andre
heimgartner

At the Mt Wellington Kart Club at just 7 years of age, André Heimgartner found his calling. Transitioning from karting to open-wheelers, Heimgartner became New Zealand’s youngest-ever Formula Ford champion in 2010.

More records and national titles followed and in 2012 Heimgartner’s career reached new heights when he competed in the NZ V8 Supertourers and Porsche Carrera Cup.

A life-long ambition was realised in 2014 when André earned himself the opportunity to steer Super Black Racing’s first tilt at the Bathurst 1000 in a wildcard entry.

Heimgartner officially arrived in Supercars in 2015, landing a drive at Super Black Racing. A challenging debut season was to follow, and the following year Heimgartner emerged at Melbourne based Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport.

In 2017 Heimgartner made the switch to the Porsche Carrera Cup, dominating the category with several wins and podium finishes, eventually finishing the season second in the Championship by the smallest margin in the category’s history.

A call-up to Brad Jones Racing that same year led to a co-drive with Tim Slade at the Bathurst 1000 and later the Gold Coast 600, delivering the team a podium finish. It was that drive that cemented Heimgartner’s move to Kelly Racing in 2018.

After four successful years with Kelly Racing, including his maiden Supercars race win at The Bend in May 2021, Heimgartner returned to BJR and led the charge for one of Australia’s longest running Supercar teams.

His debut fulltime season with the team saw four trips to the podium, which was bettered the following year with 6 rostrum visits.

Heimgartner claimed seventh in the Drivers Championship in 2023, a personal best for the quick Kiwi.

He looks for more coming into 2024…