Another young Kiwi motorsport talent is on the fast track to the top.

New Zealand Grand Prix winner Liam Sceats had a successful 2024, finishing fifth in the competitive USF Pro 2000 series. He now has his sights set on the next step to his IndyCar dream, which started with a recent official test with HND Motorsport in an Indy NXT car.

“The test lived up to all expectations,” Sceats told the Herald. “Everything went really well, and I was fifth-fastest overall from 20-something cars and the quickest of all the team’s drivers.

“It was cool to be able to step into the car and be the quickest of the other nine drivers in the team. It was very positive.

“What a beast of a car — we were just shy of 300km/h down the straight. The downforce and G-forces were unlike anything I’ve ever felt, and I loved every second of it.”

Following on from a successful initial test at Indianapolis, Sceats secured a second Indy NXT test with HND Motorsport at Barber Motorsport Park, as they were very happy with the way the Indianapolis test went.

With a great opportunity on hand once more, Sceats made a few calls and thankfully managed to get enough funding together to stay in the US and drive the car again.

It’s a circuit the 19-year-old hadn’t been to before, so he was on a steep learning curve. As with his test at Indianapolis, adjusting to the increased downforce on the more powerful and aerodynamically efficient car added to the challenge.

Sceats spent the morning learning the rack and getting to grips with the car setup and adapting to his new environment. While his lap times were solid rather than spectacular, the idea of the test for Sceats was to build confidence in the car, get a good feel of how it reacts in different circumstances and steadily push the limits.

“It was my first time at Barber, and I was one of only two drivers in the field to have no prior experience on the track.

“During the build-up to the test, many drivers and engineers told me how Barber is known to be the most physical and challenging circuit in the Indy NXT calendar.

“The high speed, high downforce and track layout reward those who push hard, but [it] is high-risk.

“I’m content with how the test went, finishing P10 overall. Normally, I wouldn’t be happy with P10 but in this case I am content as given the circumstances that I had never been to the track before, not to mention I still have a lot of learning to do with this new car, this was a very decent showing amongst a top-level field,” he said.

The next step for Sceats and his team is to secure a fulltime drive in the NXT series to keep his journey on-track to reach IndyCar and race alongside fellow Kiwis Scott Dixon, Marcus Armstrong and Scott McLaughlin.

“Indy NXT is to IndyCar what Formula 2 is to Formula 1. This is the final peak to climb before achieving a lifelong goal of mine.

“It is important to make a strong impression in these official tests as IndyCar and Indy NXT teams will be keeping a close eye on the timesheets.

“This is my best and possibly only chance to prove myself to the people in the paddock. Opportunities like this are rare and I was determined to make them count.”

HND Motorsport were certainly impressed with the young New Zealander’s talent and spend. They have told Sceats they have a seat available for him in next year’s Indy NXT series, and now the challenge is to get the funding sorted in time to go racing in 2025.