The NextGen NZ Championship’s Day 2 at Hampton Downs on March 22, 2025, delivered high-octane action across multiple racing categories. Scroll down to check out the unforgettable moments, race highlights and top results from yesterday’s racing, class by class.
Toyota GR86 Championship:
Josh Bethune continued his impressive form by securing pole position in the qualifying session. His initial flying lap of 1:14.080 set the benchmark, with Justin Allen trailing by a mere four-hundredths of a second. Championship leader Hayden Bakkerus qualified seventh, while Chris White, who had shown strong pace in earlier sessions, started from ninth.
Race 1 saw Hugo Allan start off the line with the best reaction time but failed to keep momentum, falling to sixth by the exit of Turn 1. Justin Allen took the early lead as he got the pass on Bethune in the first turn. Bethune disapproved and fought back the lead position on Lap 2, charging ahead.
Thomas Mallard and Cameron Hill made heavy contact as they headed towards Turn 2; Hill lost control of his car and smashed into the outside barrier of Turn 2. He managed to continue in the race to finish 20th, with Mallard finishing ahead of him in 18th.
Bethune led most of the race before running into issues on the final laps when he went to change into a gear that wasn’t there. Justin Allen, who had been battling with Bethune for the entire race so far, advanced to race leader and took the chequered flag for Race 1, becoming the only driver in this year’s Toyota GR86 championship to clock up three wins so far.
Another driver who drove to gain an advantage from Bethune’s unfortunate final lap nightmare was Cooper Barnes, who crossed the finish line in second place, ahead of Bethune, who rounded out the podium. Championship leader Hayden Bakkerus had a more difficult race and crossed the line in seventh place, 7.456s behind Allen.
Pirelli Porsche Race Series:
The Pirelli Porsche Race Series featured intense competition, with drivers pushing their limits on the track.
Race 1 started with an explosive getaway that led to a frantic, tightly packed charge into Turn 1. It was four-wide going into Turn 1 and well past the second corner. The competitors displayed exceptional traffic awareness; everyone held their breath as the field moved through unscathed.
After only two laps, Tony Austin suffered an early retirement from a broken drive belt.
The 2.5 Boxsters delivered intense racing, with Cam McCormack breaking away from the pack, which Jacob Bellamy and Symon Thurlow led. That’s how they finished, but hot on their heels was the father-and-son duo of Ash and Mark McCaughan. Ash claimed the bragging rights on this occasion, edging out his dad.
Daniel Angus conquered the field in Race 1, taking the race win by a mile. Angus won by 22s over competitor Nicholas Cutfield and 42s over Oliver Saxton. With an impressive effort in just 10 laps, Angus managed to lap the rest of the 19-car field.
Class Winners:
- Class A: Daniel Angus
- Class B: Nic Cutfield
- Class C: Oliver Saxton
- Class E: Daniel Gross
- Class F: Chris Taylor
- Class G: Cam McCormack
- Class B Open: Steff Chambers
The Porsche series is set to continue with two more races scheduled for later today, promising further excitement for fans.
GT New Zealand Championship:
Marco Giltrap dominated the qualifying session in the GT New Zealand Championship, emerging as the fastest on the track in the Junior Pro class. His performance underscored his potential as a rising star in the series.
Luke Manson scored pole position for the Open Class, and current championship leader Rick Armstrong qualified third. At the same time, William Exton clinched pole position for the GT4 class, with Allan Sargeant only three-tenths behind him. Kaleb Ngatoa qualified 10th, with Tony Quinn behind in 12th.
Luke Manson and Rick Armstrong started in the front row for Race 1 of the weekend, a 30-minute time-certain race with a rolling start. On the first lap, it was lights, camera, and action on Turn 1 as carnage sprawled across the track after Sam Filmore squeezed Andrew Parker into the wall going into Turn 1, with Parker sustaining severe damage on the right-hand side of his car, also sending Filmore into a spin who took out Joel Giddy, an innocent bystander in the incident. The unfortunate start to the race resulted in a safety car and a subsequent red flag.
