NEWMARKET, ON (July 4, 2018)- – Just days removed from a spirited runner-up finish in Sunset Speedway Super Stock competition, third-generation racer Gerrit Tiemersma is back to work on his team’s No. 17.
The fan favourite has come closer and closer to his first win of the 2018 season and is hoping that with a little extra effort he’ll be set to turn the proverbial corner shortly.
“Our program has come a long way in these last two years,” smiles Tiemersma in his team’s Newmarket, ON shop. “The [Super Stock] division is a grind because there are so many good teams out here every Saturday. Every single race you run at Sunset – no matter where you line up on the grid – you know you’re going to have to work. Because of that, it’s real hard not to learn as you go”
The son of former Sunset Speedway champion Steve Tiemersma, nephew of former ALSTAR Super Series champion Derrick Tiemersma and grandson of multi-time feature winner Siebe Tiemersma has as rich a pedigree as any multi-generation driver on the current Sunset roster.
And, in an era of helmet-toters and cheque-writers, the former Mini Stock standout is a throwback to the days of old where a driver invested just as much effort in his program as the team members around him did.
“I was lucky to grow up around racing – and my family definitely never hid the ‘hard work’ aspect of this deal from me,” explains Tiemersma. “I know that if you want to get better results, it’s only going to happen through the hours you invest in the shop and the number of laps you turn on the track. There’s no other magic formula. But, because of those hours and laps we’ve had, we’re more confident than ever that we can drive this car to the front every week”
And, with every sentence Tiemersma speaks, it’s clear just how much passion he has for the sport and how much belief he has in the family-owned operation that was founded by his Father and Uncle almost three-decades ago.
“Wether we win this weekend, next month or on the last Saturday in September, I just want to be able to say that I earned it,” offers the soft-spoken youngster. “I don’t want anything handed to me”
“We’re in the shop every week making this thing faster because that’s always going to be a way better story than the guy that cut a cheque and climbed in the car for the first time all week when it rolls out of the trailer on Saturday night,” adds Tiemersma with a grin. “We’re good now and we’re only going to get better. So we’ll keep putting in the work, because we know eventually those wins are going to start to pile up for us.”
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