It’s been a year of highs and lows for Kiwi motorsport fans, with non-stop action through 2024 providing plenty of talking points.
January
The Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship brought world-class talents from eight countries to New Zealand and kicked off at Taupo International Motorsport Park on January 20-21. While Kiwis Liam Sceats and Alex Crosbie featured on the podium, Poland’s Roman Bilinski and Australia’s Christian Mansell stole the show, finishing first and second in two of the three races. Gerrard Xie won the other race from Bilinski.
A week later at Manfeild, Bilinski would win twice more, with Mansell taking the other. Sceats took two more podiums, a Kaleb Ngatoa made a statement with three top-five finishes, including a runner-up result in Race 2.
On the dirt, ten-time New Zealand Midget champion Michael Pickens triumphed at Baypark Speedway to pip American Michael ‘Buddy’ Kofoid for the overall title in the 2023/24 Midget World Series.
The Formula E season began with the Mexico City E-Prix, with Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans racing in an all-Kiwi lineup at Jaguar TCS Racing. Cassidy began his tenure with the British outfit with a podium, while Evans was fifth.
Two weeks later, Cassidy would repeat his third-placed performance in the first race of the double-header Diriya E-Prix in Saudi Arabia before taking his maiden win for Jaguar TCS Racing in Race 2. Evans was fifth and tenth, respectively.
In the United States, Scott Dixon, Brendon Hartley, Tom Blomqvist, Scott McLaughlin, Hunter McElrea and Earl Bamber took part in the 24 Hours of Daytona, with Blomqvist’s Whelen Cadillac Racing entry qualifying on pole from Dixon’s Cadillac Racing team.
Come the race, Porsche Penske reigned supreme in the GTP (Hypercar) class, with Blomqvist’s team finishing second overall. A Powertrain issue and electrical problems ruined Dixon’s and Hartley’s chances.
McLaughlin’s Tower Motorsports was fifth in LMP2, while McElrea’s TDS Racing was the first car to retire after Steven Thomas crashed out in the opening hours. Bamber’s Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsport led 118 laps in GTD Pro but dropped from contention in the final six hours due to a power steering pump issue.
Off the track, Shane van Gisbergen and Courtney Duncan were nominated for Halberg Awards for New Zealand Sportsman and Sportswomen of the Year, respectively, while van Gisbergen’s NASCAR Chicago win and Liam Lawson’s points finish in Singapore were chosen amongst the Sporting Moments of the Year finalists.
Rodin’s founder, David Dicker, took over the Rodin Carlin team as the majority shareholder, rebranding the outfit Rodin Motorsport.
February
The month began with Andretti’s proposal for an F1 team sensationally declined, Formula 1 citing concerns that the team would not add value to the championship and questioning its competitiveness.
It wasn’t the only talking point of Formula 1 of the month, with Lewis Hamilton announced as a Ferrari driver for the 2025 season, departing ways with Mercedes at the conclusion of the 2024 campaign, his 12th year with the team of whom he won six world titles with.
In the United States, Shane van Gisbergen began his full-time Xfinity Series campaign with Kaulig Racing in impressive fashion, qualifying fifth on the Daytona International Speedway oval on debut and finishing 12th.
A week later, he qualified 12th at Atlanta Motor Speedway before surging to third in a chaotic overtime finish.
In Australia, Porsche was on top in the Bathurst 12-Hour, with Manthey Racing and EMA Motorsport’s 911 GT3 R winning from SunEnergy1 Racing’s Mercedes AMG-GT3 and Melbourne Performance Centre’s Audi R8 LMS Evo II. Jaxon Evan’s Phantom Global Racing team were fourth.
Following the discontinuation of the Newcastle 500, the 2024 Supercars season began at Bathurst. Red Bull Racing started their campaign strongly, with Broc Feeney leading home teammate Will Brown in the opener before Brown won Race 2 over Chaz Mostert. Matt Payne started his season strongly with a pair of top tens.
In New Zealand, Bilinski and Italy’s Nicola Lacorte took a win each in the third round of CTFROC at Hampton Downs before Ngatoa won the Dorothy Smith Memorial Cup with victory in the feature. Sceats also took a podium to keep pressure on Bilinski towards the top of the table.
A week later, at Ruapuna, Sceats would take his maiden Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship victory, clinching the Lady Wigram Trophy in the feature. He also podiumed in the opener. Bilinski and South Korea’s Michael Shin won the other two races.
The season wrapped up at Highlands Motorsport Park, with Callum Hedge joining the field for the 68th Running of the New Zealand Grand Prix. Sceats won the opening race, and Andretti junior Bryce Aron won Race 2. Third place in Race 2 for Bilinski secured him the 2024 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship title.
Sceats won the 68th New Zealand Grand Prix, holding off a strong challenge from Hedge for the majority of proceedings.
