The talk of the paddock in today’s testing for the third round of the Bridgestone GR86 Championship at Teretonga was just how close the field will be over the coming weekend.
In all three of today’s sessions, it wasn’t just tenths of a second separating the field; near the top of the order, it was just hundredths.
Ajay Giddy topped the first session impressively. Times were also quick – faster than the series’s last visit in 2025 – and Ajay was relishing the handling of his Mackenzie Motorsport GR86. Reigning champion Hugo Allan was right on the pace at a track where he has always raced well and was just six hundredths of a second behind Giddy.
White was a further two hundredths behind Allan and Bethune, one hundredth of a second behind White. Mac Templeton, Arthur Broughan, Zach Blincoe, an improved Cameron Hill, Cooper Barnes and Lee Zeltwanger completed the top ten.
The top seven were covered by less than two-tenths of a second – a reflection not only of the short 2.57km circuit but also of how competitive the Bridgestone GR86 Championship actually is. The entire field was covered in less than a second.
Giddy was there again in the second session, but was pipped to the top spot by Mackenzie Motorsport team-mate Arthur Broughan, as the top 15 runners were once again separated by a remarkably small seven-tenths of a second.
A good tow down the straights seemed to make all the difference, and a number of the drivers were practising exactly that during the session as they practised what might be their best opportunity to make up places during the weekend’s three races.
Broughan and Giddy led the way again in the early stages of the third and final session, before Josh Bethune stopped on the straight with a very rare driveshaft failure and brought out a red flag with most drivers having clocked up just a couple of laps.
It was Chris White, however, who topped the final session in the end, holding off the very fast Giddy and a latecomer to the party in Harry Townshend, who had remained quiet for most of the day on track until he unleashed his best right at the end.
Full Practice Results, including lap times, can be found on the Toyota Gazoo Racing Facebook Page
Header Image: Joel Hanks
