It is game on as the Mazda Racing Super Series heads to Taupō International Motorsport Park for the final round of their 2025/2026 series this weekend.
After five rounds, the first of which was in October last year, three drivers arrive at the final round with just four points separating them.
Fourteen-year-old Ajay Giddy of Silverdale and the reigning North Island Champion, Stu Lawton of Paraparaumu, are tied on 512 points with Callum Pratt of Auckland just four points behind on 508.
Giddy, a series rookie, has won two of the five rounds to date, while Pratt has taken two and Lawton one in an extremely hard-fought season.
It is so evenly poised that, barring major problems for one of the title protagonists, it will probably come down to the last race of the season on Sunday afternoon for a series champion to be crowned. To add spice, it is the series’s first visit to Taupō this season, so there is no recent form guide for the circuit.
Adding even more intrigue to the contest, there are plenty of others in the twenty-two-car field who, while their title aspirations may be over, will be capable of fighting for race wins and podiums this weekend. Alex Canty of Auckland, and rookies James Black of Dunedin and Tomas Climo of Hamilton are inside the top six in the points, while other speedy competitors such as Simon Baker of Kapiti and Sam Dashfield of Auckland have not done the full season but are ultra-competitive.
Jesse Gould of Raumati Beach, who was third in last year’s national series, is also capable of mixing it at the front, and he returns to the fray having only contested one other round this season.
Meanwhile, in the Masters (Over 50) title chase, Phil Clemas of Auckland has the points lead with several of his closest rivals not entered this weekend. Simon Baker and Elton Wichman of Auckland are competing and are thirty-seven and forty-one points adrift, respectively.
In the series Teams Championship, the Two and a Half Drivers team of Black, Pratt and Bryan Walker, who is not entered this weekend, leads from Lumo Motorsport (Canty and Clemas).
The weekend will feature the traditional format with a 15-minute qualifying session on Saturday morning, with the first race of the weekend over 10 laps that afternoon. On Sunday, a 12-lap reverse top ten grid from Saturday’s race results takes place in the morning, with the finale over 10 laps that afternoon.
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For point standings in our various series, go to Season Points / | Mazda Racing Series
Header Image: Geoff Ridder
