Meet Keishi Ayukai – An Australian racing in the Canadian Micra Cup

The Australian is a former Nissan GT Academy International finalist for Team Australia, who this year races the No. 59 Micra entered by Unicorn Motors Ltd.

Ayukai grew up in Townsville in northern Queensland, but now resides in Brisbane on the Gold Coast. He admits that he is not from your typical motorsport family. “I found an interest

“I found an interest into racing myself, from watching races on TV," he told Motorsport.com. "I have memories of watching Senna and Prost's battles on the TV news. My family had no interest in motorsport whatsoever, although my dad used to drive an old two-door Datsun, and apparently he was pretty quick in that before he destroyed it!

“Growing up, the Formula 1 was the first thing I got interested in. And then I got really fascinated by the Australian V8 Supercars during my teenage years.”

A sportsman

However, Ayukai has always been involved in competitive sports. “I used to be a swimmer, that was my first sport. I did well over 10 years of competition swimming, so on the sporting side, I have a lot of experience. I also played cricket, soccer, and a bit of Australian football as well,” he continued,

“At 13, I quit swimming because I wanted to race karts and my parents said 'you got to pick one sport', and I chose karting but I couldn’t start before I was 18 anyway,” he explained.

“When I turned 18, I bought my own go-kart and trailer, and I towed myself around. I got at least ten years of karting, and a little bit testing in other categories, but nothing really significant. I tested Formula Fords and some production cars, but I didn’t have the money to race cars. So this is my first full season.”

Let’s back track a little bit and let Ayukai explain how he tried to get into motorsport in Australia. “I didn’t a budget to go racing, but I knew about the Nissan GT Academy. I was a logical step. I didn’t cost me anything. I played video games when growing up, but hadn’t played on a PlayStation for a few years, so I borrowed one from my friends just to get ready for the GT Academy,” he told Motorsport.com.

He did very well during the selections and was a finalist to the Nissan GT Academy International competition at Silverstone in the UK.

From Silverstone to Toronto

“I got to the third and last day of competition, but I was eliminated when driving a GT-R, unfortunately. However, I knew about the Micra Cup since the first year as I followed it online. I needed to race something in 2017 and couldn’t find anything in Australia I could afford, so I reached out for Gilles [Villeneuve, the sporting director] and Jacques [Deshaies, the promoter] and it started there. I got to test the car and I signed a deal with Unicorn Motors. The tracks we’re visiting here are all challenging. They’re fast, there are elevation changes, and there’s the street track of Trois-Rivières, which is a big challenge,” he added.

The Australian began the season with a third and fourth-place finish at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Ontario, and then claimed fourth again and 12th in the last two races held at the Mont-Tremblant circuit in Québec. He’s currently lying in sixth place in the drivers’ standings.

So what would be the next step for him after the Micra Cup?

“Honestly, I’ll take anything. I’m not really picky,” he replied. “I know it’s a hard sport, there’s a lot of people trying to make it. I don’t have a big background, but coming to America, NASCAR is huge here, so I’m looking at that. There’s also the GT3 series, with Nissan being involved, that would be a dream as well. And coming from Australia, the Supercars would also be awesome. As long as it’s got wheels, I can drive it fast and I can race it, I’ll take it!”