Porsche power surged to the front in the first qualifying session of the 2024/25 Summerset GT New Zealand Championship in Taupo, with Rick Armstrong claiming pole ahead of returning 2022/23 champion Marco Giltrap.
Armstrong, who raced in the Pro-AM class of the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia at the ITM Taupo Super400 in April, set a 1:26.513 for pole, his best effort over three-tenths quicker than 2023 Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia Champion, Giltrap, who is driving a Porsche 992 this season.
The battle for third was extremely tight, with Mercedes taking the upperhand through Joel Giddy’s AMG GT2, which was a further three-tenths behind Giltrap but only 0.02 seconds ahead of Hunter Robb, debuting in the GT New Zealand Championship in a Porsche 991.2 Cup Car.
Sam Fillmore and Luke Manson made it five Porsche in the top six, ahead of the Mercedes-AMG GT2 of Paul Pedersen.
Paul Southam (Porsche 992), Paul Kelly (Porsche 992), and Steve Brooks (Porsche 992) complete the top ten.
In the GT4 class, William Exton began his rookie season at the wheel of the McLaren Artura in style, taking class pole with a 1:30.167 ahead of James Sax (Mercedes-Benz AMG GT4).
Allan Sargeant debuted the Toyota Supra GT4 EVO to qualify third in class, just one-tenth behind Sax.
The GT New Zealand Championship returns for a one-hour race at approximately 3.15 pm this afternoon before two 30-minute sprints on Sunday.
Live coverage can be viewed on Stuff’s SpeedHub streaming platform.
GT New Zealand Championship Qualifying Results
| Pole | Rick Armstrong | 1:26.513 | Porsche 992 |
| 2nd | Marco Giltrap | +0.351 | Porsche 992 |
| 3rd | Joel Giddy | +0.659 | Mercedes-AMG GT2 |
| 4th | Hunter Robb | +0.679 | Porsche 991.2 |
| 5th | Sam Fillmore | +0.816 | Porsche 992 |
| 6th | Luke Manson | +0.904 | Porsche 991 |
| 7th | Paul Pedersen | +1.481 | Mercedes-AMG GT2 |
| 8th | Paul Southam | +1.761 | Porsche 992 |
| 9th | Paul Kelly | +1.826 | Porsche 992 |
| 10th | Steve Brooks | +1.861 | Porsche 992 |
| 11th | Shaun Varney | +2.602 | Porsche 991.2 |
| 12th | Danny Stutterd | +2.608 | IRC GT |
| 13th | Sam Cotterill | +2.830 | Porsche 992 |
| 14th | William Exton | +3.654 | McLaren Artura GT4 |
| 15th | Glenn Cotterill | +4.008 | Porsche 992 |
| 16th | James Sax | +7.497 | Mercedes-AMG GT4 |
| 17th | Allan Sargeant | +7.656 | Toyota Supra EVO GT4 |