The race restarted with 23 minutes left on the clock. Luke Manson took the early race lead while Giddy made moves in the rear of the field, moving his way up to sixth place within only two minutes. Another six minutes passed, and Giddy was up to fourth, a man on a mission.
Meanwhile, Mason and Armstrong had a 5.9-second gap at the front to the rest of the field and were in their own race. When the clock turned over with only 7 minutes to go, and Armstrong felt a knock on his rear bumper, Marco Giltrap charged his way forward and smashed the gap the two drivers had on him.
Giltrap didn’t muck around and made a pass on Armstrong, moving him into second place. Armstrong felt another knock on his rear bumper, only to find that Giddy had also charged from the rear of the field to podium contention. Giddy got up on the inside of Armstrong, passing the championship leader, and moved up to third place while Giltrap took over as the new race leader.
In an edge-of-your-seat turn of events, Luke Manson spins on Turn 4/5, moving Giddy up to second place going into the race’s final stages. It wasn’t enough, though, as Giltrap crossed the finish line to take the chequered flag. Giddy finished in second place, and Armstrong held on for third place to round out the podium.
William Exton won the race for the GT4 category, which also concluded his overall championship win for the GT category.
“Yeah, the team has done a great job all year, very, very few faults, so I can’t thank them enough.
“It was an interesting start; I managed to get out and get my way through pretty clean; the restart was very interesting, everyone coming past, and I had a cool little battle with Kaleb which was cool, and then I just managed to build on the gap,” said Exton
The GT New Zealand class has another two races scheduled later today, a 30-minute and 1-hour final.
NZ Central Muscle Cars:
Tony Quinn returned to the NZ Central Muscle Cars category, piloting the ex-Hugh Gardiner 1978 Pontiac Firebird TransAm. Quinn’s participation added a nostalgic touch to the event, which drew the attention of fans and competitors alike.
The top qualifier heading into Race 1 of 2 yesterday was last round’s top point scorer Angus Fogg in his iconic Ford Mustang, ahead of fellow Mustang driver Andrew Porter and Chevrolet driver Grant Crosby. Tony Quinn qualified in sixth place but opted to start from the rear of the grid for Race 1.
Race 1 had thrills and spills, with Shane Holland running into engine issues just two laps into the race, which resulted in a safety car and early retirement for Holland.
Quinn moved through the field from 14th to 8th after speaking earlier about his car having too much power for what his brakes could handle, which also was a part that explained why he wanted to start from the rear of the grid. He was still coming to grips with the car and didn’t want to disadvantage anyone’s position in the race. He was just there to have fun and not race in a competitive manner.
Porter took an early lead from the start and advanced through with the first race win of the weekend after a dominant performance in his Ford Mustang ahead of Fogg and Crosby.
Race 2 saw a new dominant competitor come into the limelight. After starting mid-pack, Rodney Heads battled through the field and took the chequered flag for the day’s final race. Angus Fogg was right on his rear until the final two laps when Fogg had an unlucky moment and spun, dropping him back to the rear of the pack.
Quinn entered Race 2 with a more competitive mindset after gaining confidence in his Pontiac TransAm in Race 1. He was in contention to round out the podium until he made an error going into a turn, going wide and losing track position, finishing fifth. Michael Oldham, Anthony Galbraith and Mark Stretton were all classified as DNFs.
NZ Formula Ford Championship:
Toby McCormack kicked things off in qualifying for the NZ Formula Ford class, topping the board with a 1.09.284 over young Marco Manson in second with a 1.09.491 and James Penrose qualifying third with a 1.09.575. There were just three-tenths between the Top 3 drivers in the tense qualifying session.
Race 1 saw Marco Manson rocket out of his grid box and take an early lead, but later in the first lap, he ran wide and fell back through the field. On lap 1, there was absolute carnage as the field went four-wide, going into turns 3 and 4. Cars ran out of room and made contact, resulting in cars flying into the gravel trap. It was all over for some drivers from there.
