It’s been a year of highs and lows for Kiwi motorsport fans, with non-stop action through 2024 providing plenty of talking points.
Over the months of April to June, Formula 1, Formula E, IndyCar, Supercars, and the Xfinity Series action heated up, and Kiwis continued to take it to the best all over the world.
There was IndyCar’s month of May, including the Indy 500, the Monaco Grand Prix, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Kyle Larson attempted the double, and Supercars made their return to New Zealand.
There were Kiwi wins, and heartbreaks, and the action kept us busy, with plenty to take in.
For January-March, see attached.
April
Supercars made their welcome return to New Zealand shores, and the sold-out ITM Taupo Super400 didn’t disappoint. The historic track-to-town parade brought visitors to the Taupo waterfront in droves.
Andre Heimgartner took his first victory on home soil in an extremely wet opener, fending off an early challenge from Chaz Mostert, but the WAU star’s rear wheel parted ways following his second stop before amusingly rolling into his path at the next turn.
Shell V-Power’s Will Davison and Anton De Pasquale followed Heimgartner home, while Ryan Wood fell agonisingly short of his maiden podium in just his third round, finishing fourth. Richie Stanaway was sixth, and Jaxon Evans tenth, making for four Kiwis in the top ten.
The event also saw a return of Brodie Kostecki, who sat out the opening two rounds following the early season Erebus-saga.
Red Bull bounced back in style in Race 2, with Will Brown getting the better of teammate Broc Feeney for spoils. Third for De Pasquale saw him win the round. Payne, Heimgartner, and Stanaway were among the top ten.
At the same event, the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia featured for the first time on New Zealand soil, with Kiwis Marco Giltrap, Fabian Coulthard, Rick Armstrong, and Sam Fillmore apart of the field.
Tom Bewley wrapped up the 2023/24 Toyota 86 Championship, and Blake Knowles pipped Sebastian Manson in a final race thriller to win the New Zealand Formula Ford title.
Kiwi icon Sir Colin Giltrap passed away in the days before the event, aged 84.
In Formula 1, Red Bull resumed their early-season domination, with Max Verstappen leading home Sergio Perez in the Japanese Grand Prix, which was red-flagged early for a crash between RB’s Daniel Ricciardo and Williams’s Alex Albon. Carlos Sainz was third.
Verstappen was again victorious in China, leading home Norris and Perez for his fourth win in five starts.
In IndyCar, Scott Dixon ran a fuel-saving masterclass in the closing stages of the Grand Prix of Long Beach to win, while Armstrong impressed once again with 11th. McLaughlin retired with gearbox issues.
A week later, McLaughlin bounced back from the mid-week news of Penske’s push-to-pass offences in the season-opener at St. Petersburg to win at Barber. Armstrong was ninth, and Dixon 15th.
In Formula E, Mitch Evans was fifth in the opening Misano E-Prix, while Cassidy was forced to retire on the penultimate lap, having taken damage on Lap 6. Cassidy bounced back in Race 2, moving from fifth to third on the final lap. Evans, meanwhile, battled power issues, leading to his retirement.
Fortunes changed for the pair later in the month, with Evans leading home Cassidy for a historic Kiwi one-two on the streets of Monaco.
Shane van Gisbergen continued his Xfinity Series campaign, finishing 11th at Martinsville, 18th at Texas, and 18th at Dover. He looked set for a massive result at Talladega, only to run out of fuel towards the front of the field.
He also made his oval Cup Series debut at Talladega, leading on three separate occasions before crossing the line in 26th in an overtime finish.
Brendon Leitch and Tim Miles combined for a race win and fourth place in the opening round of the GT World Challenge Australia at Phillip Island, while Jaxon Evans began the season at Arise Racing GT with a runner-up result in the season-opener.
Brendon Hartley’s Toyota Gazoo Racing entry finished fifth in the 6 Hours of Imola, which was won by the team’s #7 GR010. Bamber was 10th.
Callum Hedge was ninth in the Indy NXT race at Barber.
Louis Sharp retained his GB3 Championship lead with two top-five finishes in a wet race weekend at Silverstone.
Hayden Paddon began his European Rally Championship title defence with fourth place in Rally Hungary.
May
Hayden Paddon climbed to second place in the European Rally Championship standings, with sixth place in Rally Islas Canarias.
Marco Giltrap and Clay Osborne combined in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia opening round, comfortably winning both races in Lamborghini Auckland’s Absolute Racing-run Huracan.
Lando Norris took his maiden Formula 1 win at the Miami Grand Prix, beating Verstappen on merit for a 7.6-second victory, McLaren’s first since Ricciardo won at Monza in 2021. Charles Leclerc was third.
A New Zealander also featured on the podium at the Miami Grand Prix, with Ryan Yardley coming home third in the second race of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America. He was an unfortunate victim of a Race 1 incident.
Charles Leclerc would end years of heartbreak at home to win the Monaco Grand Prix from Oscar Piastri and Sainz.
New Zealander Cormac Buchanan secured his second consecutive podium, finishing third in the FIM JuniorGP race at Circuito Estoril.
