Toyota 86 regular Connor Adam has swept the competition on his Pirelli Porsche Cup Series debut at Bruce McLaren Motorport Park, claiming wins across all three races.
Meanwhile, series veteran Brian McGovern ended his title drought by securing the 2019/20 Motorsport Championship having entered the round lying in second just two points adrift of Wellington-based driver Robert Dong.
Fellow Wellingtonian Jim McKernan overcame fierce competition in the Pirelli Porsche Cup to claim a memorable series victory.
The first championship round in New Zealand post lockdown, a 20-string grid descended on BMMP to round off a thrilling championship season.
Piloting a leased 977, Adam only had one day of practice prior to the event to adjust to the machine after several weeks absent from a race car.
But under the watchful eye of mentor and factory Porsche driver Will Bamber, a cool drive by Adam saw the 21-year-old dominant the 20-minute session to snare pole position by over eight tenths.
The sole sprint race of the day had Adam convert his pole position into an early lead and eventually establish a commanding 11-second advantage over Shaun Kirkpatrick to claim the opening victory of the day.
Adam’s sprint pace ultimately boded well for the following two endurance races both of which were 30 minutes in length and featured a mandatory pitstop.
Despite a late-race challenge by title protagonists McGovern and Kirkpatrick, Adam was relentlessly in his defence for the lead in the opening account and secured his second victory from two races.
The final affair for the day adopted a similar pattern to the first two races with Adam maintaining the lead from the front to claim an unrivalled victory 5-seconds up the road from recently crowned McGovern.
“I am rapt with the entire event,” said Adam. “It was great to finally drive a car like this and the crew led by Shaun and the coaching from Will was great.
“Certainly, very enjoyable and a great bunch of people to race against.”
Adam’s attention now shifts to the revised Toyota 86 season finale from Hampton Downs while the Pirelli Porsche Race Series regulars will begin preparations for stints in the upcoming North Island and South Island Endurance series’.
Main Image: Geoff Ridder
