Popular motorsport identity Matt Mingay has finally won a five-year battle to regain his racing licence.
The quest came as the 44-year-old recovered from a life-threatening crash while competing in Stadium Super Trucks at Detroit in 2016.
Mingay announced the news on social media during the week and subsequently opened up to Speedcafe.com on the journey.
“It’s been me trying to prove that I’m all with it,” he said.
“It has been a little bit frustrating because I’ve been doing about 25 events a year for the last four-and-a-half years, so I do more motorsport than any other motorsport athlete in Australia, so it frustrated me a lot.
“I had absolutely no doubt, I was completely with it, completely good to drive, but I had to prove to [Motorsport Australia] that I was able to drive, so when I finally got it, it was a huge weight off my shoulders.
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“It’s all guns blazing now.”
Asked what had changed to see him now fit to compete, he revealed: “I had to go through a whole bunch of neurological tests, which are brain exams.
“I had to pay $2,500 to be able to do two days, three hours each day sitting, it was almost like I was in Year 10 again. Maths, science, but the worst thing was memory tests… they were very, very hard tests.”
He’s already eyeing a return to SST, despite his last experience in the category.
“Absolutely no hesitation, not one little bit,” he said of the prospect of racing in SST again.
“Nothing upsets me more than being at a V8 Supercar round and watching the Super Trucks race.
“From the very moment they came to Australia I was in one until my accident, so to watch them race really hurts.”
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