Battle resumes for championship honours in the inaugural New Zealand GR86 Championship this weekend around the Hampton Downs National Circuit – and it’s a crucial weekend with just two rounds to go.
The impressive Hayden Bakkerus is playing the classic Toyota 86 Championship strategy well and is leading the chase for the title with a win, multiple podiums, and high placings over the 12 races to date. It’s a strategy that always pays dividends in such a competitive field and continues to do so this season.
Hayden extended his championship lead over three action-packed races at the previous NZ Grand Prix weekend races at Highlands Motorsport Park.
Bakkerus holds a narrow points lead over Hugo Allan, who has had to put in some big race performances in the past couple of rounds to make up for low qualifying positions.
His race pace has been phenomenal, and that’s why he sits second in the points table, but this weekend, he’ll be looking to improve in qualifying and race to win rather than race to make up as many places as he can. For spectators, though, it’s been good to watch and prove that he can certainly race.
Top rookie Chris White is another who has made a strong impression thus far in the championship and has delivered the level of consistency required to be a title challenger. He sits third in the points, but his challenge is far from over, and he can be expected to be at or near the front again this weekend.
Josh Bethune won the last two races and emerged as a late challenger for the title, having arguably the strongest weekend any driver has delivered this season.
Bethune and his new Right Karts by M2 Competition team have found the sweet spot with their GR86, and Bethune himself is driving very well. He will surely be one of the pacesetters around a circuit he knows like the back of his hand this weekend.
Justin Allen always goes well at Hampton Downs and will be there or thereabouts again this weekend, despite having just completed a significant rebuild on his familiar NAPA Autoparts car after sustaining some substantial damage in the second race at Highlands.
He kept his championship challenge alive thanks to the loan of Thomas Mallard’s CRÈME Insurance car for the weekend’s final race, taking some valuable points. He’s not out of it yet.
So many drivers have shown pace and occasional flashes of brilliance so far in the championship that it is impossible – once again – to single out individuals who may add their names to the growing list of race winners this season.
That list of winners sits at no fewer than nine after 12 races and could hit the double-figure mark this weekend. Twelve different drivers have also climbed the podium so far, another eye-catching statistic in a fascinating first year of the championship.
Perhaps Zach Blincoe and Cormac Murphy are most likely to add their names to the winners list. Both have shown pace-setting form in recent rounds of testing and qualifying, and it could be this weekend that everything clicks for them in the races themselves.
Cooper Barnes, Arthur Broughan, Jett Murray, Cameron Hill, Harry Townshend, and Emerson Vincent have all done enough to suggest they could easily make any place on the podium this weekend, too.
Friday testing will be followed by qualifying and the first race on Saturday, followed by two races on Sunday. Sunday’s feature race grid is based on the fastest times recorded in Race 1 and Race 2, so pace in both will be vital in putting together a strong overall performance.
Round 5 Schedule –
Current driver standings in the Toyota GR86 New Zealand Championship –
Header Image: Jessica Barnes/Blissful Photography
