Zimpapers Logo

For young promising motor racing driver Zac Dufty, it all runs in his genes and he believes the sky is the limit for him with his dream being to compete in the world popular Formula One series.

The 12-year-old has been racing since he was six years old. He started competing in the cadets class before moving to the mini9 rok class and will be graduating into the junior max class next year as he pursues his dream in motorsport.

Dufty has been to the World Championships twice in 2013 and 2014 in Italy.

In his debut appearance at the global event in 2013 he finished on position 77 out of 105 participants and in 2014 he managed position 50 out of over 127 drivers.

He has since moved his competing base to South Africa for exposure and competition although he is still competing in local events at Donnybrook. The passionate young driver said the experience has been great and has had his ups and downs but he always maintains a positive attitude when he competes.

“Karting is definitely going to be my lifestyle. I will always want to do racing and motorsport because it actually flows in my family. My great-grandad used to be the chairman of karting and my dad two years ago was chairman as well, so it’s kind of in my genes.

“When I grow up the ideal thing for me will be Formula One. I definitely think I can try really hard, whatever you put your mind to can happen so I think it will happen,” said Dufty.

However, just like any other sporting discipline there are challenges one is likely to encounter and Dufty said his main challenge has been sponsorship with his father being the main sponsor at the moment.

“First thing will be sponsorship. Sponsorship is key in motorsport and you will always try to look for more sponsors . . . It’s just one of the main things that you need.

“And also I need to learn more on the race craft because it’s really hard, I need to learn more and also my dad is thinking of giving me a gym because I really have to work on my upper arms and my upper body,” said Dufty.

The 12-year-old Twin Rivers School pupil is hopeful of a better performance next year when he takes part in the junior max class after coming third this year on his first attempt.

“I think next year as well there is a lot of people in my class moving up so there is going to be the same guys that I have raced against. And these guys are awesome because sometimes it’s a bit of a needle in the haystack for me. They got more practice than me because they are always there on the track.

“I think I have quite a few of my best moments. The very first one was winning my first race here in Zimbabwe, it was mind blowing and everything was awesome.

“That was three years ago. And then the other one is the previous race, coming third in a class that I just moved up to, it’s really cool because I was running 10th in the mini roks which is the other class and then I just moved up and I was running third in that class so it was just awesome (in South Africa),” Dufty said. – The Herald.