Purdie makes his mark

After the demise of S5000, Blake Purdie’s career was at a crossroads and he chose the GT4 Australia path and made an immediate impact.

Purdie and co-driver Daniel Price emerged victorious from an exciting final GT4 Australia race at Phillip Island that was effectively a 12-minute sprint.

Purdie restarted second behind Rylan Gray, but picked off the #100 Ford Mustang at MG and drove to victory in Silver Cup honours to complete a dream GT4 debut.

It puts the Adelaide youngster back in the limelight thanks to a serious sign of intent on GT debut.

Since the end of his karting days in 2019, Purdie has almost exclusively raced open wheelers in S5000 and Formula 4.

In his second full season in 2023 it appeared he had turned a corner by getting a career-high five podiums, but just as the momentum was building S5000 stopped suddenly.

To continue racing he participated in six Australian F4 races and also came home with five podiums.

However, in 2025 he has made the big switch to cars and has made the transition seamlessly in the Audi R8, which also made its GT4 Australia debut.

Blake Purdie and Dan Price starred in the Audi R8. Image: GT4

Purdie was thrilled to get a first-up win in the car that was a big reason why he chose GT4 for a big year in his career.

“Obviously S5000 went over so we were on the hunt for what was next and GT4 was the most appealing in terms of cost and atmosphere with how the events are run with GT3 racing at the same time,” he told Auto Action.

“A big selling point of the Audi was just the V10 and it is obviously fast.

“We were looking at other cars and just thought ‘the V10 is so good.’

“We will carry on the best we can and see what happens. We are not here to come second.”

Despite blazing home in the late charge to the finish, Purdie revealed he was actually battling to stay in second and not threaten for the lead when racing first went green.

“I struggled with the restart initially because I am not used to doing a Safety Car on these tyres,” he recalled.

“I thought I was doing the right thing keeping them cool and struggled a bit.

Rylan Gray and Blake Purdie side by side ahead of the restart. Image: Gt4

“But after a couple of laps I brought the temperature up and was able to attack.

“Dan did an unbelievable job. It was very hectic putting everything together, but it clicked on Saturday.”

How the combination of Purdie’s youth and Price’s experience came together is quite touching.

Price has not raced since 2019, but chose to dust the helmet off to help Purdie progress his career.

They have a special partnership as Price was there when Purdie drove a go-kart for the first time and is now driving alongside him.

“A big selling point for me to join Blake this year was to help him progress,” Price told Auto Action.

“He is quite young, but has done S5000 and has the results.

“It gave me a bit of drive to get back in the zone and really try to help him get to the top step.”

Blake Purdie driving an S5000 at SMP in 2023. Image: Daniel Kalisz Photographer

Due to the time since the 2019 Aussie Racing Cars finale, jumping back in the car was not the easiest thing for Price.

But he feels the team made strong progress throughout the weekend, which resulted in an unexpected victory and the best could be yet to come.

“It was such a short timeframe this came together, and we had limited testing, but we felt confident straight away with what we had,” Price, who last raced in 2019 said.

“We made minor improvements throughout and the test day really helped.

“But coming here getting a win first up is amazing and we did not expect it.

“For myself it has been quite a few years out of the seat so everyday is a big leap.

“You don’t forget how to drive but how to progress through the pressure of a weekend you sort of forget.

“Even the feeling of starting the second race, there was a lot going on and it took some time to get into the groove.

“I have been to quite a few of the tracks that have been on the calendar before so that is a big help for is.

“There is still a lot to find, but come round 2 we should be on.”

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