THE FORMATIVE YEARS
Garth can thank his father, Dirk, for getting him started in motorsport.
Dirk was a keen follower of motorsport and was actively involved with car preparation and team management for a local competitor at Western Australia's Barbagallo Raceway.
When Garth was old enough, Dirk bought Garth his first Kart.
It wasn't a particularly great kart, but it was good enough to get started to see if Karting was something that Garth was to enjoy.
Enjoy it he must have, because Garth won his very first race! It probably had a lot to do with the fact that there was only one other competitor there, but he had a lot more racing experience (2 race meetings!) so none the less it was a feather in his cap and the beginning of his motorsport career.
After a few years of racing Garth's younger brother, Leon, began to compete as he became old enough to race. At that stage Dad was the president of the Kart Club, Mum (Dale) was the treasurer and the two boys were racing. Karting at the entry level being a family orientated sport allowed the whole family to be involved.
As Garth grew older, he became more competitive, racing at many interstate and international events held all across Australia. By the time he was 17 Garth had won seven Western Australian State Karting titles and one National title, along with many, many regional titles.