Sceats looking to join Kiwi Indy contigent
Mar 1, 2024
As a winner of the New Zealand Grand Prix, his name now sits alongside some of the greatest drivers of all time, but Liam Sceats is not dwelling on his win at Highlands. Just hours after winning, he was making plans for his next step up on motorsports often slippery ladder and will be racing in the opening round of the USF Pro 2000 series next week.
International scouts were at Highlands, and no wonder, the Toyota Series has a well-earned reputation as a series where real motorsport talent can shine. You only have to go back to 2019 when Liam Lawson and Marcus Armstrong were duking it out for both the championship and the NZGP. That duel could have been the grand finale of Britain’s Got Talent, such was the way it catapulted both drivers into the international scene; last year Liam raced in F1 and Marcus In IndyCar
But Liam himself will admit that while the NZGP was an incredible achievement, it wasn’t the only goal of his time in Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania, with a championship win being the priority.
“The goal was to win the championship and to win the New Zealand Grand Prix, and it’s a shame we weren’t able to fully accomplish this goal, but to come runner up and to win the New Zealand Grand Prix is still something to be very happy about.” Sceats said when reflecting on his season.
Liam hasn’t been sitting around waiting for the phone to ring, however. Not three days had passed before the 18-year-old Kiwi was on a plane to New Orleans after talking to one of the aforementioned scouts, bound to compete in the opening USF Pro 2000 round in St Petersburg next week.
USF Pro 2000 is the third tier of the USA’s open-wheel racing ladder, sitting below Indy NXT and the top-flight IndyCar, but supporting the top tier at its events.
“The first round is at St Petersburg as a support category to IndyCar. So it would be surreal to be on the card with them.”
A good performance in the USF Pro 2000 series could open a pathway to Indy NXT, a series that has provided a launching pad to top-echelons for numerous Kiwi drivers, and in which Porsche Carrera Cup Australia champ Callum Hedge is gearing up to contest a full season.
Being a Kiwi driver battling on the international stage can be lonely, but if he can make the climb to IndyCar, Sceats would have plenty of fellow countryman to keep him company in the United States’ top open wheel series, including Scott Dixon, Scott McLaughlin, Marcus Armstrong, Tom Blomqvist.