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.
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.
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.