After a three-month break, the GT New Zealand Championship now heads to the South Island for the first of two back-to-back race weekends – first up the Teretonga circuit at Invercargill – Jan 23-25.
After one round, Joel Giddy (Mercedes-AMG GT2) leads the Open class, while James Sax (Mercedes-AMG) leads the GT4 class. Unfortunately, Sax won’t be able to journey south due to family commitments, but will return for Manfeild later in the season.
This weekend in the Open Class field, seven Porsche 992 Cup Cars make the journey south, in the hands of two-time champion Rick Armstrong, followed by Sam Fillmore, Luke Manson, Paul Kelly, Andrew Childe, Regan Scoullar, and Nigel Cromie, who made an impressive first appearance at Hampton Downs for round one, clinching a podium in his first weekend.
James Parker returns to the Championship in his IRC GT machine, performing well at the two circuits last season, and could contend for a podium this weekend.
Joel Giddy lines up in the sole Mercedes AMG GT2 machine, and having taken podiums at Hampton Downs, he looks to be a favourite to repeat this weekend.
Three Toyota Supra GT4 EVOs headline the GT4 field, with Glenn Chappel & Lachlan Evennett sharing one car, with Allan Sargeant and Tony Quinn in the other two. Quinn is only doing the Highlands round.
17-year-old Australian Lachlan Evennett looks to impress, having recently signed a deal to race in Europe with the Speedy Motorsport Toyota team. He also has previous experience in the Australian National Formula Ford Championship, was a race winner in both the Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia GR Cup and New Zealand-based GR86 Championship, and has raced a Ford Mustang in the Australian Trico Trans-Am Series.
Grant Aitken returns again in his Audi R8, and though not racing at Teretonga, up-and-coming youngster Matt Day will join the championship at Highlands next weekend, fielding a Mercedes AMG GT4.
The husband and wife duo of Kerry and Tanya Jones were entered in their respective Ginetta GT4s, but unfortunately, they have had to withdraw following mechanical issues at Taupo over the past weekend.
The racing at Teretonga will see two 30-minute races and a single 50-minute feature race held over the weekend.
This will be the first weekend of a ‘double header’ before the Championship heads to Highlands Motorsport Park at Cromwell next weekend.
2025/26 Season Calendar
- Round 1: 31 Oct – 2 Nov – Hampton Downs Motorsport Park
- Round 2: 23–25 Jan – Teretonga Park, Invercargill
- Round 3: 30 Jan – 1 Feb – Highlands, Cromwell (NZ Grand Prix)
- Round 4: 27 Feb – 1 Mar – Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon, Feilding
- Round 5: 17–19 Apr – Ruapuna Park, Christchurch (V8 Supercars Meeting)
