Scott Dixon will be appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in recognition of his services to motorsport.

The five-time IndyCar champ was named as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours, which are approved by the Queen on the advice of the New Zealand Prime Minister.

“Defintely a huge honour and totally different to any kind of racing accolade,” said Dixon.

“I’ve been very lucky and forunate on the racing side of things, and we’ve achieved a lot, but to get a recognition like that – very few people do.

“To get the Companion award is something I’m very proud of, but also for my family, for my mum and dad, and all the people that actually helped me to get where I am.”

Born in Brisbane, Dixon’s family returned to New Zealand where he group up in Auckland.

He began racing karts at age seven, before receiving dispensation to race saloon cars at 13.

Switching to open wheel racing, he won titles in Formula Vee and Formula Ford before returning to Australia in 1997 to race a Formula Holden.

Aided by Kiwi motorsport legend Kenny Smith, Dixon won rookie of the year as he finished third in the championship.

He won it in the following year, which saw a number of offers to join the (then) V8 Supercars grid but instead opted to head stateside for 1999.

Fifth in his first season in Indy Lights, he then won the feeder category the following year with six wins from 12 starts.

Joining PacWest for the 2001 CART season, Dixon won his third race and banked another five top five results in his rookie campaign.

He left PacWest after three races of the 2002 season, just before it closed its doors, and joined Chip Ganassi in the team’s third car.

There he recorded three top five finishes, including a second at Denver as he finished 13th in the standings.

At the end of the year he switched to the IndyCar Series, winning the title at the first time of asking in 2003.

He then repeated the effort in 2008, 2013, 2015, and again last year.

The 38 year old has also won the Indianapolis 500, in 2008, and Daytona 24 Hours three times, including twice outright.