The decision to experiment in a unique motorsport series had paid dividends for emerging Wagga driver Wil Longmore.
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The 17-year-old is Wagga's newest state champion after winning the NSW Hyundai X3 Excel Racing Series in his first year.
After seven years of racing go-karts, Longmore decided to step up to the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) affiliated Excel Series that is designed to accommodate low budget racing.
It was move that paid off as Longmore produced a stunning debut season to finish on top of 48 drivers to win the NSW series.
Longmore exceeded his own expectations by claiming the title.
"It felt pretty good, especially being my first year in it," Longmore said.
"It was a bit weird. I expected to try and finish in the top 10 but to come out and win it, I didn't expect to do that straight away."
Longmore is no stranger to success, having finished on the podium at state level in go-karts.
A first-year apprentice plumber, Longmore's ultimate goal is to one day reach V8 level.
"I'd love to do V8s but money talks...the money makes it hard," he said.
"At this stage I'll do it all again next year and try to get back-to-back and maybe do a few interstate rounds."
Longmore finished this year's series on 1790 points, 182 points clear of second, with an even bigger gap back to third.
He competed at each of the eight rounds across the state, being a regular on the podium, and also captured Rookie of the Year.
Longmore could not speak highly enough of the Excel series.
"I raced karts for seven years at national level and my old man found this as a cheap form of motorsport," he said.
"A mate and I raced the car together at the enduro last year and then decided to race the series this year. It's getting pretty big. There is 140 registered (for racing) in Australia and still growing. In one race we had 63 on the grid but most rounds there were 30-odd individual cars."
Longmore thanked his parents, mechanic Rob and sponsors for their support in helping him to the title.
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