Ferrari, Aston Martin and McLaren are a few of the 24 exotic cars vying for championship honours at the season opening Golden Homes GT New Zealand Championship, a category of the 2023 Super Sprint series.
Launching at the season opening round of Highlands (Cromwell), 13-15 January 2023, they will contest four of the eight Super Sprint MotorSport New Zealand Championship events.
While they will look and sound the part, their gentlemanly owners will be ensuring they stay that way – a point reinforced by Golden Homes GT NZ Category Manager, Grant Smith.
“These are car aficionados, who are competitive and want to race – this is where they can do all of that. For us it is about the family environment – having fun and sharing their passion,” said Smith.
“They are amazing cars driven by some amazing individuals who have incredible stories to tell about what they’ve done with their lives.”
The Golden Homes GT NZ Championship will consist of two classes within one field – An Open class featuring 911 GT3 Cup, Ferrari Challenge, and Lamborghini Super Trofeo, and the popular GT4 class featuring GT4 category vehicles.
A total of16 cars will contest the GT4 class from leading manufacturers such as McLaren, Ginetta, Aston Martin, Mercedes and Porsche. The open class will see no less than ten machines from Porsche, Ferrari and Lamborghini line up during the season.
Waikato’s Todd Bawden will start the season in his McLaren 570S GT4, having made the jump to buy a 2022 Ferrari 488 Challenge Cup, which he will use for the remainder of the series.
“It will land just before the season starts so doesn’t give us enough time for it to be ready for Highlands – unfortunately,” said Bawden.
A brand new car, Bawden has a simple reason for the change: “It’s a step up and also the opportunity to use it at other Challenge Cup events overseas. Wayne (Leach) and I have been racing quite a bit so this car was more about what we can be doing together.”
Leach will drive a similar 488 model Ferrari.
Each round of the GT NZ Championship will feature two 30-minute races along with one 60-minute race with a compulsory pit stop. There will be the option of one or two drivers per car with the 60-minute race also worth double points.
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