published 26-02-2015

Dickson The Real Deal

Peter Dickson in action at Cromwell Motor Speedway

By Daryl Shuttleworth
Photo - Silver Vision Photography

Southland Modified Sprint driver Peter Dickson must be pinching himself after making such an impact in the sport in a very short space of time, winning championships, and breaking lap records the now Cromwell based engineer finds himself without a race car but for very good reason.

Dickson had his modified sprint racecar for sale but he expected to race the entire 2014/15 season in it, but a dominant performance in Cromwell over Christmas winning the two day championship and turning heads along the way with a last to first place drive, it impressed one of the people in attendance who bought it on the spot leaving Dickson to contemplate his next move in motorsport.

Dickson has always been around motorsport, his Grandad, Dad (Peter Snr) and Uncle Les all raced speedway so it came as no surprise that when he started racing karts at the age of twelve that it wouldn't take long at all for the results to start rolling in, in fact it only took a few months as Dickson finished an impressive second at the South Island Kart Championships at his first attempt.

Dickson soon made a name for himself in karts winning multiple local and regional championships, second in two South Island Championships and third at the New Zealand Schools Championships, but in 2013 while working as an engineer at Malcom Officer Sheetmetal he decided to make the transition to the dirt oval.

It certainly didnt take long for Dickson to find his feet in the popular grade at Riverside Speedway claiming a number of race wins and the Southland Modified Sprint Championship in his debut season, almost unheard of, but it wasn't a one off, Dickson was a front runner all year placing second in overall points, second in the Brett Cooper Memorial and third in the Otago Championship. Dickson says "it was a brilliant first year but it wasn't all plain sailing"  Dickson relating back to being tipped over at the Christchurch Clay Cup.

After a full strip down and rebuild in the off season Dickson started the 2014/15 season in remarkable style, smashing the lap record for Modified Sprints at Riverside Speedway and also winning the Cromwell Christmas Champs prior to selling the car, Dickson also made a career change as he moved to Cromwell to build race cars for Hypermac Racing, a dream job for a keen young racer.

This is where Dickson has planned his speedway future, deciding to build his own Hypermac saloon and race it in the 2015/16 season, Dickson says "hes looking forward to stepping into the saloon class and driving a 360 cubic inch V8", and once he has learnt his trade in the saloon class he says "the ultimate goal is to race Super Saloons, I want to do all I can in Saloons, then try to be one of the drivers to beat in Supers" a goal that people say is achievable with the what they have witnessed of Dickson's skills so far.
"But like any form of motorsport you need the funding to be at the top of your game, I have great support from Hypermac Racing, Duratec Consruction and Central Race Parts, without them none of this would be possible" Dickson says, "I also have great support from my family, friends and support on my Facebook page PD Motorsport".

Dickson also has a great attitude towards his competitors and has his goals set in place, its really just a matter of time and ticking all the boxes on the way there, Dickson most definitely is the "real deal",  a bright young talent with a massive future in speedway.