Three different drivers have topped the timesheets in today’s practice sessions.
Two of the three sessions were held on a wet track, with the third on an almost dry track.
Dion Pitt topped the timesheets for the first session of the day, setting a time to put him a third of a second faster than Rowan Shepheard in second.
The second practice saw Matthew McCutcheon finish the session fastest just over a tenth of a second faster than Shepheard, who again finished the session in second.
The final session of the day saw the field heading out in improved conditions, Brock Gilchrist went on to top the session ahead of Shepheard, who showed pace in each session despite the varying conditions, which may be important as the forecast looks changeable for the weekend.
Simon Evans is heading into the third round of the Toyota 86 Championship as the championship leader.
Evans heads to Hampton Downs Motorsport Park 61 points ahead of Justin Allen, who sits second, so far this season Evans has claimed four of the six available race wins.
The majority of the teams in the championship completed pre-season testing at Hampton Downs, however, the Giltrap Racing team are the exception, with Marco Giltrap and Evans instead completing testing in the South Island.
Both drivers currently sit inside the top five in the championship with Giltrap in fourth 80 points behind Evans in the lead.
Allen and Shepheard have both had strong starts to the season, though Shepheard would be closer in the points if it weren’t for a difficult race at Ruapuna.
McCutcheon, Ronan Murphy and Pitt will head into the weekend hoping for good results. John Penny will be looking to add to his win at Highlands Motorsport Park.
The Heart of Racing cars stepped up at Ruapuna with Hugo Allan sitting inside the top ten for much of the weekend. While teammates Chelsea Herbert and Rianna O’Meara-Hunt look poised to take a top ten result.
Weekend schedule:
Qualifying – Saturday 9.30 am
Race 1 – Saturday 1.26 pm
Race 2 – Saturday 4.45 pm
Race 3 – Sunday 10.06 am
Race 4 Sunday 2.15 pm
2022 TOYOTA 86 CHAMPIONSHIP DRIVER STANDINGS – POINTS AFTER ROUND 2
1 Simon Evans 405
2 Justin Allen 344
3 Rowan Shepherd 333
4 Marco Giltrap 325
5 Matthew McCutcheon 278
6 Dion Pitt 246
7 John Penny 229
8 Zac Stichbury 224
9 Hugo Allan 218
10 Ronan Murphy 217
11 Clay Osborne 209
12 Brock Gilchrist 161
13 Chelsea Herbert 150
14 Mark Mallard 148
15 Christina Orr-West 141
16 Fynn Osborne 129
17 Todd Foster 128
18 Todd Prujean 121
19 Rianna O’Meara-Hunt 116
20 Will Morton 92
21 Sam Cotterill 54