rom WSS
Trent Pigdon spent his rookie Speedway season pushing his W19 to the limit, making a strong impression on West Australian fans. After collecting numerous Rookie of the Year awards, Pigdon is ready to take his livewire act on the road.
For most Speedway newcomers, the first summer on dirt can be a torrid affair, easily chalked up as a learning experience, before starting to hit their stride in the seasons that follow. For Pigdon, however, a background in Motocross and a world class, family owned race team has fast-tracked Trent into the upper echelon of up and coming superstars in Australia.
“Speedway has always been in my family thanks to a sedan background, and I have been racing Motocross my whole life, which was a huge help,” explained Pigdon. “The experience in racing on dirt and reading the track during a race is a huge advantage for me.”
The Pigdon trophy cabinet already contains a 2011/12 Sprintcar Rookie of the Year Award, a second place in the Watsons Express Transport Perth Motorplex Track Championship and most recently, 2 feature wins at the Chariots of Thunder Sprintcar Series and the Darwin Sprintcar Title.
“I think those wins [Chariots of Thunder] would have to be up there with the best moments in Speedway so far for me; to win was fantastic, and doing it against quality opponents certainly helps our confidence.”
In addition to the growing number of awards he is collecting, Pigdon has a fan in Perth Motorplex Speedway Racing Manager and Speedway Australia Board Member, Gavin Migro.
“Trent exploded on the WA Sprintcar scene last summer in his first season with some drives that showed that he is definitely a star in the making,” responded Migro when asked about Pigdon’s rookie campaign.
“The youngster is fast and not frightened to stand on the gas, showing some excellent race craft that doesn’t usually come from rookie racers.”
World Series Sprintcars fans in Western Australia got an up close preview of the budding star early in 2012, when the distinctive Pigdon Motorsport car took flight over the final five rounds of the championship.
While he was unable to capture any more trophies to round out his season, Pigdon didn’t back down from his more experienced peers. Trent turned heads not only with one of the most striking car liveries in the country, but showed his obvious talent and impressive pace, all while soaking up a wealth of experience from his opponents and renowned veteran crew chief, Keith Giles.
Giles is well versed in the World Series Sprintcars universe and has a decorated past; not only has Giles been the lead spanner man for Luch Monte, but he was the architect behind the Krikke Motorsports entry when Donny Schatz took the wheel and won an amazing six from six WSS mains in 1999.
“Keith is very demanding and very intelligent, and always has the car setup just right for me no matter where we are,” said the 25 year old. “It’s also great that he’s driven a car successfully before, as he just understands the car so much better.”
When the season begins in Adelaide on Boxing Day, it will be the team’s first racing experience on the east coast of the country, a fact that Pigdon is well aware of, but unfazed by.
“We haven’t raced on the east coast tracks before, so everything will be new, but it’s all about adapting to new tracks and learning how to race them, so I don’t think it will be a problem,” explained Pigdon. “By the time we’re back in WA for the western swing, we hope to be really hitting our stride and putting up some great results.”
When asked about whether he’ll be able to sneak up on the more experienced campaigners in WSS, Trent was confident his driving style would continue to reward him.
“There’s no team pressure on me about crashing, so I’m always able to drive my style; I think once you begin to worry about wrecking, that’s when the problems arise.”
“I drive aggressively, but not recklessly, so I think we’ll surprise the competition a little bit.”
The 26th annual World Series Sprintcars Championship begins on December 26 at Speedway City in South Australia. Stay tuned to worldseriessprintcars.com.au for all of the latest news regarding the series, including the full roster of contracted drivers as they are announced.