John De Veth has been crowned the 2019/20 GT1 and overall GTRNZ Champion after series organisers have announced the revised Speedworks round in September will be a non-competition event.
The field was set to tackle Hampton Downs for their season-finale in March before the round was subsequently postponed following the Covid-19 pandemic. While all four classes will be present at the Waikato venue on September 4-6, its unofficial status means the 2019/20 season has been curtailed prematurely.
Piloting his monstrous Crawford Daytona Prototype, De Veth snared five class wins across the three rounds to hold a 134-point advantage in the GT1 class over the TransAm machine of Cameron Jones, with Kerry Jones holding on to third.
Despite his spree of dominance that manifested into a clean sweep of Hampton Downs in February, De Veth headed into the Grand Finale with a slender two-point advantage over GT2 champion elect Hans Ruiterman.
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Claiming podium finishes in all but one attempt, Ruiterman powered his Nissan Silvia S14.5 to a comfortable series triumph over Struan Robertson and Marvyn Towers.
Having not clinched a race victory all season, Shane Whitley would end the season atop of the GT3 standings ahead of Garry Carswell. A mere 13-points would separate the duo with the title being Whitley’s second successive crown in the class.
The GT4 crown was lifted by Brian Hamilton who romped the competition in a one-horse title race. Hamilton’s Ford Capri would ultimately finish the season third in the overall standings with Robin Greenland and Louis Kuriger rounding off the class rostrum.
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GTRNZ competitors will now begin preparations for the non-competition round staged at Hampton Downs in four months.
A 2020/21 calendar is currently being finalised and will be revealed over the off-season.