Is this Australia’s next IndyCar star?

Anthony Martin has come a long way. Literally. All the way from the small gold mining town of Kalgoorlie, 600 kilometres east of Perth, to the famous Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca circuit in California.

It's in Monterey that Martin is hoping to take the biggest step of his young career. Having been the form man in USF2000 this season, he’s hoping to protect the 21-point lead he has over team-mate Parker Thompson, and seal the title.

Doing so would shore up Martin’s future in the US, with the Mazda Road to Indy funding him a Pro Mazda seat for the 2017 season. It would keep his IndyCar dream alive.

On the eve of the big dance, Martin chatted with Motorsport.com’s Andrew van Leeuwen about making the transition from Australia to America, and the pressure of fighting for the title.

MOTORSPORT.COM: Tell me about the transition to racing in The States. How have you found it so far?

ANTHONY MARTIN: Going from the Australian scene to the American scene, the Americans do everything a lot bigger and better. The series that I’m racing in attracts drivers from around the world, so the competition is very difficult.

It’s harder to be at the front, that’s the biggest difference. It’s very competitive, and straight away instead of being up against one or two top drivers, you’re up against five or six of them. So it’s always very difficult. You know that when you make a mistake, you’re going to lose a lot of positions.

But it’s helped develop me as a driver. It’s made me push a lot harder, and being able to push harder and work more on driving technique has improved me.

You have been right up the front, though. Have you been surprised with how quickly you got on the pace in the US?

To be honest, yeah.

We went into the series with a team that has won the last five titles, so there was some pressure to perform and to be at the front. I knew the car under me would be a really good car, and that the team were going to give me an awesome car every time I went out. So it was up to me to see if I could perform.

I really felt that pressure coming into the season, but it’s led to me working on every little detail of my driving and pushing really hard.

So being at the front is a relief. There was all that pressure at the start of the year, and honestly I didn’t know how I’d perform. So it’s a big relief to see that everything is paying off, and it’s not just the car that’s doing the job, I am as well.

It was a bit surprising at first, being at the front. But you put that behind you quickly and start working harder to fix the little mistakes and work on the little details to push harder and go faster.

You mention pressure, and no wonder because you’re leading the championship going into the last round. How are you feeling about that push to the finish? Do you feel you’re in a position to get it done?

For sure, I’m in a position to get it done. There’s a lot of pressure to get the job done, but I know that there’s a lot of pressure on my team-mate who is in second as well. In fact he’s got a lot more pressure, because he’s got to make up ground.

I’ve just got to keep that in the back of my head, and keep telling myself that even though there is all this pressure and the championship is on the line, he has a lot more pressure because he has to push a lot harder, and when you push harder mistakes happen.

I have to make sure I minimise my own mistakes, but I also have to be near the front. I have to try really hard in qualifying and try and put it on pole, because it’s really hard to pass at Laguna Seca. Qualifying is everything. If I can be out front, make no mistakes, not have to take any risks, and I can finish, that’s all I’ve got to do. I’ve just got to keep telling myself that, and be sensible out on the race track.

What happens next? Will the funding that comes from winning the title determine whether or not you’ll stay in the US? Or do you think you’ll stay on regardless?

I think I will carry on regardless, or at least try to. The scholarship would just confirm that I’ll be racing next year. Hopefully I can pull that off, and go into Pro Mazda next season.

If I can do that, great. If not, then I’ll be working hard to find some sponsorship to race Pro Mazda or Indy Lights next season.

So there are a couple of options, but my focus is on getting the job done this year and going for that scholarship.

Do you have any concern over Pro Mazda numbers? Grids haven’t been great this season, and the feeling is that a lot of people might wait for the new car in 2018…

For next year I think the field will increase a bit. They’ve raised the prize money and they’ve done a few things to make the series cheaper. So it will be a lot more attractive.

This year wasn’t great, it was sad to see so few cars on the grid. But I think next season will be better.

Even if it isn’t, in terms of driving, driving as many cars as you can is always beneficial. When you hop into any car, you add to your experience. So my aim is to drive as many cars as I can, because it helps develop skills like being able to adapt to different conditions quickly. Adapting is a big thing in motorsport, and so is learning circuits. So being in as many cars as possible helps with all of that.

Pro Mazda would definitely be a great step for myself in terms of building on my experience and learning something new. I can’t wait for that.

There are a few Aussies racing in the IndyCar scene. Do you hang around with the others much? Do you use guys like Will Power for advice and to bounce stuff off?

Yeah. At Mid-Ohio I won all three races, and Will Power came up to me and we had a really good chat about the championship, and how I have to play it cool, finish the races, and use my head to win the title. That’s great advice.

There are a couple of other Aussies that I hang out with. I share an apartment with a friend from Perth, Bailey Mickler, who races in Skip Barber. So that’s a nice connection to home.