THE exciting resurgence of Queensland harness racing will gather further momentum when one of its stars, Pete McMullen, flies the Aussie flag at next month’s World Driving Championship.
McMullen, 31, boasts almost 2900 career wins and will take on some of the world’s best drivers across 20 races in three different countries.
The Championship runs from August 13-18, starting in the Netherlands and moving to Germany and Belgium.
“I’m pretty honoured to be honest, to be able to represent my country,” McMullen said.
“It’s an amazing thing when I really think about it. It’s very, very special and only a handful of people will get to do it in my lifetime.”
McMullen has won the past three Queensland Drivers’ Premierships and became the first Queensland driver to top 300 wins in a single season in 2021.
“Given the calibre of drivers throughout Australia, I’d like to thank HRA and the member states for this incredible opportunity,” he said.
It will be McMullen’s first visit to Europe.
“I’d never even really thought about going, except maybe to an Elitlopp in Sweden because it looks so amazing, but then this opportunity came along,” he said.
“That makes it even more exciting because I don’t think I’d have gone had it not been for this series.”
McMullen knows the quality of opposition he will face, but won’t be studying their “form” too much.
“I think I’ll play it by ear. So many different tracks in three countries, different styles of racing and drivers coming from all parts of the world. It should be great fun,” he said.
“The chance to see different countries, meet some of the top drivers and learn from them is fantastic.”
It also represents a chance for McMullen to briefly step off the merry-go-round that harness racing is as a top driver in today’s world.
“It’s hectic, that’s for sure,” he said. “Sure, we don’t do the travel of say the Victorian drivers, but we still race a heck of a lot.”
McMullen has driven in an average of almost 1600 races a season since the 2019/20 season.
