He even went as far as to retire in 2019; he swapped the steering wheel for a fishing rod and spent time boating in the Bay of Islands.
"Then after six months of that, I thought ‘God, is that it? Is this what you do when you retire?’
"It’s the end of the world," he said.
But once the Queenstown driver was back behind the wheel of his beloved Porsche, he knew he was where he belonged.
"I feel that whenever I get in the car and get out on the track, it’s quite an obsession really, or illness, as some would describe it.
"Once you’re tucked up in the car, and everything’s going well, it’s just my happy place — I really enjoy it."
Since then, Aitken has put retirement on the back burner and today will suit up in his new Porsche Cayman GT4 RS for the opening round of the Super Sprint Motorsport New Zealand Championship at Highlands.
Porsche have been the car of choice for Aitken — one of the founding members of the Cromwell circuit — since winning the South Island Endurance Series with one in 2010.
After some "counselling" from Highlands owner Tony Quinn, Aitken bought a brand new Porsche five years ago to avoid "toiling" away at his vehicle during race weekend.
"I brought a brand new Porsche, which cost me the equivalent of a small house.
"But then we sold it at the end of that season and bought another new one and we’ve done that every year since.
"Over the period of the last four or five years, these new Porsche GT4 cars have cost us nothing — other than fuel and tyres, that’s all we spent in a year."
His new Porsche Cayman GT4 RS was a 20% step up in power from last season’s model and, while it was slightly handicapped in wind-up power compared to the McLarens, he hoped it would be competitive on the track.
"The Porsche is notoriously reliable and ... touch wood, so far they just keep on going.
"As long as they’re clean and tidy, it’ll be fine. It’s 12 races long, the series, you’ve really got to be finishing."
His love for motorsport started when he got his driver’s licence in Dunedin at 15 and the following year he attended his first Otago Sports Car Club event in a Mini.
He got a "kick out of it" and spending time under the bonnet had him hooked.
"I don’t do so much tinkering now because the cars don’t need it, but in the day it was fun to be playing around with the engines and making them go faster."
He won the Rally of Asia in 1998 and 1999, and came third the next two years, before he "gave that away" and returned home.
New Zealand was "spoilt" for racing circuits but Highlands would always remain his favourite, he said.
"I’ve been involved with Highlands since the very first day.
"This year in November, its the 10th anniversary of Highlands, which is fantastic."
As for test driving retirement again any time soon, Aitken is quick to say "I won’t do that again".
"I think I’ll keep on doing it until someone taps me on the shoulder and says ‘oi, you’re looking a bit silly out there’.
"But as long as I can beat some of these young upstarts ... it keeps me motivated."
