Seven McLaren and ten Porsche are among the entrants for GT New Zealand Championship’s opening round at Highlands Motorsport Park this weekend, in support of the Super Sprint Motorsport New Zealand Championship.
Six manufacturers are represented in the 23-strong field with GT machinery from Aston Martin, Ginetta, McLaren, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and Ferrari spread across two classes – GT4 and Open.
The series is racing in support of Formula Regional Oceania and is also joined by Toyota 86 and the Pirelli Porsche Race Series
GT New Zealand will take to the track on Friday for practice sessions. Qualifying takes place on Saturday at 11.05am and is followed by a sole 60-minute race at 2.20pm.
Sunday brings two 30-minute races, the first at 11.40am and the second at 3.20pm.
The 60 minute enduro rewards double points with a mandatory pitstop which is managed with Balance of Performance criteria. This ensures parity, meaning some stops are longer than others.
Category Manager Grant Smith is looking forward to the opening round, saying “The assortment of GT machinery that we have managed to gather together is just incredible.
“It’s going to be quite a spectacle as the series will offer New Zealand motorsport fans the chance to see global super brands competing against each other on New Zealand’s premier circuits.”
Defending champion Nigel Cromie returns in his McLaren 570S whilst runner-up Stephen Harrison returns in his Aston Martin Vantage.
Ginetta will be represented by Allan Sargeant in his G55 and Steve Scoles debuting his new V8-powered G56. They’ll be joined by the two Mercedes AMG’s of Jono McFarlane and Glenn Cotterill.
A trio of Porsche Cayman round out the GT4 class with John Buchanan and the pairing of Oliver Saxton and James Paterson driving 718’s. They’re joined by Grant Aitken debuting a new 981 RS.
The Open Class is made up of Porsche and a sole Ferrari, a range of familiar faces to compete in the series.
Francois Beziac and Heremana Malmezac will drive their usual Porsche 911 MR whilst Luke Manson will compete in a 991.
Four 991.2’s will also compete, helmed by Rick Armstrong, Paul Pedersen, Marco Giltrap and the pairing of Paul Southam and Rob Steele respectively.
Finally, Wayne Leach will run his Ferrari 488 Challenge from last season.
It’s expected to be a tight round of racing with some fine machinery on display at one of New Zealand’s premier race tracks.
Saturday’s TV coverage of GT New Zealand begins at 11am on Sky Sport and from 10am on Sunday. TV3 also has a live broadcast from 1pm on Sunday.
