Sam Dashfield of Auckland became the sixth race winner of the season as the first race of Round 4 of the 2025/2026 Mazda Racing Super Series was contested at Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell on Saturday.
Sam Dashfield, Saturday’s race winner at Round 4 of the 2025/2026 Mazda Racing Super Series at Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell, leads fellow Aucklander Callum Pratt. Image: Geoff Ridder
Dashfield qualified sixth fastest in the 15-minute qualifying session early in the day with fellow Aucklander Callum Pratt on pole ahead of Dunedin driver James Black, series leader Stu Lawton of Paraparaumu, Simon Baker of Kapiti and Alex Canty of Auckland taking the first five positions.
The ten-lap contest that followed was a typical Mazda Racing Super Series classic with plenty of action as fortunes ebbed and flowed throughout.
Black got the jump at the start and led away from the front row ahead of Pratt, building a lead of half a second by the end of the opening circuit. Dashfield was quickly up to third ahead of Baker, Lawton, Tomas Climo of Hamilton, Canty, Ajay Giddy of Silverdale and Dalan Price of Swannanoa in Canterbury.
Pratt was keeping the pressure on Black with Dashfield well in the picture as the trio fought it out around the 4.1km circuit.
Dashfield passed Pratt for second place on lap 3, and as they crossed the line at the end of that lap, Black had a .856 of a second lead over Dashfield, followed by Pratt, Baker and Lawton.
Callum Pratt of Auckland, fastest qualifier for the opening race of Round 4 of the 2025/2026 Mazda Racing Super Series at Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell on Saturday. Image: Geoff Ridder
Lawton passed his teammate Baker on lap four, and it soon became evident that Baker had problems as he started dropping down the order, eventually finishing fifteenth with an engine that was cutting out on left-hand corners.
Black had increased his lead but was the next to succumb to problems as Dashfield got past on lap 5 before Black started dropping back through the field, eventually ending the race in the pits.
Dashfield led for the remainder of the race but was under severe pressure from Pratt throughout, eventually crossing the line .315 of a second ahead of Pratt with Lawton third.
Stu Lawton of Paraparaumu leads James Black of Dunedin during the action of Round 4 of the 2025/2026 Mazda Racing Super Series at Highlands Motorsport in Cromwell on Saturday. Image: Geoff Ridder
Giddy had come through from ninth to place fourth with the fastest lap of the race, and he was followed across the line by Canty, Bryan Walker of Christchurch, Price, Climo, and Aucklanders Elton Wichman and Phil Clemas. Anthony Tork had crossed the line in eleventh, but a penalty dropped him to sixteenth, promoting Steven Spear to eleventh place.
Lawton’s third-place finish maintained his series lead with 331 points, while Pratt and Canty are tied for second, just twenty-one points behind.
Dashfield had blown a gearbox last weekend at Teretonga Park and only received a new one on Thursday night, allowing him to race this weekend. He said his battle with Pratt was “always clean, it was good racing.” Pratt said, “It was good fun, a great race.”
Tomorrow, competitors will tackle a twelve-lap reverse top ten race at 9.00am with Phil Clemas on pole before a ten-lap finale at 12.45pm.
