Fresh from a massive weekend at Teretonga, the Bridgestone GR86 championship moves to Highlands this weekend and could deliver a thriller for motorsport fans.
The inaugural championship for the new model GR86 is proving to be remarkably close.
With 25-car practice and qualifying sessions covered by tenths of a second, and races with 20 cars covered by 15 seconds, there is hardly a margin for error.
After rounds at Taupo, Hampton Downs and Teretonga, there have been eight different winners in nine races.
Veteran series racer Justin Allen is the only driver to have won twice.
His victory in the feature race at Teretonga last weekend was all class as Allen stayed calm, collected and fast in the face of immense pressure from behind.
While he has impressed, the championship leader is actually Hayden Bakkerus with one race victory and the best consistency to date.
Hugo Allan — third in the championship standings — has arguably been the best in races, but that is because he has disadvantaged himself in qualifying and has had to work his way through the field to take what points he can.
Allan has been spectacular to watch, and his race pace is keeping him in the hunt for the title, but there is no question he will be looking for a massive weekend at Highlands over NZGP weekend to push himself back to the front.
Zach Blincoe, Harry Townshend and Cormac Murphy are contenders to watch, while Simon Hunter is a strong challenger for masterclass honours and has a new car this weekend after a big accident at Teretonga that was not his fault.
Christina Orr-West, one of the most experienced drivers in the category, sits at the top of the unofficial "most places gained" table, showing she has lost none of her racecraft.
She will target a podium place this weekend on a circuit on which she has experience in Toyota 86s right up to GTs.
It all starts with practice laps today before the weekend action begins with qualifying and race one.
Sunday’s reverse top-10 grid race in the morning precedes the 2pm 12-lap feature race as a key support class for the 69th New Zealand Grand Prix.
— APL