The Trans-Tasman TA2 Series was a welcome addition to Ruapuna and Highlands, with Australian star Nathan Herne and Kiwi up-and-comer Ben Stewart going head-to-head across both weekends. The Australian team would ultimately prevail, winning the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy.
The Kiwi motorsport community were left reeling following the passing of Brooklyn Horan and Tyson Zane Jemmett following a tragic incident at the Arcadia Road Rallysprint.
March
Max Verstappen began his Formula 1 title defence with a crushing 22-second victory over teammate Sergio Perez in the Bahrain Grand Prix. He proved it was no fluke in Saudi Arabia, beating Perez by 13.6 seconds for the second Red Bull one-two in as many races.
Ferrari fought back at the Australian Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz, returning after having his appendix out just two weeks earlier, winning from teammate Charles Leclerc. Issues with the #1 Red Bull saw Verstappen fail to finish, while Perez was fifth, nearly one minute behind the winner.
The 2024 World Endurance Championship began with the Qatar 1812km, with Porsches sweeping the podium. Bamber’s Chip Ganassi Cadillac Racing entry was fourth, while Brandon Hartley’s Toyota Gazoo Racing team began their title defence with a disappointing ninth-placed finish.
Bamber’s fourth-place was short-lived, however, with the Cadillac Racing entry later disqualified after it was found the car competed with non-compliant bodywork.
In Formula E, Evans finished as runner-up in the Sao Paulo E-Prix, while Cassidy failed to complete the race, crashing into the barriers on Lap 10.
Evans made his 100th Formula E start in Tokyo but was involved in a mid-race incident. He would finish 15th. Cassidy, meanwhile, salvaged points for Jaguar, surging from 19th on the grid for eighth.
The 2024 IndyCar season began with the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The race was won by Penske’s Josef Newgarden from Pato O’Ward, with Scott McLaughlin completing the podium. It wasn’t to be, however, with the Penske push-to-pass scandal seeing Newgarden and McLaughlin disqualified weeks later, the win now credited to O’Ward from Will Power and Colton Herta.
Marcus Armstrong crashed out of the top ten on Lap 26, while Dixon was ninth home, promoted to seventh following the disqualifications ahead.
The series ventured to The Thermal Club two weeks later for a non-points round. McLaughlin finished second, behind Alex Palou, to net a cool US$350,000 (NZ$583,000), while Armstrong impressed for fifth, taking home US$50,000 (NZ$83,300).
Dixon failed to progress to the final from the heats, having to serve a drive-through penalty following contact with Herta.
Callum Hedge began his Indy NXT campaign in St. Petersburg, finishing 11th, having missed most of pre-season testing through illness.
In the Xfinity Series, engine issues forced van Gisbergen out of Round 3 in Las Vegas, but the Kiwi bounced back with sixth place the following week at Phoenix Raceway.
In the first road course outing of the year at Circuit of the Americas, the three-time Supercars champion was dominant towards the front of the field but lost out to Kyle Larson in double overtime, having battled with Austin Hill over both restarts. However, a 30-second post-race penalty for a corner cut relegated him to 27th.
Van Gisbergen also ran in the NASCAR Cup Series at CotA but was confined to 21st, battling gearbox issues and a mid-race pit lane speeding penalty. He finished his month with 15th place at Richmond Raceway in the Xfinity Series.
New Zealanders Scott Dixon and Hunter McElrea featured on their class podiums in the 12 Hours of Sebring.
Dixon’s Chip Ganassi Cadillac Racing outfit was second overall, having led entering the final 10 minutes but losing out to the Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti #40 of Jordan Taylor, Louis Delatraz and Colton Herta over the final laps.
In LMP2, McElrea’s TDS Racing led long periods of the race, but a strong late challenge from 17-year-old Connor Zilisch overcame them.
Brendon Hartley’s Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 overcame a rear-of-the-grid start to finish fifth on the lead lap and only 4.5 seconds off the podium.
Tom Blomqvist’s search for a maiden 12 Hours of Sebring victory ended after 8 hours when his #31 Action Express Cadillac teammate Pipo Derani crashed out of the lead eight hours in.
The #4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, shared by Earl Bamber, Tommy Milner, and Nicky Catsburg, battled gearbox issues and a rear-of-the-grid start, which eliminated them from contention.
In Supercars, Payne was a force in the Australian Grand Prix round, taking two podiums and qualifying on pole for the first time. He battled with Cam Waters in Race 3, with the crash, and following confrontation, taking him out of the race. Feeney won twice, Brown once, and Nick Percat clinched Race 4. There were top-ten finishes for Ryan Wood and Richie Stanaway.
Ryan Yardley began his 2024 Porsche Carrera Cup North America campaign with a pair of podiums at Sebring.
British Formula 4 champion Louis Sharp began his GB3 Championship campaign with victory on debut before finishing runner-up in Race 2 and fifth in Race 3 at Oulton Park.
In New Zealand, Rick Armstrong won the Summerset GT New Zealand Championship in the open class, and Brock Gilchrist triumphed in GT4.
