Tristan DeGrand: Taking the Stars & Stripes Down Under

St Louis-bred teenager Tristan DeGrand enjoyed a breakout 2014, his sophomore season of open-wheel racing, winning both the Toyo Tires F1600 and Quebec F1600 Championships in Canada. Additional accomplishments include being a finalist in the Team USA Scholarship and his selection as one of two recipients of the inaugural Spectrum International Scholarship – leading to his participation in the final round of the Australian Formula Ford Series at the end of November.

I'm tremendously excited to be capping my 2014 season with an invite to compete in the final round of the Australian Formula Ford Series next weekend, Nov. 29-30.

As one of the winners of the "Spectrum International Scholarship" its an honor to head to Spectrum's home country and race there having enjoyed so much success winning the Canadian Toyo Tires F1600 Championship and Quebec F1600 Championship this year competing in one of their chassis with Exclusive Autosport.

Michael Duncalfe, Spectrum's North American distributor, and Spectrum owner and designer, Mike Borland, created the scholarship with the package including the trip to Australia to check out the factory then race at Phillip Island in the season finale.

I flew to Sydney earlier this week and on Friday I get to test at Winton Motor Raceway in Victoria. It'll be my first time running on the Avon ACB-10 tire used in the Australian series and a good opportunity to get myself dialed in with the team.

I'll be running at Phillip Island with Ellery Motorsport Enterprises. They're operating my entry on behalf of the factory Spectrum team, Borland Racing Developments, as they're concentrating on the title-fight with their driver and series points-leader, James Golding.

In between testing and racing I'm looking forward to checking out the factory at Borland Racing Developments where all the Spectrum chassis are designed and produced.

I love traveling so simply having the opportunity to get down to Australia, having raced throughout Canada this year, is a major bonus. I know the motorsport scene is exceptionally competitive here and I'm told there'll be a grid of around 30 entries next weekend at Phillip Island.

I've enjoyed a pretty successful season in F1600 taking 18 wins in 24 starts racing in Canada this year. While I'll be new to Phillip Island, I certainly know the Spectrum very well, especially having worked for a couple of seasons with Michael Duncalfe who ran me at Exclusive Autosport.

A lot of people have asked me why I chose to race north of the border and to be honest it was really a case of being able to enjoy more seat time at this level. I also saw how the Toyo Tires F1600 Championship was set-up and operated and knew it would be a good place to race.

They also had the Super Series in Canada that gave me a brilliant opportunity to take in some races at bigger events such as the Formula 1 race in Montreal in June and at the Toronto Indy in July.

Competing in Montreal at the Canadian Grand Prix in front of the fans there is a memory I'll never forget. The Ferrari fans seemed to cheer me the most, maybe because I was in a red car.

I won twice there that weekend and it was a ton of fun. I remember the cool down lap after each race and enjoying waving to the fans and seeing them waving back. Standing on the official F1 podium hearing the American national anthem being played was truly a special moment.

2014 was my second season with Exclusive Autosport and we were all really pleased with just how well everything gelled together this year. We were fast from the get go and I was able to work hard with my engineer, Remi, to get the most out of the car and myself every session.

The level of competition was extremely high in Canada too. I knew that heading into this year obviously having experienced it for myself in my rookie season in 2013. Although I won 10 out of 12 races in the Toyo Tires series, it was by no means easy. I learned so much again this year and I'm definitely a better driver for it.

The Quebec F1600 Championship was fun too and again, my eighth wins were well earned. The way the points were structured in both series in Canada, everything came down to the final race weekends but thankfully it all went my way in the end.

My title successes led to a nomination as one of the six finalists for the Team USA Scholarship. I'd hoped to be on their radar and I was determined to do well throughout the season. I enjoyed the experience, I was fast in their driver evaluation so again, I proved myself up against great competition.

I'm obviously looking ahead to 2015 and a move back to American competition is likely on the cards but for now I'm simply focusing on next weekend's Australian outing. I'd like to thank Mike Borland and Michael Duncalfe for the opportunity to be a part of the Spectrum International Scholarship and I can't wait to be racing at Phillip Island.

-Tristan