HE may be getting ready to sit his HSC exams but young Dubbo reinsman Tom Pay has another assignment that he is working on.
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Pay hopes to become a professional driver following his school studies and is on the right track to do so.
So dedicated is he, the 18-year-old’s ‘Schoolies Week’ will be a lot different compared to his classmate peers.
Next month he will spend some time in New Zealand, learning from some of that country’s most legendary harness racing identities.
“During Schoolies I’ll be over in New Zealand working with trainers Barry Purdon and Cran Dalgety,” Pay said.
“I won the scholarship at last year’s Awards Night and I can’t wait to head over.
“I’ll spend one week in the North Island with Barry and a week in the South Island with Cran.
“It’s going to be great and they are certainly people I look up to in the industry and can learn a lot from.”
I won the scholarship at last year’s Awards Night and I can’t wait to head over.
- Tom Pay
Pay won this experience when being crowned the recipient of the Junior Driver Encouragement Award last year.
This followed on from his experience in representing the Western Districts in the 2016 New South Wales Rising Stars Series.
“That was the best week of my life,” Pay stated.
“We did some cool activities during the day and then had the opportunity to drive at a number of different tracks.”
Pay began driving in 2015 and has obtained 20 wins and 57 places in his 272 drives.
Over the past few weeks the youngster has been in Bathurst working with Steve Turnbull, and will take three drives for the stable at tonight’s Bathurst TAB meeting.
His family is synonymous with the sport, as he is the son of local trainer Mick Pay and nephew of former hobby trainer-driver Dean Pay, the newly appointed head coach of the Canterbury Bulldogs.