Historic GP winner Kaleb Ngatoa and Super2 driver Ayrton Hodson join the Summerset GT New Zealand Championship grid at Hampton Downs this weekend, competing in the GT4 class.
Ngatoa, a former Toyota 86 front runner and CTFROC race winner, partners Allan Sargeant in the Toyota Supra GT4 EVO that debuted in Round 1 at Taupo, while Hodson, fresh from a 2024 Porsche Sprint Challenge Australia campaign, joins Mark Mallard in a new addition.
Hodson has previously competed in the series during the 2023/24 season, winning a race in the Open Class aboard a Porsche Cup Car.
Both Toyota Supra GT4 EVO’s will be run out of the successful Race Lab outfit.
Ngatoa, a well-rounded specialist who has successes in multiple classes in Australia and New Zealand, is no stranger to GT4 machinery, having partnered with Tony Quinn in a Porsche Cayman 718 in GT4 Australia in 2023, where they took a race win.
“Really looking forward to getting to Hampton Downs this weekend in the Supra with Allan,” says Ngatoa.
“I’ve raced Toyotas a lot previously with a couple of seasons in CTFROC and a one season in the Toyota 86 Championship, so it will be exciting to step up into the latest Toyota GT4 machinery and see how we go.
“Allan proved at the opening round that the car is quite fast, so I’m looking forward to getting in and seeing if we can get it further up the field against the McLaren, AMG, and the Porsches.”
New to the GT New Zealand Championship this season, the Toyota Supra GT4 EVO boasts a three-litre in-line six-cylinder engine with single twin-scroll turbocharger and has been tuned to 430hp with a 7-speed sports automatic transmission with paddle shift and the mechanical limited slip differential driving the rear wheels.
Round two of the Summerset GT New Zealand Championship gets underway at this weekend at Hampton Downs January 17-19.
