Yesterday Pollard was at Sydney’s Oran Park Raceway.

It was a test day to prepare for next week’s Aussie Racing Cars Shannons National Series at Winton in Victoria.

Pollard has been involved in racing for many years, first becoming interested through friends whose father drove speedway cars.

“I travelled with them to speedway events and when I finished school I got my own speedway car,” Pollard said.

He competed in speedway racing throughout Queensland for several years, before gaining his Confederation of Australian Motorsport (CAMS) licence at Sydney in 2001.

Later that year he made his Queensland Formula Ford debut at Queensland Raceway and in 2002 went on to become Queensland Formula Ford rookie of the year.

Now looking for a new challenge, next weekend will be Pollard’s first foray into Aussie Racing Cars.

The motorsport category was developed in 2003 and involves controlled racing, with competitors racing cars that are mechanically identical.

The vehicles have different bodies, but underneath, they’re all the same, weighing 450 kilograms and powered by a 1.2 litre Yamaha motorcycle engine.

Pollard said the change to Aussie Racing Cars gave him the chance to try something different.

“It is about controlling the car - knowing and exploring its limitations,” Pollard said.

“I raced Formula Fords for a long time so I wanted to try other categories to see how they handle.”

At this stage, Pollard said next week’s race was a one-off due to the high costs of competing, but he would love to compete in more races this year if he is able to source sponsorship.

Pollard also thanked the local businesses who had signed up to support his upcoming race.