Justin Allen, a Manfeild – Circuit Chris Amon specialist, was the man to beat today in practice for the penultimate round of the Bridgestone GR86 Championship, but it was Arthur Broughan who was fastest overall.
Broughan posted the fastest time of the day in the second session – marginally quicker than Allen’s best times of Session 1 and Session 3.
What was eye-catching about Allen’s day was that the local racer popped his fastest time of the day on just his second lap around the track this morning. The rest of the field needed at least three before they were on his pace. That bodes well for the NAPA Autoparts racer as he heads into his home weekend.
Second in the first session – just under three hundredths of a second behind Allen – was reigning champion Hugo Allan. Behind him was championship leader Chris White, but he was over a tenth behind – a decent margin in the field this season.
Josh Bethune was next, followed by Arthur Broughan, an impressive Lucas McGill showing plenty of pace following his shunt at Highlands in the last round, Australia’s Cooper Barnes, Ajay Giddy and Lee Zeltwanger.
White’s main challenger in the points, Zach Blincoe, was four tenths down on White in tenth. As ever, the session was super-close overall, with 13 cars covered by just over eight tenths of a second.
Broughan came to the fore in the second session as he got into the groove around the Manawatu track, while Hugo Allan was second fastest again as the field tightened even further. Early pacesetter Allen fell to seventh with the top eight covered by just over half a second. Harry Townshend, a regular front runner at Manfeild, was third fastest while Blincoe improved to fourth.
Further back, a long stint of 10 laps suggested White was focusing on a race simulation run. His best time during that was good for eleventh overall.
Justin Allen was back at the front for the third and final session of the day while namesake Allan was second yet again, completing a consistent day for the reigning champion and pointing to a solid weekend ahead.
Broughan showed his Session 2 pace was not a one-off with the third fastest, while Mac Templeton posted a great time for Neale Motorsport and reminded everyone that the team doesn’t only have one fast driver in White in its ranks. He was fourth quickest, with Bethune rounding out the top five.
Newbie Nathan Grammer – a runner in the Toyota 86 Trophy Series for the older TR86 cars – settled in well on his first day in the Bridgestone GR86 Championship, with a best time of 12th fastest in the quick second session.
Action begins with qualifying on Saturday morning, before the first race of the weekend tomorrow afternoon.
Header Image: Toyota Gazoo Racing New Zealand