Callum Hedge finished fourth in the opening Indy NXT race on the Indianapolis Road Course in a busy race that featured 165 on-track passes. He finished tenth in Race 2 to climb to sixth in the standings.
Nick Cassidy retook the lead of the Formula E Drivers’ Championship with a calculated victory in the Berlin E-Prix opener, putting him 9 points clear of Pascal Wehrlein. Fourth place for Evans put him up to fourth in the standings.
Cassidy then secured his fourth consecutive Formula E podium in the second Berlin E-Prix, while Evans was sixth. The results saw Jaguar TCS Racing extend their advantage in the Teams’ Championship to 54 points over Porsche.
Both finished on the podium of the opening Shanghai E-Prix, with Evans making a last-lap pass for the win and Cassidy charging through the field for third.
An early puncture for Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein in Race 2 saw Nick Cassidy extend his lead in the Formula E Driver’s Championship to 25 points with just four races remaining after finishing fourth, one place ahead of Evans.
Shane van Gisbergen sported a Marcos Ambrose-inspired livery at the Darlington Throwback weekend, finishing a respectable 15th with no practice and qualifying rained out for his first-ever time on the track.
A strong result in the Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway was on the cards for van Gisbergen until a puncture with 25 laps to go dropped him from contention, leaving him to finish 15th.
Scott Dixon led home compatriots Marcus Armstrong and Scott McLaughlin in the IndyCar race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, which Chip Ganassi’s Alex Palou won. Dixon was fourth, Armstrong fifth, and McLaughlin sixth.
Later in the month, Scott McLaughlin set a pole record to claim Indy 500 pole, with his four-lap average speed of 234.220 mph (376.941kmh) bettering Alex Palou’s 2023 record of 234.217 mph.
Josef Newgarden became the first back-to-back winner of the Indianapolis 500 since Helio Castroneves last accomplished the feat 22 years ago in the Indy 500, making a last-lap pass on Pato O’Ward.
Dixon finished third and McLaughlin sixth, while Armstrong crashed out on Lap 1, and Blomqvist retired with electrical issues on Lap 6.
NASCAR star Kyle Larson attempted the double and ran well at Indianapolis until he was penalised for speeding in the pit lane. He immediately flew to Charlotte by helicopter to compete in the Coca-Cola 600, only for rain to end the race early before he got in his seat.
Van Gisbergen overcame damage and a penalty to finish 28th in the same Cup Series race at Charlotte, which ended on Lap 249 of 40.
New Zealand Grand Prix winner Liam Sceats featured on the podium in the opening two USF Pro 2000 races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course before finishing fifth in the finale. His runner-up result in Race 2 was later upgraded to a win following the disqualification of Nikita Johnson for a technical infringement.
Brendon Hartley’s #8 Toyota team finished sixth overall in a red-flag interrupted 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
A lengthy 1h 44-minute delay came in the fifth hour when Earl Bamber, driving Cadillac Racing’s V-Series.R tried to go around the #99 Proton Competition Porsche for third overall. In doing so, the rear of the Hypercar made contact with Sean Gelael’s LMGT3 BMW, sending both spinning fast and hard into the barriers, with the rear of the Cadillac getting airborne.
In Supercars, Chaz Mostert converted pole position into race victory in the opening outing of the Perth SuperSprint, leading home championship leader Will Brown. Cam Waters managed a final lap pass on Ryan Wood to take the final podium spot. Matt Payne was eighth, Heimgartner was 13th, and Stanaway finished 11 laps down after making contact with the wall, following contact from Aaron Love while battling a fuel pump issue on Lap 2.
A five-second penalty for an unsafe release in pit lane cost Chaz Mostert victory in Race 2, with Waters inheriting the win. Mostert would go on to cross the line first, but his 2.5885-second advantage turned into a 2.4115-second deficit. Brown was third, Wood eighth, and Payne ninth.
In his first-ever oval race at Indianapolis Raceway Park, Liam Sceats took a top-ten finish.
June
Shane van Gisbergen got down to business in the Xfinity Series, qualifying for the playoffs at Portland International Raceway with his maiden win. He qualified 13th and passed Justin Allgaier for the lead with five laps remaining. Van Gisbergen celebrated by punting a signed rugby ball into the crowd.
He doubled down a week later, battling with Austin Hill at Sonoma Raceway on his way to back-to-back victories. A one-fingered salute from Hill on his celebration lap led to van Gisbergen finishing his burnout right behind the American’s car.
All good things must end, and SVG’s winning streak concluded at Iowa Raceway when he crashed out in Stage 2. He finished 19th at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with no practice or qualifying and moved from 28th to 15th at Nashville Superspeedway to complete a busy month.
Nick Cassidy entered the penultimate race weekend of the Formula E season in control of the Driver’s Championship, and he looked set to build on that in the opening race at Portland. However, it wasn’t to be, with the Kiwi spinning out of the lead on the penultimate lap.
Mitch Evans crossed the line first but was relegated to eighth once a five-second penalty was applied for an earlier collision with Jake Hughes.
