The NextGen NZ Championship roared into action at Hampton Downs yesterday, launching a weekend of adrenaline-fueled racing that promises edge-of-your-seat battles.
Engines thundered as top-tier drivers pushed their machines to the limit, jostling for position in the opening practice sessions across multiple categories. With championship titles on the line and no room for error, the stakes have never been higher—setting the stage for a motorsport spectacle where only the boldest will emerge victorious.
In the GT New Zealand Open Championship, Rick Armstrong, the current leading driver in the Porsche Endurance GT3 Cup, topped the first practice session with an impressive lap time of 1.02.956 and finished the final two sessions in the Top 3. Only 0.027s separated Armstrong and Junior Pro title winner Marco Giltrap in the second practice session.
In the Toyota GR86 Championship, drivers headed into the second-to-last round. Hayden Bakkerus headed into the weekend in first place in the driver standings with 686 points, a 43-point lead ahead of Hugo Allan and a 149-point lead ahead of Chris White, who sits in third.
“Yeah, it’s been difficult, that’s for sure; there are so many great drivers out there, and it’s just so important to get that qualifying down; that’s what I’ve found this season. Making sure I have a strong qualifying, that really sets up your whole weekend and helps with consistency,” said Bakkerus when speaking to Greg Rust yesterday.
Yesterday, White’s performance showed he’s not there to muck around. He finished two of the three practice sessions at the top of the table and the other in the Top three. In practice 2, only 0.761s separated the entire field. It’s a tight competition and a class worth watching.
In the NZ Central Muscle Cars class, last round’s top point scorer, Angus Fogg, topped the day’s first practice session, setting the pace at 1.08.402s with Andrew Porter 1.108s behind and Grand Crosby another 0.188s behind. Tony Quinn, competing in his recently obtained 1978 Pontiac Firebird TransAm, finished in the Top 10 in 7th, 3.759s behind Fogg.
The current points leader in Group 1, Nick Ross, topped the day’s second and final practice session. Group 2 leader David Robinson finished 11th in the 12-car field, 5.296s behind Ross. Fogg did not make it out for the second practice session.
In the NZ Porsche Series Championship, driver Daniel Angus leads the championship but was only present in one practice session yesterday. He topped the table with a flying lap time of 1.06.292s. In comparison, Nicholas Cutfield, who topped the other two practice sessions today, achieved lap times of 1.08.723s and 1.09.292s, indicating that Angus has a strong advantage going into this weekend’s championship decider.
In the GTRNZ GT1 class, McLaren 650s GT3 driver Glenn Smith heads into the weekend with a healthy points lead in GT1 and the overall championship. Smith finished in the top spot in the first practice session and 2nd in the second and final practice session for the GT1/GT2 class. Kerry Jones was the top driver at the conclusion of Practice 2.
GT2 championship leader Sean Kirkpatrick finished 15th out of the 18 GT1/GT2 car field, 10.018s behind Smith. Kirkpatrick ran into issues during the final practice and abandoned the session after five laps.
GT3 championship leader Kruz Scott finished down the field in 8th for the first practice session, 6.740s behind fastest driver Dallas Alexander. Scott was not in attendance for the day’s second and final practice session, with Daniel Udy taking the top spot to end the day.
While in GT4, Dion Walker, who wishes to extend his points lead this weekend, finished the first practice session in 10th, 6.905 seconds behind Alexander and 19th (last) in the second and final practice session of the day, 24.859s behind Udy. Is Walker experiencing issues with his car? Can another GT4 driver overtake him in the points and clinch the championship?
The NZ Formula Ford class took to the track in Round 3 of their series for three practice sessions yesterday, with a clear dominant drive from Toby McCormack, who topped all three sessions. McCormack improved his time in every session, starting the day with a 1.09.795s lap time and moving up to 1.09.124s.
McCormack is currently 7th in the driver standings with 304 points, while Blake Dowdall is the top driver with 468 points. Dowdall finished 2nd in two practice sessions, only 0.3 seconds behind McCormack in both instances.
Will Neale is in second place in the driver standings with 430 points, and Lincoln Taylor is in third with 409 points. Neale was consistent in the practice sessions, with two 5th-place finishes and one 6th-place finish. In one session, he was only 0.485s off the pace to McCormack.
Taylor managed two 6th place finishes and a Top 3 finish in Practice 2, where he was only 0.421s off the pace to McCormack. With such close margins, it’s anyone’s game going into the qualifying later this morning.
If you want to catch the action today but can’t make it trackside, you can watch live via Stuff Speedhub. The live stream will start at 12:55 pm and end at 4:30 pm.
If you are heading to the track, qualifying kicks off at 8:30 am, with the GTRNZ 3/4 being the first out on track. The schedule is below.
Header Image: Joel Hanks/NextGen NZ
