No stranger to the big stage

As a 16-year-old Wakatipu High School student, Wilcox and her band Estrogen opened the Gibbston Valley Winery Summer Concert in February 2024 before a 10,000-strong crowd.

They belted out covers of artists such as Blondie, Alanis Morissette, Fleetwood Mac, and Heart. 

While the three band members now each pursue new pathways, Wilcox, the lead guitarist, has not ruled out a return to the stage.

"We're all still in touch and catch up when we're back in Queenstown. Maybe one day . . ."

In fact, they came close to performing a Saturday night gig at last year's Star Insure New Zealand Superbike Championship round at Levels, only to be stymied by site noise restrictions.

"It's a shame it didn't happen but we're all still in touch and catch up when we're back in Queenstown. Maybe one day . . ."

Since leaving school Wilcox' focus is very much on two things – bikes and helicopters.

Come the opening round of the 2026 Star Insure New Zealand Superbike Championship in Christchurch on January 30,31-February 1 she will have another focus.

The 18-year-old is contesting the Supersport 300 class.

Wilcox' transition from rocker to racer has been relatively swift.

In 2024, Helicraft Racing's Rod Price – through his wife Ali, director of arts at Wakatipu High – offered Wilcox an outing on one of the team's Yamaha race bikes, the MT03 "Pizza Bike".

"It was just a one-off ride," says Wilcox, who at the time was riding a Yamaha R3 on the road. 

"I was about to leave school, didn't want to go to university, didn't really know what I wanted to do."

Things moved fairly quickly after a promising debut at Ruapuna.

"Rod offered me a job and I started at the Helicraft hangar in Wanaka as an apprentice aircraft engineer, working on helicopters."

"And I got more races on the Pizza Bike."

At the same time she travelled as a member of the team to national rounds and struck up an immediate friendship with fellow Helicraft racer Harriet Grace, of Christchurch.

"Harriet and I get on really well. Having more experience, she has been helpful in passing on advice, explaining this and that and generally being a mentor."

Wilcox admits she did not make the fastest of starts in her racing career.

"I knew what I wanted to do – go faster – but it took a little while to show I could do it."

The breakthrough came during the latter part of last winter and with the novice fluro vest packed away, Wilcox started making her mark in the strong 300 fields attracted to the Southern Race Series and King of Canterbury rounds.

The improvement has been quite dramatic and in her most recent outing at Teretonga late last year her lap times were comparable to points positions at last year's national championship round.

As it was, Wilcox finished just one point off the top step overall in the Southern Series 300 B category and along the way scored her first personal sponsorship – from Glacier Country Helicopters.

She confirmed her promising start to the new season in the opening round of the 2025 Suzuki Series, going 8-8-7 at Taupo, and backing it up a week later at Manfeild with a 12-8 record before being injured in the last race.

Ever level-headed, and getting back to full strength, she is aware of the competition at national championship level.

"As a rookie I still have so much to learn, but with people like Rod, Phil Purdue and Al Wilton in my corner, I couldn't have asked for better support."

Her national championship goals?

"Well, to score some points would be good."