Fourteen-year-old Ajay Giddy of Silverdale has taken overall honours at Round 4 of the 2025/2026 Mazda Racing Super Series at Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell this weekend.
After only qualifying ninth for the first race of the weekend on Saturday, Giddy came through to fourth place in the opener behind winner Sam Dashfield and his fellow Aucklander Callum Pratt, with series leader Stu Lawton of Paraparaumu third.
Giddy then won both Sunday races to take the round win from Pratt and Lawton. Giddy also took Rookie honours for the weekend, with Dalan Price of Swannanoa in Canterbury the leading Masters (Over 50) competitor. Giddy also took the fastest lap in all three races.
As the series leaves the South Island, Lawton maintains his championship lead with 408 points, with Giddy just 16 points behind and the leading rookie. Pratt is third, just 5 points behind Giddy, while Alex Canty of Auckland is fourth, with Bryan Walker of Christchurch and Tomas Climo of Hamilton tied for fifth.
Elton Wichman of Auckland leads the Masters category, while the Two and a Half Drivers team of James Black of Dunedin, Pratt and Walker lead the Teams Championship.
Sunday’s races were great contests with Phil Clemas of Auckland leading away in the first from a grid with the top ten from Saturday’s race result reversed. Price took over on lap 2, but Dashfield, Giddy and Pratt were making their way forward, and on lap 5, Giddy was through to the lead, followed by Dashfield, while Lawton and Pratt were past Price a lap later.
The order at the front settled with Giddy leading from Dashfield, Lawton and Pratt, but Dashfield broke a rear toe arm link, which stranded him on the circuit and necessitated a safety car, which led the field home, with Giddy winning from Lawton and Pratt.
Giddy then led all the way from Pratt and Lawton in the finale on Sunday afternoon, a race punctuated by two safety cars, the first after Andrew French went off and the second when Steve Brown left the circuit, leaving the field to take the flag under safety car again. Dashfield, who had started twelfth, drove back to fourth place ahead of Canty and Walker.
Two of the series’ frontrunners ran into trouble on Saturday, which affected their weekends. James Black of Dunedin led the first race on Saturday until he had to retire with mechanical issues, meaning he had to battle from the back in both Sunday races. Despite that, he climbed to a fourth and seventh while Simon Baker of Kapiti had an engine problem on Saturday, finishing fifteenth while his problems persisted on Sunday.
The weekend’s racing was part of the NextGen NZ Championship.
The next round of the series takes place at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park in North Waikato over the weekend of 14-15 March.
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For point standings in our various series, go to Season Points / | Mazda Racing Series
Header Image: Geoff Ridder
