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Gilchrist to defend championship lead at Teretonga

by Velocity News
January 20, 2023
in News, Toyota GR86 Championship
0

Brock Gilchrist may be in his fifth season of the Toyota 86 Championship, but this season has already seen the Matakana racer shift up another gear.

A late entry into the championship this season with support from series tyre supplier Nexen, Gilchrist rewarded them and his supporters with a fantastic weekend in Cromwell. 

Two accomplished wins, a great drive in the reverse top ten race and some great driving in attack and defence modes marked him as the standout driver at round one and he starts this weekend as clear favourite.

The Toyota 86 Championship has always been a competitive one and its tenth anniversary battle looks set to be another fantastic one with several drivers keen and able to take the fight to Gilchrist this weekend.

Two of the field – one of the most experienced and one of the most inexperienced – could be principal amongst his challengers.

Justin Allen is a veteran of this championship and like a fine wine just gets better and better with age. Friday testing at Cromwell indicated he might dominate the weekend, but he couldn’t quite match that dominance when it mattered. He’ll press the reset button this weekend and will be near the top of the time sheets, but must make it stick in qualifying and not compromise his races, where he is always impressive.

The find of the weekend in Cromwell was undoubtedly Tom Bewley. A rookie with considerable karting expertise, he did a very fine job in taking his first win over the weekend and being competitive throughout. It’s quite possible that if his improvement rate continues he could prove difficult to beat – for everyone.

Christina Orr-West was another to show eye-catching pace during the first weekend. After a slow start to the weekend she was in full fighting mode pretty quickly and on Sunday fought off Allen in one of the best battles in the championship for quite a while – a battle she ultimately won.

Dion Pitt and Clay Osborne were another two who showed race winning pace and either could spring a surprise or two this weekend. John Penny will be aiming for a more successful weekend with better luck, while William Exton, Tayler Bryant, Fynn Osborne and Rylan Gray will all look to build on the momentum they showed during the first weekend.

The field will include both Saxon Sheehan and Harry Townshend, who had a nasty accident on the first corner of last weekend’s Race One. Both have secured other vehicles and will be looking to press restart on their championship campaigns.

2023 Toyota 86 Championship Points after 1 of 6 rounds:

PositionDriverPoints
1Brock Gilchrist210
2Dion Pitt173
3Clay Osborne172
4Justin Allen163
5Christina Orr-West145
6Tom Bewley129
7William Exton127
8Tayler Bryant123
9Rylan Gray114
10John Penny106
11Fynn Osborne96
12William Morton82
13Ayrton Hodson80
14Tim Leach74
15Thomas Mallard64
16Sam Cotterill54
17Saxon Sheehan46
18Harry Townshend44

2023 Toyota 86 Championship Schedule:

RoundCircuitDate
1Highlands Motorsport ParkJanuary 13 – 15
2Teretonga Park RacewayJanuary 20 – 22
3Hampton Downs International Motorsport ParkFebruary 3 – 5
4Taupo International Motorsport ParkMarch 17 – 19
5Manfeild Circuit Chris AmonApril 14 – 16
6Hampton Downs International Motorsport ParkMay 5 – 7

Main image: Bruce Jenkins | Words: Supplied

Tags: Brock GilchristToyota 86 ChampionshipToyota Gazoo Racing NZ

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