Young racer Jack Le Brocq knows his track success will rely as much on luck as skill.
WHEN Daniel Riccardio was announced last week as the first Aussie to reach Formula One level since Mark Webber, not only did he make headlines worldwide, but he also brought a smile to a teenager in Upper Beaconsfield.
Riccardio’s signing with Hispania Racing was inspiration to Jack Le Brocq, who has wanted to race in the big time for as long as he can remember.
“It is good when you see another young bloke from Australia make it,” Jack said. “And it does make you think to yourself, ‘if he can do it then why can’t I?’”
While the quest to reach F1 level requires as much luck as skill, 18-year-old Jack, who currently races in the national Formula Ford series, believes his time will come.
Just like Riccardio, Jack began racing go-karts as a seven-year-old after watching his dad, Geoff, race go-karts on weekends.
Jack’s mum, Nikki, remembers watching nervously as her boy, who had just enrolled at school, took to the race track.
“I was horrified,” Nikki said.
“He was four-foot high (122cm) and this little kid could only see over the steering wheel and he was driving a car at the age of seven.
“I used to get a little nervous about him doing it but once he started doing really well I could see he had a natural talent.
“In his second year of racing he won Victorian Midget Racer of the year and I ‘thought, wow, this kid has got something natural about him and he would keep going on and winning all these big series’.”
Because of his domination in the go-karting scene, Jack traded his go-kart for a faster, racier Formula Vee and joined the Formula Vee circuit – the category below Formula Ford in which Jack currently competes.
But perhaps the most defining moment in his career came when he received a phone call from an Australian Motor Sport Foundation official.
“I was at work, working by myself that day and I remember seeing this name flash up on my phone,” Jack said.
“It started off as a general conversation then out of the blue this guy said they had announced me and one other person as this year’s rising stars meaning we had been accepted into the AMSF program.
“I was shell-shocked and I didn’t know if I could believe it or not.
“It is the best phone call I’ve ever had. To hear that news was awesome.
That was the phonecall that Jack said changed his whole racing career.
“If it wasn’t for the rising star program I wouldn’t be racing Formula Ford… and it will help me, especially financially, to go further.”
Just like Riccardio five years ago, Jack was selected from thousands of hopefuls into the AMSF rising star program and is currently being mentored by V8 Supercar legend Mark Skaife.
Jack was selected alongside one other junior – Matt Brabham, the grandson of race legend Sir Jack Brabham – demonstrating how highly the program is regarded.
In his Formula Ford debut last year, Jack admitted it was just a case of surviving.
“We didn’t expect too much, I just wanted to finish every race,” Jack said.
“Last year was a big step for us.
“Normally you go to the national series before you start in this category just to get used to the cars and how they all work but we skipped that and went straight into national Formula Ford.
“We had some pretty good top five finishes but I had an old car and I learned a lot.
“I’ve got a new car this year and the aim is to win a championship.”
With grand ambitions for 2011, Jack took third place on the podium for the first time in round one but then finished with minus points in round two.
“I was running fourth and on the last corner of the last lap I went to pass the guy in front of me and made wheel contact,” Jack said.
“We both spun off the track and I got penalised for it.
“If I had my time again I would have stuck behind the guy but that’s how it goes sometimes.”
Despite the ups and downs, the former Berwick High student knows he is in a privileged position because not many kids his age get to spend five days a week working on a car that on weekends he gets to race around at speeds of close to 250km/h.
However, Jack’s heavy work load means he is limited in his free time.
Between AIS commitments, work, racing, practising, fixing his car and searching for sponsors, Jack still ensures there is enough time to help mum mow the lawns.
“Last year I didn’t get a day off for six weeks but when you do get a free day you try and make the most of it,” Jack said.
“Sometimes you just want to sit there and relax but just like my last free day (two weeks ago), I still had to take my race suit to Revolutions and mum made me mow the lawns so I still have to do a bit.
“But I think I am in a privileged situation.
“Not many kids get to go out there and have a chance at making it.
“A lot of guys have talent but don’t get the chance and I am very lucky to be where I am now.”
While Jack is determined to reach international levels, he is happy being at where he is right now.
“At the moment I am going at speeds close to 250km/h, it is a huge thrill,” Jack said.
“The car hasn’t got wings or anything like that so the way it moves around is awesome and especially at Phillip Island when you drop down the hill and all you see is the sea and the car is shaking around, moving all over the place… it’s an awesome feeling,” Jack said.
“But I’ll never rule out driving at F1 level.
“If I aim high and fall short then that’s where you fall but if you don’t aim high then you have never given yourself the chance to make it.
“Obviously the future is very dependent on budget and I’m trying to find funding for next year, but I want to have a crack at the best racers in the world.”
