When Faye Lougher saw something interesting on the back of a truck, she followed it from Levin to Foxton in the hope the driver would be stopping there. Tony Hirst was driving a standard 2014 UD CW26.380, but it had a rather tasty Porsche GT4 Clubsport on a trailer at the back. Tony has been driving trucks for the past 14 years and works part-time for driver training and events company Downforce. He was returning to Auckland from an organised tour that started in Christchurch and ended at Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell. Downforce runs tailored, bespoke track programmes to suit any needs, from corporate training, sport and performance driver training, ice experiences, vehicle launches and customer drive programmes, to press launches and road drives.

In addition to moving vehicles around the country, Tony does some off-road driver training and assists event manager and chief instructor Tim Martin. “I‘m the guy who gets stuff done,” he says. Getting out on the road is the part of his role Tony enjoys the most. “Just the road trip – why wouldn‘t you?” Like most drivers who have to negotiate Auckland on a regular basis, Tony says the biggest issue in the industry is the congestion. “The congestion and the traffic in Auckland – get me out of Auckland and I‘m happy,” he says. With a choice of John Dory or snapper, Tony went for snapper.

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