Mitchell Turner • B16B Type R
"My name is Mitch Turner and i am from Hawkes Bay. main interests are kickboxing at my local kickboxing club Hawkes Bay Combined Martial Arts as well as spending my afterschool time in the gym. I first started taking part in both of these activities to improve my reflexes, fitness and to help in other general areas which are beneficial to racing.
My motorsport journey begun when i was 7 years old wile out on a trip with my parents when we came across the local kart track, needless to say from that time on i was absolutely hooked on the motorsport buzz. This was to the absolute delight of my father who has been a petrol head for his entire life and to the disgust of my mother who drives a ford fiesta; I’ll let you work that one out.
After a huge amount of practice and determination in 2010 i won the national championship in go-karting along with an array of other regional and national titles. One of the biggest hurdles i faced leading up to this point in Motorsport was with my weight and fitness. From the very beginning i was over the weight limits which made being competitive hard. At about age 8 i followed a very strict eating and exercise regime which involved running on a treadmill for 20 minutes every morning. While that may not seem such a long time, as an 8 year old kid it was hard work but i was always rewarded with results. This naturally progressed to the extent i go to now to ensure my fitness is top notch.
At 15 years old my father and i started searching for a car to take me to the next level in motorsport. Our original idea was to get into rallying though that was quickly pushed to the side when we realized the number of accidents to be had in rallying particularly for a kid who was not even old enough to have a road license. Our searching stopped after watching Honda cup racing where we witnessed firsthand the fun, affordable, close racing to be had. Our endeavor into the Honda Cup began after purchasing a little green e.g. civic that was turned into a racecar by the Manukau institute of technology.
After putting a huge amount of time effort and money into the car it came time to choose who would rebuild our B16B type R engine. By far our first choice was Henson and Murray engine rebuilders after hearing absolutely raving reviews from local and national racing engineers and racers. When finally being able to hit the track came around we were absolutely stoked with some of my results and progress, including winning the handicap race in my second round of the Honda Cup. Sadly we had the unthinkable happen at the Taupo circuit when one of our camshafts snapped into three pieces and did some damage to other parts of the engine. Luckily the makers of the cam came to the party and replaced the cam. It was at this point that Henson and Murray really was a huge help to us and we decided to take our engine to the next level, installing forged and other components. Since then our car has put down some very impressive dyno figures and the engine has been flawless.
We really couldn't have done what we have done in the Honda if it was not for the team at Henson and Murray not only for their second to none performance but also their sharp pricing.