The NextGen New Zealand Championship delivered an entertaining weekend of racing at Hampton Downs. Six categories of cars battled it out at the circuit south of Auckland.
The season-ending Hampton Downs Grand Finale saw great racing across all the categories: the GT New Zealand Championship, Toyota GR86 Championship, GTRNZ, NZ Porsche Race Series, New Zealand Formula Ford Championship and the NZ Central Muscle Cars.
“The NextGen New Zealand Championship team has performed exceptionally, establishing a high standard and laying the foundation for a remarkable future.
“This season has been a true celebration of New Zealand’s premier motorsport talent.
“Preparations for the upcoming season are already in motion, and we look forward to building on this momentum,” said NextGen New Zealand Championship CEO Josie Spillane.
The GT New Zealand Championship GT4 title was decided on Saturday, with William Exton having a relatively drama-free race winning ahead of Kaleb Ngatoa and James Sax, who finished third. The drive of the day came from Marco Giltrap, who came from last after a restart following a crash between James Parker and Sam Fillmore.
Title contender Joel Giddy climbed through the field and passed Rick Armstrong to claim second behind Giltrap. Armstrong had bragging honours for Sunday’s first race from Fillmore and Luke Manson.
Giltrap won the hour-long afternoon endurance race from Giddy and Fillmore. Armstrong finished in fifth, clinching the Open Class championship. Giltrap also won the Junior Pro and Junior Pro Porsche Endurance New Zealand titles. Tony Quinn was the GT4 Endurance Champion.
The Toyota GR86 Championship continues to entertain, with less than a second covering the field. Josh Bethune appeared to have Saturday’s race in the bag until he went to grab a gear and found nothing. Justin Allen and Cooper Barnes subsequently passed him.
Sunday’s first race was a reverse grid affair, and most of the chaotic action occurred between Hayden Bakkerus, Josh Bethune, and Hugo Allan behind race leaders Chris White, Arthur Broughan, and Jett Murray. White eventually came out on top from Murray and Bethune, with Broughan dropping to eighth after incurring a five-second penalty.
Bethune delivered a clinical victory in the feature race at the penultimate round of the Toyota GR86 Championship. He keeps his championship hopes alive, as the gap between series leader Bakkerus and Allan was reduced to just 11 points. They now head to their last round at the Taupo Supercars event, April 11-13.
Andrew Porter won the opening race of the NZ Central Muscle Cars on Saturday ahead of Angus Fogg and Grant Crosby. In his first race in the class, Tony Quinn, who was set to start in sixth but elected to start from the rear of the grid, crossed the line in eighth. Rodney Heads won race two in front of Porter, with Clarke Hopkins rounding out the podium after Fogg spun.
In Sunday’s first race, Fogg took the lead from the start, only for the safety car to come out after Quinn spun and stalled the car. On the restart, Crosby jumped to the lead but was quickly caught by Fogg and Porter, respectively.
The reverse grid handicap race is always a fan favourite because it involves passing through the field. Shane Johnson took line honours from Fogg and Quinn, who ended the day with a high-finishing third. They now head to their last round at the Taupo Supercars event, April 11-13.
The story of the weekend in the New Zealand Formula Ford Championship was the arrival of 13-year-old Marco Manson. Showing impressive pace in only his second event, Manson clocked up a second, third, and third over the three races.
Formula Ford regular Toby McCormack won all three races and now leads the North Island championship from Blake Dowdall and Shane Drake. Blake Dowdall heads the New Zealand Formula Ford Championship from William Neale and McCormack. The series now heads to Manfeild, April 4-6.
NZ Porsche champions were anointed over the weekend. MSNZ Championship winner Daniel Angus’s race weekend got off to a good start on Saturday morning, where he finished first and continued his good form over the rest of the weekend, winning all four races. He is also the Endurance Trophy winner.
Nicholas Cutfield took out the series championship for older Cup Cars, while Tim Robinson is the 944 champion. The 2.7 Boxster champion is Steven Fang, who is also the Porsche Club Championship winner, and Jacob Bellamy was crowned the 2.5 Boxster champion.
There were over 60 cars in the GTRNZ field. The battle for GTRNZ 1/2 over the weekend was between Kerry Jones, John De Veth and Glenn Smith with Jones winning the first two race, De Veth was second in all three with Smith winning the first race with Jones the third.
The top three places in GTRNZ 3/4 were in a similar vein: Ben Van Der Werff won two races, Kruz Scott was on the podium in all three (two-thirds and a second), with Matt Henney picking up a second and a third. Podium finishes were rounded out by Logan Childs, who finished second in race two.
Header Image: Tayler Burke/Shots By TayB
