Teen racers 'far more experienced' than drivers with road licences - Greg Murphy

A professional motorsport racer says there's a culture of young drivers in the sport, but they are often more skilled than general adult drivers.

Many young drivers were getting into the sport, some as young as 12, and it was not uncommon at all, motorsport legend Greg Murphy told Checkpoint.

He said there was a rigorous process before young people were allowed behind the wheel, and they were racing in a controlled environment.

"You've got to have dispensation to do that, but again, it's not on public roads. It's a closed competition environment, just like on a race track, effectively.

"So it's not uncommon at all for younger drivers - 12, 13, and 14 years old to have competition licences because of the controlled environment.

"We see it all the time - young talent coming through that's come through from karting and the other forms of the sport that deserve to be able to go and compete."

He was commenting after Brooklyn Horan, 15, and Tyson Jemmett, 35, died when their car crashed into a ditch during the Arcadia Road Rallysprint in Paparoa on Sunday, 25 February.

Murphy said Brooklyn was already proving to be well ahead in his experience.

"Someone like Brooklyn is already far, far, far more experienced and capable than people that have been driving on our public roads for 20-30 years."

Starting early

IndyCar champion Scott Dixon started racing at 13, Murphy said.

"I remember racing Scott at Pukekohe when he actually rolled his Nissan Pulsar way back in the mid-90s," Murphy said.

"It's a culture now within the sport, starting earlier and earlier all around the world.

"You've got young drivers showing their skill sets and prowesses and starting to compete long before they get a licence to drive on the road.

"And the skills that they learn doing motorsport are just absolutely phenomenal. That's the best thing that can happen."

He said young drivers competing did not need to have a co-driver, just a passenger at this stage.

"When you are competing in a rally which requires a road licence then you have a co-driver."

In this situation, he said it was permitted as part of doing rally sprints because "effectively it is a rally except you just return and do the same bit of roads multiple times and it's all timed".

"So it's a competition event in a closed environment where the road is closed, so that's how that works."

Remembering Brooklyn Horan and Tyson Jemmett

Murphy told Checkpoint the incident "epitomises the word tragedy in this case".

"I got to know Brooklyn pretty well over the last sort of 15 odd months and ... [he was] just a joy to be around, really infectious smile, just a wonderful young man who had been brought up incredibly well and just loved getting out there and enjoying his motorsport.

"He was doing lots of different disciplines of the sport too and was clearly going to be a successful driver in his own right as he got more and more experience."

Murphy said Brooklyn was following in the footsteps of his father, who was a good rally driver.

He said Brooklyn was doing something that he loved yesterday but "ended in a situation where tragedy has taken him".

Professional driver Hayden Paddon posted to social media, saying Brooklyn was a talented driver who would've gone all the way in the sport.

He described the teenager as one of the nicest and most humble young men he had ever met.

Paddon said he met Jemmett when he was waving the New Zealand flag at the World Rally Championships in 2017 and 2018.

He described him as a great business, sporting and family man, who always pushed to raise the profile of the sport.

According to the rules on the MotorSport New Zealand website, the junior driver programme "allows people aged between 12 and 16 the ability to obtain a competition licence with a few extra steps".

MotorSport New Zealand said it would cooperate with all investigating agencies as well as undertake its own thorough investigation into the two deaths.