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Aspiring 17-year-old Austrian motor racing driver Charlie Wurz is set to make his bow in the five-round Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship (formerly the Castrol Toyota Racing Series) in New Zealand this year.
He enjoyed notable early success leat season by claiming the 2022 Formula 4 United Arab Emirates Championship, as well as being third-placed rookie in Italian Formula 4 Championship and picking up three podiums in ADAC German F4.
Charlie will take the wheel of a Toyota FT-60 for M2 Competition for the season opener at Highlands Motorsport Park on January 13-15.
With the category recently becoming eligible for Formula 1 superlicence points (awarding 18 to the title winner), Charlie is hoping that a successful campaign will put him on the path to follow in the footsteps of his father Alex Wurz.
Wurz competed in F1 from 1997 until 2007 and drove for Benetton, McLaren and Williams making 69 race starts and picking up three podiums and 45 championship points along the way, and also won the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Wurz is currently chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers Association, which includes Sebastian Vettel, George Russell and legal adviser Anastasia Fowle as fellow directors.
Charlie is actually the third genetration of Wurz racers, with his grandfather Franz a three-time European Rallycross Champion who also competed in the World Rally Championship in the 1980s.
“Ever since I can remember, my dad has recounted stories of his time racing in New Zealand, how it was such an important step in his career and how much he loved it.
“I’m so excited to be able to start 2023 with this experience and a big thank you to Toyota Gazoo Racing and M2 for making it happen.”
“It’s great that Charlie can begin his next step in New Zealand and we welcome him aboard,” said M2 Competition team principal Mark Pilche on this week.
“Young drivers from F4 have made this step with success and we look forward to helping Charlie do the same," he added.
Charlie will be joined in the line-up by Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia Championship driver Callum Hedge, as well as Australian Formula Ford Series competitor Ryder Quinn.
Charlie is the latest of a growing number of drivers of former F1 stars bidding to follow famous fathers onto the Grand Prix grid.
Both Nico Rosberg and Damon Hill succeeded in matching their fathers' achievement in clinching the world championship. More recently, Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher both drove for Haas in 2022.
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