After a successful debut season in the United States' Indy Lights series this year, kart-turned-car star Mitch Cunningham has set his sights high heading into his second season in New Zealand's Toyota Racing Series (TRS).
Christchurch's Powerbuilt Tools International Raceway at Ruapuna Park hosts the opening round of this season's TRS this weekend with Cunningham one of the favourites courtesy of his solid form in the local series last season and impressive pace in the Indy Lights.
"I want to be right up there," the 22-year-old said of the opening round.
"Last season I was still fairly new to cars and it was all about learning the car and the circuits down here. This season it's about stepping up."
This season Cunningham is running with former McLaren F1 team engineer Stephen Giles' new Stephen Giles Motorsport team.
With newcomers Keeley Pudney and Daniel Jilesen, Cunningham is one of three drivers the team is running in all seven TRS rounds and one of five it looks set to run at the three international 'series-within-a-series' rounds.
Cunningham is one of only five drivers returning for a second season in the series. He said it was a surprise considering that most drivers take at least a season to get their heads around the distinctive driving requirements of the 1.8 litre Toyota-powered 'slicks-and-wings' single seaters.
"I wouldn't call them a difficult car to drive per se, but they are definitely a difficult car to drive on the limit," he said.
"They're quite a narrow car and compared to the bigger, wider, heavier Indy Lights car I drove this year they don't have that much downforce, meaning that to drive them fast you have to be right on the limit and when you are, you are on a knife edge."
Having only just moved from karts to cars at the beginning of 2007, and then to the slower, more stable FF2000 Formula Ford class in the United States, Cunningham doesn't mind admitting that his first season in the TRS last year had its ups and downs.
"I was with a good team (the now disbanded International Motorsport outfit managed by Stephen Giles) and had a good car but I sort of lost my way a bit after the accident (Cunningham was the innocent victim of a high speed accident at the second round of the 2007/08 series) and it took me two or three rounds to get back into the swing of things after that.
"Like any series, qualifying well is really important too, and I was at a disadvantage there because before I could start dialling in the car I had to learn all the circuits."
Despite that Cunningham ended up sixth overall and second in the rookie standing and went on to run a road course campaign in the Indy Lights Series, where the highlight was leading the Mid-Ohio round and setting the fastest race lap.
The opening round of the 2008/09 TRS at Powerbuilt Tools International Raceway at Ruapuna Park has attracted a field of 10 confirmed entries, led by Cunningham and fellow series returnees Sam MacNeill, Michael Burdett, Christina Orr and Australian Nathan Antunes.
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