Grove Junior Team rising star, Oscar Targett is set to take on two of Australia’s most competitive Junior Series, the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge and the Toyota Gazoo 86 Racing Series.
With the continued backing of the Grove Group, the 17-year-old Queenslander has shown his talent throughout his karting career where in 2022 he moved to Italy to race with the Official BirelART Karting Team.
Oscar competed in the FIA European Championship finishing 8th in Cremona, Italy and ended the season inside the top 20 at the FIA World Championship amongst a field of 126 drivers.
With his car racing debut on the horizon, Stephen and Brenton Grove as well as Penrite Racing Team Principal, David Cauchi have expressed their high regard for the junior driver who is set to take on the TGRA Scholarship Series kicking off at Sydney Motorsport Park this weekend.
The TGRA Scholarship series involves three qualifying sessions constructed to finalise the grid for the main rounds which commence on July 7-9 at the Townsville 500.
Oscar’s first round of The Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge will be at Queensland Raceway April 28 – 30 where he will also be supported by Earl Bamber Motorsport.
TEAM OWNER, STEPHEN GROVE SAID:
“We are very proud to be supporting Oscar as he transitions to car racing this year. It is an exciting stage in his career and the start of what we believe will be a long and successful one.”
“Oscar’s capability is highly impressive, and it was evident from the moment we met him that he embodies all the values we look for in our junior drivers. Racing both the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge and Toyota Gazoo 86 Racing Series will allow him to build his door-to-door race craft as well as his speed which is our main focus through this season.
“We are all excited to see what he can achieve this year,” said Stephen.
TEAM PRINCIPAL, PENRITE RACING, DAVID CAUCHI SAID:
“Oscar has shown he is an impressive young driver.”
“He achieved some strong results karting in Italy last year and that experience will no doubt help him as he transitions to car racing.
“Grove Racing are proud to be a part of Oscar development so far and we will continue to support him to build the foundation of his professional racing career. Having access to the resources of the Supercars team and our drivers Matt Payne, Dave Reynolds and Garth Tander will be valuable to his learning,” said Cauchi.
OSCAR TARGETT, GROVE JUNIOR TEAM DRIVER SAID:
“For the 2023 season I begin my move from Karting into cars with the amazing team at Grove Racing.”
“I’m extremely excited and fortunate to be competing in both the Toyota 86 and Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge. We have done 2 days testing in the Porsche with the team at Earl Bamber Motorsport where I have been happy with my speed. This weekend we start off at Sydney Motorsport Park in the Toyota 86 scholarship series.
“I have a lot of learning to do this year to prepare myself for the future but I’m up for the challenge and keen to get to work.
“I can’t thank Stephen, Brenton and the whole team at Grove Racing enough for their support,” said Oscar.