After his victory yesterday, Shane van Gisbergen has emerged as the ‘bookies favourite’ to win today’s New Zealand Grand Prix.
Van Gisbergen is currently picked at $2.20* by the TAB to claim a maiden New Zealand Grand Prix win, significantly ahead of Chris van der Drift who is now going for $4.50.
The two finished a little over seven seconds up the road from 18-year-old Matthew Payne, but the youngster is equal in odds with van der Drift. A good qualifying this morning, coupled by a strong start will keep Payne in the hunt for victory.
In theory, Payne is leading the title race for the 2021 Toyota Racing Series given that van Gisbergen, and van der Drift are only contesting this weekend.
Brendon Leitch, Kaleb Ngatoa and Daniel Gaunt are next in line, paying out $7.00 and $8.00.
Gaunt is a former winner of the Grand Prix, but this weekend has failed to make much of an impact among the front runners. Still, his experience could come into play today, especially with some rain on the weather radar.
The same could be said for Leitch, who is the most experience TRS driver in the world. His first season in the category was back in 2014 and he ran for six consecutive seasons before stepping away last year.
Today’s Grand Prix has been billed as the race of champions, featuring big-tier names like Greg Murphy and Ken Smith. The latter is paying out $61.00 for victory today but said yesterday his goal is not so much to win as it is to finish.
Who are you picking for the win?
2021 NZGP entry list:
| No. | Driver |
| 3 | Chris Vlok |
| 7 | Matthew Payne |
| 11 | Conrad Clark |
| 14 | Billy Frazer |
| 15 | Kaleb Ngatoa |
| 22 | Tom Alexander |
| 24 | André Heimgartner |
| 27 | Daniel Gaunt |
| 31 | Chris van der Drift |
| 32 | Joshua Bethune |
| 50 | Ken Smith |
| 51 | Greg Murphy |
| 84 | Peter Vodanovich |
| 86 | Brendon Leitch |
| 87 | Damon Leitch |
| 97 | Shane van Gisbergen |
*Must be 18 years and older to bet
Main Image: John Cowpland/TGRNZ
