MIAMI GARDENS — Jack Doohan was born into motorsports royalty but the 21-year-old chose a slightly different path — an extra set of wheels — to make his name. The Australian credits his time in South Florida as a young driver with helping set his course.
Doohan’s father, Mick Doohan, was a famed championship motorcycle racer. And young Jack concedes that early in life, that was the racing route he figured he’d take.
“But I snapped my left leg on a motorbike when I was 5 years old and it scared me off the bikes a little bit," Doohan said. “However, with my father, it was always about whatever I wanted to do. If I wanted to go and kick a football or if I wanted to become a doctor, he was going to be supportive of that — whatever it was going to be.
“I’m very grateful for that because I was able to have a path that I could just naturally transition to and had his full support which is important. He knows what it takes, which is great.”
In the past two years, Doohan has competed in the prestigious Formula 2 championship — finishing sixth as a rookie in 2022 and third in the title run last year with three wins.
He is in South Florida this week for Sunday’s CRYTPO.com Miami Grand Prix representing the BWT Alpine F1 team, where he is a reserve driver. In his role, he handles simulator work for the team, participates in offseason test sessions and three times this season will get to steer the car in a Formula 1 race practice session.
It’s a long way from his first days racing go-karts in South Florida. But that’s the point. When he was 9 years old, Doohan’s maiden trip to America included competition in the Florida Winter Series with races at tracks in Homestead, Ocala and Palm Beach, where he earned his first international win.
Coming back to Florida this weekend stirs fond memories.
“It was crazy hopping into the go-kart that there are alligators in the water right next to you," he allows with a laugh. “But It was super cool. Made a lot of American friends.”
Some of whom Doohan expects to see this weekend at the Miami International Autodrome. But he will be busy, not only working closely with the Alpine team but also doing on-air broadcast work for F1 Television.
The television experience is another tool that makes him so valuable — a talent inside and outside the race car. It is good experience as he patiently awaits his opportunity to be on the Miami F1 grid.
“It isn’t easy being on the sidelines," Doohan said, "but it’s for the right reasons and I know it’s all a part of the plan and procedure to make sure when I do hop in a car I will be as ready as possible and it will be the right time and right circumstance to make sure that I can have a great career."
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Grand Prix: Aussie reserve driver cut his racing teeth in South Florida go-karts
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