Two Kiwi drivers took on the concrete canyons of Surfers Paradise over the weekend as Ben Stewart and Chris Pither lined up for Round 4 of the Toyota GR Cup Australia Championship, supporting the Supercars Gold Coast 500.
For Stewart, a full-time competitor with 99 Motorsport, it proved to be an physically demanding weekend following a heavy crash in qualifying.
Meanwhile, experienced Kiwi driver Pither made steady progress through the field across all three races, finishing his guest appearance on a high.
Stewart opened his Gold Coast weekend in strong form, clocking 1:27.4596 in the opening practice session to go 11th fastest, just over eight-tenths off the benchmark lap set by Queenslander Lincoln Taylor (1:26.6111).
Pither, returning to the Toyota 86-based series as a guest entrant, settled into the car quickly and finished 18th with a 1:27.9069 lap.
The Kiwis continued their pace improvement in the second practice session, with Stewart finding 1.2 seconds to record a 1:26.2665 and climb to ninth overall, while Pither improved by eight-tenths to go 23rd.
Qualifying was over almost as soon as it began for Stewart. A major incident unfolded when Kade Davey crashed into the tyre barriers, and Stewart, unsighted and with nowhere to go, ploughed into the back of Davey’s car.
The impact caused significant front-end damage to the #99 Toyota GR86, ruling Stewart out of the session.
It marked the young Kiwi’s third incident in two weeks, adding further frustration to his Gold Coast campaign.
With red flags and multiple stoppages, including another crash from Jett Murray, qualifying was ultimately abandoned. The grid for Race 1 was instead set using times from the earlier practice sessions.
That meant Stewart would have started ninth, but the damage was too severe for him to take the start. Pither lined up 21st for the opening race.
Race 1:
With Stewart’s car still under repair, Pither carried the Kiwi flag solo in Race 1.
Starting from Row 11, Pither made immediate progress, climbing to 19th on the opening lap. Despite heavy mid-pack traffic and several time penalties handed out for excessive kerb-hopping to competitors around him, Pither remained consistent throughout the 20-minute sprint.
A late safety car neutralised the race following contact between Jack Westbury and Jordan Freestone, ending the race under yellow flags. Brock Stinson was declared the winner after the original leader, Taylor, dropped down the order with a seven-second time penalty.
Pither crossed the line in 16th place, gaining five spots from his starting position.
Race 2:
After a mammoth overnight repair effort, Stewart’s 99 Motorsport crew had the Kiwi back on the grid for Race 2, starting 27th and last. Pither began from 16th, while Race 1 winner Stinson again started on pole.
Off the line, Pither made a brilliant getaway, surging up five places to 11th by the end of the opening lap.
Stewart also picked up a couple of positions as others struck early trouble, but heartbreak struck again when he was forced to pit and ultimately retired just minutes into the race, his second DNF of the weekend.
Further up the order, Pither became part of an intense multi-car battle featuring Charlie Parker, Oliver Wickham, and Freestone, trading places in a fierce midfield scrap.
Despite the chaos around him and multiple kerb-hop penalties handed out by race control, Pither stayed clean and climbed steadily.
As the race neared its end, a late crash for Parker brought out the safety car, but with the leaders already on their final lap, the race concluded under green conditions.
Stinson took his second victory of the weekend, ahead of Pip Casabene and Zane Rinaldi, while Pither finished seventh on the road and was later classified sixth after Taylor’s post-race penalty.
Race 3:
The final race of the weekend saw Stinson start from pole once again, with Pither lining up sixth on Row 3 and Stewart from 25th.
Pither made another solid start, quickly overtaking William Seal to move into fifth place. Meanwhile, Stewart continued to fight through the backmarkers, climbing to 22nd by mid-race and then 20th in the closing laps.
At the front, Casabene snatched the lead from Stinson on the final lap to secure his first Toyota GR Cup victory.
Pither, locked in a fierce multi-car battle with Taylor, Wickham and Evennett, was shuffled back to 10th at the flag, while Stewart completed a gritty comeback drive to finish 19th.
It was a weekend of mixed fortunes for the two New Zealanders. For Stewart, the Gold Coast event tested his perseverance after a significant setback in qualifying, a DNS in Race 1 and a retirement in Race 2, yet he showed commendable fight to finish Race 3 inside the top 20.
Pither’s return to the one-make series was a story of steady progress, moving from 21st in qualifying to a top-six finish in Race 2 and a top-ten result in the finale, showing all his trademark racecraft on the demanding street circuit.
The Toyota GR Cup Australia Championship now heads to its season finale at the Sandown 500 from November 14–16, where Stewart will look to rebound strongly and close out his rookie campaign on a high.
Header Image: Tamara Jade Media