The difficulties for Cassidy continued in Race 2 when he was caught in a mid-field collision early in proceedings and needed to pit for a new front wing. Evans kept his title hopes alive with a podium, crossing the line third, to enter the final round tied on points with Wehrlein, 12 points off Cassidy, who led the championship by 12 points.
Louis Sharp continued his strong GB3 form at Spa, twice finishing on the podium and charging from tenth to the top three in the final race. However, another driver’s mistake took him out of contention, and the Kiwi dropped out of the championship lead.
Two top tens and a victory in Hungary two weeks later put the Kiwi back into the championship lead.
In IndyCar, Scott Dixon and Chip Ganassi Racing delivered another strategy masterclass to win the IndyCar Detroit Grand Prix. Marcus Armstrong secured his maiden IndyCar podium in third, having climbed forward from 20th on the grid. Scott McLaughlin crashed out from second on Lap 33.
McLaughlin followed home teammates Will Power and Josef Newgarden for a Penske podium sweep at Road America. Dixon ran amongst the front runners until an issue with his left-rear tyre mid-race dropped him from contention. Armstrong qualified third but was involved in a Lap 1 incident and eventually retired on Lap 35.
Marcus Armstrong, who had qualified third, was involved in a Lap 1 incident that dropped him to the rear of the field with damage. He was also awarded a drive-through penalty for avoidable contact and retired from the race on Lap 35.
Dixon was then sixth at Laguna Seca, while Scott McLaughlin and Marcus Armstrong were involved in separate incidents and finished two laps off the pace. Alex Palou won.
The #6 Penske Porsche 963 qualified on pole for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with Dixon’s #3 Cadillac V-Series.R team on the front row.
Ferrari would ultimately go back-to-back at Le Mans through the #50, with Brendon Hartley’s #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing leading large portions of the race but dropped from contention in the penultimate hour when they took contact from the #51 Ferrari, leaving them facing the wrong way.
Bamber’s Cadillac Racing team were seventh, while Scott Dixon’s Cadillac Racing entry retired in the 18th hour with a terminal oil leak.
In Supercars, James Golding claimed his maiden pole in Darwin. Broc Feeney led home Mark Winterbottom and teammate Will Brown for victory in the opening race, with Heimgartner the best Kiwi in ninth.
Feeney and Brown put over 16 seconds on the field in a commanding Red Bull one-two in Race 2, which saw Heimgartner and Cooper Murray tangle on Lap 1, the Kiwi’s car nearly going over as it climbed up the side of the wildcard entry. Stanaway was the best Kiwi in tenth.
Verstappen won a chaotic Canadian Grand Prix, which saw both Ferraris, both Williams and Sergio Perez fail to finish. The latter also received a three-place grid penalty for the Spanish Grand Prix for driving his Red Bull back to the pits with a severely damaged rear wing. Norris was second, and George Russell took Mercedes’ first podium of 2024 in third.
Verstappen led home Norris for victory in the Spanish Grand Prix at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya following an intriguing race-long strategy battle between Red Bull and McLaren. Lewis Hamilton was third, over 17 seconds behind the pair.
Verstappen won the Austrian Grand Prix Sprint at the Red Bull Ring and battled with Norris for the lead of the Grand Prix for long periods of the race—the two tangled late in proceedings, forcing Norris out and leaving Verstappen with a puncture. Russell was the benefactor, winning from Piastri and Sainz.
Off-track, Alpine announced they would part ways with Ocon after the season, just weeks after the French driver had tangled with his own teammate at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Red Bull also announced a two-year contract extension for Perez.
Kiwis Clay Osborne and Marco Giltrap qualified on the pole for both Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia races at The Bend and bounced back from troubles in the opener to win the finale.
Paddon and co-driver John Kennard climbed to the top of the 2024 ERC standings with a third-place finish in the Royal Rally of Scandinavia. Paddon sat second overall, entering the final stage, but tyre damage cost him significant time.
Yardley qualified for his maiden pole position, set the fastest lap and led from lights until the chequered flag for victory in the Porsche Carrera Cup North America at Watkins Glen.
Kiwi Callum Hedge held off a late-race challenge from Myles Rowe to secure his first Indy NXT podium in the 45-lap Detroit Street Circuit race.
Rianna O’Meara-Hunt took a race win and two further podiums in the third round of the GT Cup Championship at Snetterton, making for an impressive tally of seven top-three finishes in the nine attempts.
Jamie Chadwick made history in Indy NXT at Road America, becoming the first female winner on a Road Course in the series’ history. Hedge was sixth.
Liam Sceats earned a podium finish and two further top tens in USF Pro 2000’s triple-header at Road America. The Kiwi’s success, which included a commanding drive from 14th to 3rd in Race 2, left him fifth in the standings.
Invercargill’s Alex Crosbie took his first podium in America at Round 2 of the F4 US Championship at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Clay Osborne and Brock Gilchrist took race wins in Round 2 of the Porsche Sprint Challenge at The Bend.
