Basking in the bright sunshine of the northern Waikato region, the 2025 Hampton Downs International drew a significantly larger crowd than the equivalent event in season one – and turned on the action on track too.
The live broadcast coverage on Sky Sport New Zealand, Fox Sports and Kayo in Australia and a large digital audience watching online will likely combine to make it one of the more visible domestic motorsport events staged in recent years.
“What a way to launch our 2025/26 season, the Waikato region turned on the weather and the show on and off track was exceptional,” said Josie Spillane, CEO of the NextGen NZ Championship.
“Our attendance was more than six times larger than both the opening round and the same event at Hampton Downs last season, which is a testament to both the efforts we are making to energise the series, along with the addition of the two incredible categories from Australia and our friends at SRO Motorsport Group.
“We are incredibly proud of the support from our competitors and grids are only going to grow as we move into January and the four events back-to-back, which make up the core of the championship, including the return of the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy.”
While the international GT classes were a drawcard, Spillane said the quality of competition provided by key local categories was proof that the sport was headed in the right direction.
“Bridgestone GR86 was sensational, including a race that featured one of their closest ever finishes. The debut of TA2 New Zealand was spectacular; it’s the V8 category New Zealand has needed for years, and it’s more than five years of hard work paying off.
“Despite racing just one week ago, the Porsche NZ Championship came with a fantastic grid and even though GTNZ had a smaller field than usual, the action was superb, and we know that’s going to build in January. The same goes for the Central Muscle Cars.
“Our efforts won’t stop to make NZ Motorsport great again, and we are always pushing for more, but we also know that we can take a moment to celebrate a great start to the championship and an incredible effort from our team to pull off a fantastic event.”
On track, highlights included a thrilling finish to the Monochrome GT4 Australia Championship that saw Tom Hayman and Max Geoghegan claim the title for Chaz Mostert’s Method Motorsport team.
Needing to win the final race to take the title, Hayman survived a late race restart and pressure from Dick Johnson Racing’s latest Supercars signing Rylan Gray to claim the title in a dramatic finish.
It was a similar story in GT World Challenge Australia as Brad Schumacher and Broc Feeney claimed the title in an upset, after would-be victors Jaxon Evans and Elliott Schutte were penalised for a late-race restart breach.
It handed a dramatic title win to the Audi team after a year-long battle between them and the Ferrari.
Bridgestone GT86 Championship provided arguably the race of the weekend in their finale as Arthur Broughan defeated defending champion Hugo Allen by 0.0024 seconds in an absolute thriller.
Earlier in the day, Zach Blincoe claimed race two ahead of Cooper Barnes, setting up a Mackenzie Motorsport sweep of the weekend.
A dramatic debut for the TA2 New Zealand Championship saw NAPA-backed driver Dylan Grant claim the round victory.
The final race saw a large crash at the start that saw the red flag flown, halting proceedings while several cars – including early weekend pacesetter Clay Osborne – were recovered. All drivers emerged unscathed with the race completed in full to cap off a successful debut from the category.
GT New Zealand produced a pair of thrillers: the Sunday wins split by Nigel Cromie, who benefited from a post-race penalty to Joel Giddy, and Rick Armstrong. Giddy scored the points, however, to claim the series lead heading into round two aboard his JG Civil Mercedes-AMG GT2.
A pair of drive-from-behind performances from Daniel Angus saw him on top in the Porsche NZ Championship.
Angus stalled at the start of race two and had to pass almost the entire field, falling just short of winner Duncan McCrostie at the line.
It was a similar story in race three, though his early pit stop saw him drop back early before once again coming home with a flourish to grab the win.
Though a small grid, the Central Muscle Cars put on a show with Lance Hughes’ Torana claiming victory over Angus Fogg.
NEXT ROUND:
The NextGen NZ Championship returns to Hampton Downs in early January for the Hampton Downs International, which doubles as the opening round of Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceana.
It’s the start of a four-event swing through January that culminates in the 70th New Zealand Grand Prix four weeks later.
Joining CTFROT on the program will be round two of the Bridgestone GR86 Championship, Porsche NZ Championship and the thunder and diversity of the GTRNZ grid.
The event will be held on 9-11 January, with tickets available online now from www.nextgennz.co.nz
Header Image: Tayler Burke
