Next month's race at Phillip Island is the final Victorian race in the seven-round series. With only two races left, Carter holds fourth spot.

He finished third in the round 1 race at the formula one grand prix and second in the round three race.

The 19-year-old, who has always had a passion for cars, began racing at 16.

"I was always very interested in cars and racing. My grandfather used to race stock cars in the UK so I think it came from that.

"I started racing MINI late last year around this time at Surfers Paradise. It was a progressive step. I used to race in a Porsche 944 in the Victorian state racing series."

While driving for Porsche, Carter won 'rookie of the year' and 'most improved' awards for the 2008 season. He won the last five races of the 944 challenge that year.

"I went and did a MINI Challenge where they had an open day and I tested the cars. I ended up meeting V8 supercar driver Jason Bargwanna and then drove his car for season 2009 and now I am driving for their team," Carter said.

He will be racing on a track he has been on before.

"I'm feeling reasonably confident ... for me it's the first track I've already driven on in that series so it's a great confidence booster for me," he said.

"I've done hundreds of laps around this track from my 944 championship days and we

did several laps testing the MINI a few weeks ago, so I'm definitely a lot more confident with this amount of track knowledge.

"It's actually the first event in 2010 that I won't be heading to a circuit completely blind, as I had never raced at the first four MINI Challenge venues this season. Pete [McNiven, another driver] and I have been battling all year and it's great to have someone like him to gauge my speed against.

"He is a really nice guy and we are mates off the track, but come race day we are the fiercest of rivals, which makes for more enjoyable and more intense racing. It's really tight for that third spot in the championship but we are also still well in with a shot at the overall title as anything can happen in these exciting one-make series. I'm really pumped for Phillip Island."

The challenge is from September 10-12.