It is the 68th time Darren Smith and Garry O’Brien have had the opportunity to hear someone tell their story.

Our guest on this episode is Luke Youlden who tells his motorsport story. We also catch up on the latest happenings on the state and club motorsport scene and look at what is coming up.

Luke is the son of two-time Australian Production Car champion, the late Kent Youlden, operates the Porsche Track Experience Australia performance driving school.

Luke’s state level racing began in Formula Fords where after five years, he recorded two race victories in an older Mygale in 1999.

In a modern car against other talented young Australian drivers like (Indianapolis 500 winner) Will Power and V8 Supercar’s Will Davison, he won the Formula Ford Championship and Rookie of the Year in 2000.

He also raced at Bathurst for the first time that year and has since competed in the 1000 kilometre race through to 2021, mostly with top-line teams. The 2017 Supercheap Auto Bathurst was the highlight where with Erebus, he scored victory with David Reynolds.

In 2021 he set a new Mount Panorama a benchmark record lap time in a prototype Brabham supercar..

He was then appointment as joint Head Instructor of Porsche’s Track Experience programme, a role which he shared with another Bathurst winner in Tomas Mezera.

While still competing in Porsche Carrera Cup and GTs, Luke has been a key member of the squad since, progressively sharing Track Experience running duties with Mezera.

In 2024 took over as the Porsche Track Experience’s Chief Instructor, the first change in at the coveted driver training program in 20 years.

It is also worth catching up on the other 67 Grassroots Racing Podcasts. The boys have talked to many of the big names in the sport, where they discuss where it started for them and their progression through their careers.