Dylan Grant and William Neale retired from the race due to severe damage sustained in the multiple-car collision with Lincoln Taylor. Blake Dowdall was also involved but was able to carry on. The race had a temporary red flag while officials retrieved the damaged cars.
McCormack took the lead on the race restart, with Manson on the gearbox of Penrose, who was in second place. Leo Scott and Lincoln Taylor battled for fourth place while Dowdall was in redemption mode, battling back through the pack from 13th after being caught up in the earlier incident.
With 4 minutes to go, Taylor and Scott battled for fifth position and made contact into Turn 1. The rear of Scott’s car went airborne, spinning Taylor to the inside wall. Blake Dowdall managed to scrape by and avoid the carnage, moving to fourth place.
The race finished under a safety car. Toby McCormack took the chequered flag, with Marco Manson in second and James Penrose in third—Dowdall with an impressive drive from 13th to 4th.
GTRNZ 3/4:
Race 1 saw BMW driver Matt Henney start on pole position after a remarkable qualifying session, ahead of Mitsubishi Evo 8 driver Ben Van Der Werff and Honda Civic driver Kruz Scott in third.
Van Der Werff launched off the start line and gained an early advantage over Henney, leading the field out of Turn 1. Henney right on the rear of the Evo 8, leaving some BMW paint on the rear bumper of Van Der Werff’s car.
It was a four-way battle; Scott was right behind in third place, with Mitsubishi Evo 9 driver Logan Childs in the mix in fourth place. On the third lap, the race witnessed a new leader, Kruz Scott, who moved on Henney and then Van Der Werff as they crossed the S/F line heading into Lap 3.
Scott set an early fastest lap of 1.12.272. However, the breakout time for the GT3 class is 1.12.00, so Scott had to be careful for the remainder of the race, as any driver who surpasses that lap time is relegated to the back of the field.
While Van Der Werff fought to regain the race lead, he set a fastest lap time of 1.11.802, which resulted in his relegation to the back of the field as it surpassed the set breakout time. This was an unfortunate end to his chances of a podium finish.
Kruz Scott continued to dominate at the front of the field and won the race, ahead of Henney in second place and Darryl Palmer in third for GT3. Van Der Werff was classified as 11th overall.
“That race was all about consistency and just trying to hit my markers, and I definitely did that.
“It’s a bit of fun. I definitely like being in this position where I haven’t got the top-end speed, but I got the cornering speed, so it’s been fun to catch them on the brakes and definitely around the corner,.” said Scott
Scott Mills won the GT4 class, ahead of Reece Jones in second place and Cheol Su in third.
GTRNZ 1/2:
John De Veth started the day off strong, topping the qualifying session and securing pole position for the sole race of the day for the GTRNZ 1/2 class, ahead of GT1 class leader Glenn Smith and rival Kerry Jones.
Brad Coxhead secured pole position for the GT2 class, ahead of several GT1 cars and GT2 rivals Hayden Gare and Antony Te Rito, who qualified second and third, respectively.
It was a clean race for the GTRNZ 1/2 class. Glenn Smith took the early lead in his McLaren 650S, with De Veth slotting into second place and Kerry Jones settled in third.
De Veth took the race lead off Smith going into Lap 3, with Smith chasing him down in the distance, 1.9 seconds behind.
It came down to a final lap battle between Smith and De Veth, and Smith moved to the inside of De Veth on Turn 2 and clinched the lead, hanging on until the chequered flag, taking home the first race win of the weekend. De Veth finished second, and Jones third for the GT1 class.
The GT2 class saw pole-sitter Brad Coxhead cross the finish line in first place, ahead of Antony Te Rito in second and Hayden Gare in third.
Looking Ahead:
As the 2025 NextGen NZ championship concludes, fans can anticipate more exhilarating races and decisive moments that will shape the final standings later today. For detailed results and updates, visit the official NextGen NZ Championship website.
Header Image: Shots By TayB
