Rick Armstrong has won the opening race of the GT New Zealand Championship at round two, held at Teretonga today in wild and wet conditions for the drivers.
The Mercedes-AMG GT2 of Joel Giddy crossed the line in first place, ahead of the Porsche 992s of Armstrong and Sam Fillmore; however, post-race, he was handed a two-second penalty, relegating him to third and elevating Armstrong to the win.
At the start of the race, pole sitter Armstrong in a Porsche 992 held the lead into turn one with Luke Manson (Porsche 992) slotting into second place, followed by Regan Scoullar (Porsche 992).
Back in GT4, Grant Aitken in his Audi R8 took the lead, passing the two Toyota Supras of Allan Sargeant and Glen Chappell.
By lap nine, the safety car was deployed to recover the Porsche of Luke Manson, which had spun in the braking zone and ended up in the gravel trap.
On the restart, Giddy made an early move on Fillmore, slotting into second place. The pass was investigated post-race, and it was found that Giddy had breached the safety car restart, resulting in a penalty.
The safety car was called again on lap 15 when Allan Sargeant in his Toyota Supra GT4 ran off at turn one and was stranded in the gravel.
With 8 minutes to go, the race restarted, with Giddy making another move on the start, letting the horsepower of his Mercedes AMG GT2 do its work, and he quickly passed Armstrong down the straight.
The race was called a few minutes later, when the time was certain. The chequered flag fell with Giddy across the line in first, Armstrong second, and Sam Fillmore third.
Grant Aitkin took line honours in GT4.
The GT New Zealand Championship have a further 30-minute race tomorrow morning, followed by a 50-minute race in the afternoon.
Header Image: Tayler Burke/Shots By TayB
