pyne comes from pure line of motorsport pedigree. His father, Ron Pyne, a senior statesman of speedway, is a multi-time National and State Super Speedway champion, with over 30 years of motorsport involvement. Pyne was raised in regional NSW, in Cessnock and currently resides on Sydney’s North Shore.

He now turns his attention to Round 4 of the Fujitsu V8 Supercars Development Series at Oran Park from August 11th to 13th. Pyne has received support from Perth businessman and motorsport identity, Paul Stubber, but heads to Oran Park without a major backer.

“We are yet to secure a major sponsor for 2006 but we are committed to the rest of the season. We know it’s much easier to convince corporate Australia to part with marketing funds when we are actually competing, so we are really hoping we can show our worth to a potential backer,” Pyne concluded.