The final round of the NextGen NZ Championship will offer plenty of action on the Cromwell track at one of New Zealand motorsport’s biggest events.
In what has been one of the most competitive championships in New Zealand single-seater history, American driver Ugo Ugochukwu heads into the weekend with a slim lead in the Oceania Trophy.
Ugochukwu and British rival Freddie Slater, who both head to Formula 3 later this year, are two of the headline acts at Highlands.
Japanese star Jin Nakamura is not far behind, however, while New Zealand driver Louis Sharp and team-mate Supercars driver Ryan Wood are also in with a shout.
Liam Sceats, who won the New Zealand Grand Prix two years ago, will also appear for this round only to take the grid to 20 cars.
Sceats knows the FT60 car like the back of his hand and is familiar with the Pirelli tyres so, while he might be rusty, he is likely to be a factor in the main event.
Former rally champion Kalle Rovanpera and American tyro Cooper Shipman are others to watch.
There will be four races in the main series this weekend.
The first will be held this evening as a catch-up after a race was postponed due to the inclement weather at Teretonga last Saturday.
The grid for this race will be based on combined fastest lap times from the first two races
in Invercargill.
F1-type qualifying for the GP weekend will be held tomorrow morning with Q1/Q2/Q3 segments eliminating the slowest drivers in each session until the top eight spots for the GP are fought out in the final segment of qualifying.
Race one is tomorrow afternoon, race two is on Sunday morning and race three on Sunday afternoon is the New Zealand Grand Prix, the longest and most gruelling race of the championship over 27 laps of the demanding Highlands circuit.
As well as the Oceania Trophy, Highlands will host rounds of the Bridgestone GR86 Championship, GT New Zealand Championship, and TA2 Championship. — Allied Media
