One of the most diverse grids seen in New Zealand has been confirmed for the Highlands 10th Anniversary 1-Hour ‘Mini-Enduro’, with 32 competitors set to represent 15 different manufacturers.
Amoung the names taking to the track is 2023 European Rally Champion Hayden Paddon, competing in a Hyundai i30N. Paddon is running double duties for the weekend and also joins Martin Dippie and Ronan Murphy in a Porsche 992 Cup for the 6-Hour Enduro.
Paddon’s Hyundai will be one of two on the track, with Pel Arnott also set to feature in the #17 Hyundai i30N TCR.
Nine Porsche are entered in the 1-Hour, with four being 992s. GT New Zealand Championship competitor Rick Armstrong helms one of those, as does South Island Endurance Series 3-Hour runner-up Steve Brooks, Glenn Brazier and Jason Scott.
Jarrod Owens, who qualified on the pole for the South Island Endurance Series season-opener at Ruapuna, also joins in the #13 Porsche GT3 Cup MR SP-Pro, while Rob Williams is in the sole 997 GT3 Cup Car, Ayrton Hodson drives a 991.1, and Garry Derrick wheels a 911.
Oliver Saxton ensures Porsche is also represented in the GT4 class in a Cayman GT4 981. He’ll face stiff competition from two Mercedes AMG GT4s of Breanna Morris and Joel Giddy and the McLaren 570s GT4 of Lindsay O’Donnell.
The two Marc cars in the field will be a stern test for the strong Porsche contingent, with Jordan Michels returning to action in the Marc II Mustang and Danny Stutterd helming the Marc GT.
The Ford versus Holden battle-within-the-battle sees Hamish Wilton in a Ford V8 Supertourer and Steve Dent in a Ford Falcon face off against the Holden Supertourer of Brad Rule.
SEAT is also well represented, with John Mackay (Cupra TCR), Peter Bennetts (Supercopa) and David McAlpine (Cupra) representing the Spanish manufacturer.
The Chevrolet Corvette of Bruce Davidson further diversifies the field, as does the Audi TCR of Denzil Travers, Audi R8 GT 2.0 of James Paterson, Toyota 86 of Kynan Yu, Toyota Altezza of Seaton Head and Mitsubishi Evo of Tony Buchannan.
The VW Golf of John Hancock, Mazda RX8 of Cameron Davies and Mini Cooper Challenge of Kevin Jarvis round out the field.
Sky Sport will have live coverage of this weekend’s racing from 12.30 pm on Saturday and 8.30 am on Sunday, with Chad Neylon, Garth Tander and Stephen McIvor commentating on the event that also features the 6-Hour Enduro, Central Muscle Cars and Aussie Racing Cars, that have Shane van Gisbergen included in the field.
