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TEAM MEMBERS:
Ricky McGough: Team Owner and Driver -
Has been racing since he was 12 years old in a variety of
motorsports such as dirt track, rally sprints, drag racing and
speedway. He has an impressive haul of race and championship
trophies that fill an entire room at the race workshop.
Stuart McGough: Team Manager - Ricky's
father looks after all aspects of the team both on race night and
between meetings. Stuarts has an extensive motorsport
background in racing, rally and speedway, and has also been "Team
Manager" running a Super Touring GT car in Australia.
Ben Grimmond:
Team Mechanic - The mechanic that make's sure the car
is correctly set up and ready to race both back at the workshop and
at the track between races. Ben has been with the team for
the past 3 years and has raced in other forms of motorsport and
bring's alot of valued help to the team.
Shannon Cargill:
Team Photographer - Shannon is the teams very enthusiastic
photographer who knows how to get those great shots of the team
working on the midget in the pits as well as those awesome action
shots on the track. Shannon also isnt afraid to get her hands
dirty and the team can count on her help with whatever tasks need
to be done during the night.
Karen McGough and Danielle
McGough: Two very important people who keep the car clean
and polished at the workshop and between each race to make it ready
to present to the spectators. They also look after the food
and drink for the team to make sure everyone can perform their
tasks proficiently.
At age 7 Ricky McGough started riding motorbikes before
progressing to the farm tractor and his father's workshop push
vehicle. At age 12 he started co-driving for his father
Stuart in rally sprints and dirt track events. By age 13 he
hit the big time, dirt track at Meremere and Waikaraka Park as well
as rally sprints in the Maiora forest with the Waiuku Dirt Track
Club. At just 15 he won the junior class and repeated the
feat the following year also winning the junior driver of the year
award and finished 3rd outright in the club on points.
At age 17 he moved up to the 1600cc class and once again won the
season points He also competed in many car club events including
rally sprints, motorkanas and circuit events. In his spare time he
competed in the Drag war's series at Meremere Drag Strip where he
finished 6th out of 122 competitors in the DYO class.
At age 18 he moved up to the open 4 cylinder class but still used
the same 1600cc Honda. Once again he took out the season
trophy beating the high horsepower, High tech race cars. In
the later part of the year he bought an F2 Speedway midget and
spent the tail end of the speedway season doing some testing but
otherwise crewing for his father who raced an F2 midget at Western
Springs and finished 2nd in the class for their first speedway
season (The only team to gain podium finishes in every Feature race
they started). For the 2009/10 season Stuart stepped down and
Ricky took over as number one driver under the team banner of Ricky
McGough Racing.
In his first season running out of Huntly speedway he had his
share of ups and downs including two spectacular crashes both in
front of the cameras. Hard on the ego but great for publicity.
Ricky McGough hit the news in many speedway magazines and web sites
complete with photos and commentary. High lights for the season
were some great placings including First placings at western
springs, Ferndene and in a heat race at the NZ Nationals at
Stratford. Then to top it off he gained third place overall in the
Huntly Speedway season points. Not bad for his first speedway
season competing against top "A grade" midgets with twice the
horsepower of his car. Even got coverage on TV a couple of
times. The next season the team upgraded the horsepower in
the midget by fitting a factory built Gaerte A grade race engine
with around 370hp. That meant that this season would be spent
running with the big boys! The season didnt quite go to plan
when the older running gear started breaking and needed
replacement, which meant that the car spent more time on the
infield then on the track. In saying that the team still made
every race meeting and learnt alot about chassis setup and car
maintenance. And the team also managed to impress all new
sponsors to come on board with a brand new car for the next race
season! With a brand new car rolling out of the factory and
some new sponsors on board the team cant wait for the new season to
start!
AIM FOR THIS SEASON.
- Run the Western Springs Midget Championship.
- Gain as much experiance for both the driver and the crew.
- Compete in all the national and grandprix events. (This
includes the international meetings at Western Springs)
- Promote the sponsors by presenting the car to public in tip top
eye catching condition at as many venues as possible both race
tracks and show displays.