Leaving more than just rubber: One teams drive for safer skids in the Waikato
Miah Tarawhiti was diagnosed with cancer in his right eye at just three months old.
The cancer led to the loss of his eye, with the doctor telling his family that he may never drive or have a full time job. Now Miah is well known in the car enthusiast circles for Bogan Motorsport and just happens to work driving trucks full time.
Miah’s drive and ambition to prove the universe wrong meant he started driving at an early age around his family farm, including being able to “back a trailer into any spot” according to his mum, Charmaine Smith.
Against all odds and the opinions of many doctors Miah did get his license. “His doctor cried the day that we went in to do the eye test to get his licence,” explained Charmaine, “He sat there, and he goes, I never thought I’d see this day.”
Miah’s persistence later developed into a skill for all things mechanical and eventually a passion for skid cars and racing. At 25 Miah bought his first skid car, a Toyota Altezza, and after an appearance on Aotearoa’s’ tv show ‘Bogans,’ he founded Bogan Motorsport, a community, a team and centre point for all the Bogan Motorsport burnout cars. With the help of mates, he decided to get off the Waikato Street drags and advocated for professional skid pads where it was “safer and easier” to have the same amount of fun with none of the legal implications.
Most weekends you will find Miah and the Bogan motorsport team working on cars or getting them on trailers to head to one of the many burnout competitions throughout the North Island. With a team of around eleven members, these enthusiastic skid experts are always finding new ways to tune up their beasts. From finding innovative ways to make their cars stand out, to adding modifications that produce over four hundred horsepower to the ground.
Miah explains that the group’s impact goes beyond the driving itself:
“It’s not just the burn outside of it. It’s helping others in the shed or at competitions. It’s the BBQs and feeding lots of people. It’s about being there for others when they are stuck on something or having a bad day. ”
Miah Tarawhiti
Bogan Motorsport enjoy making efforts to get involved with everyone at the competitions, whether they need their car fixed or advice on something. This team is always happy to help.
At the 2024 Aotearoa Rapunats, in true Bogan Motorsport Style, Miah got down on one knee and proposed to his long-time girlfriend, Sarah Humphrey, on the same pad he had just burned rubber into. With the Bogan Motorsport team and ground announcers at the 2024 event on board, it was a group effort in making the move for their future memorable.
With this sense of community and help for one another, the Bogan Motorsport Team wish to see more effort into getting other skid enthusiasts off the street in a positive way.
So, what is in store for the future? In true Bogan Motorsport fashion, a car rebuild, more skid competitions and a bogan wedding.
Photo and video Briah Hassett-Stephenson
