NextGen NZ Championship Showdown At Hampton Downs

The NextGen New Zealand Championship, presented by Repco, delivered an entertaining weekend of racing at Hampton Downs, with six categories of cars battling it out at the circuit south of Auckland.

The season-ending DAYLE ITM Hampton Downs Grand Finale saw great racing across all the categories; the Summerset GT New Zealand Championship, Bridgestone GR86 Championship, Egmont Honey GTRNZ, Pirelli Porsche, Napa Auto Parts New Zealand Formula Ford Championship and the Napa Central Muscle Cars.

"The NextGen New Zealand Championship team has performed exceptionally, establishing a high standard and laying the foundation for a remarkable future.

“This season has been a true celebration of New Zealand’s premier motorsport talent.

"Preparations for the upcoming season are already in motion, and we look forward to building on this momentum,” said NextGen New Zealand Championship CEO Josie Spillane.

The Summerset GT New Zealand Championship GT4 title was decided on Saturday with William Exton having a relatively drama free race winning ahead of Kaleb Ngatoa and James Sax who finished third. Drive of the day came from Marco Giltrap who came from last after a restart following a crash between James Parker and Sam Fillmore. Title contender Joel Giddy climbed through the field and passed Rick Armstrong to claim second behind Giltrap. Armstrong had bragging honours for Sunday’s first race from Fillmore and Luke Manson. The hour-long endurance race in the afternoon was won by Giltrap from Giddy and Fillmore, and with Armstrong finishing in fifth he clinched the Open Class championship. Giltrap won the Junior Pro and Junior Pro Porsche Endurance New Zealand title. Tony Quinn was the GT4 Endurance Champion.

The Bridgestone GR86 Championship continues to entertain where less than a second covers the field. Josh Bethune appeared to have Saturday’s race in the bag until he went to grab a gear and found nothing. He was subsequently passed by Justin Allen and Cooper Barnes. Sunday’s first race was a reverse grid affair where most of the chaotic action took place between Hayden Bakkerus, Josh Bethune and Hugo Allan behind race leaders Chris White, Arthur Broughan and Jett Murray. White eventually came out on top from Murray and Bethune with Broughan dropping to eighth after incurring a five-second penalty. Bethune delivered a clinical victory in the feature race at the penultimate round of the Bridgestone GR86 Championship and keeps his championship hopes alive, as the gap between series leader Bakkerus and Allan was reduced to just 11 points. They now head to their last round at the Taupo Supercars’ event, April 11-13.

Andrew Porter won the opening race of the NAPA Central Muscle Cars on Saturday ahead of Angus Fogg and Grant Crosby. In his first race in the class, Tony Quinn, who was set to start in sixth but elected to start from the rear of the grid, crossed the line in eighth. Race two winner was Rodney Heads in front of Porter, with Clarke Hopkins rounding out the podium after Fogg spun. In Sunday’s first race Fogg took the lead from the start only for the safety car to come out after Quinn spun and stalled the car. On the restart Crosby jumped to the lead but was quickly caught by Fogg and Porter respectively. The reverse grid handicap race is always a fan favourite with passing all through the field. Shane Johnson took line honours from Fogg and Quinn who ended the day on a high finishing third. They now head to their last round at the Taupo Supercars’ event, April 11-13.

The story of the weekend in the NAPA Auto Parts New Zealand Formula Ford Championship was the arrival of 13-year-old Marco Manson. Showing impressive pace in only his second event, Manson clocked up a second, a third and another third over the three races. Formula Ford regular Toby McCormack won all three races and now leads the North Island championship from Blake Dowdall and Shane Drake. The New Zealand Formula Ford Championship is headed by Blake Dowdall from William Neale and McCormack. The series now heads to Manfeild, April 4-6.

Pirelli Porsche champions were anointed over the weekend. MSNZ Championship winner Daniel Angus race weekend got off to a good start on Saturday morning where he finished first and continued his good form over the rest of the weekend winning all four races. He is also the Endurance Trophy winner. Nicholas Cutfield took out the series championship for older Cup Cars while Tim Robinson is the 944 champion. The 2.7 Boxster champion is Steven Fang, who is also the Porsche Club Championship winner and Jacob Bellamy was crowned the 2.5 Boxster champion.

There were over 60 cars in the GTRNZ field supported by Egmont Honey, Best Insulation and CGP Panelworks. The battle for GTRNZ 1/2 over the weekend was between Kerry Jones, John De Veth and Glenn Smith with Jones winning the first two race, De Veth was second in all three with Smith winning the first race with Jones the third. The top three places in GTRNZ 3/4 were in a similar vein Ben Van Der Werff winning two races, Kruz Scott was on the podium in all three (two thirds and a second) with Matt Henney picking up a second and a third. Podium finishes were rounded out by Logan Childs who finished second in race two.

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