Zeltwanger Clean Sweeps At Hampton Downs
It meant he clean swept the first round of the new winter series with pole position, two race wins and the day's fastest lap.
'It's been a great day, and I'm very pleased to have done so well,' he said on the podium afterwards. 'I enjoyed the race and the car was very good so I have to say thanks to the team for a great job today. We'll move on to the second round and hopefully have the same speed.
'I also want to thank Dion Pitt who offered to help me in this series. He's made a big difference on helping me get up to speed and that's also been a big factor in today.'
Starting alongside him on the front row and far more circumspect after his jumped start in the first race, Harry Townshend was an untroubled second off the start and had a lonely race, comfortably faster than Ajay Giddy behind him but with no answer to Zeltwanger's impressive speed at the front.
Townshend cruised home in second, which was nonetheless his best ever finish in a Toyota 86 race.
Giddy came out on top in a fantastic four way battle for the final spot on the podium which also involved Corban Sprague, Toby Elmiger and young Matt Day in the Dayle ITM car.
For much of the ten lap race the four were nose to tail until a late clash saw CareVets Scholarship winner Sprague and Elmiger made contact on the last lap and spin away nine seconds before they got underway again.
That meant Giddy came home third and Day an eye-catching fourth. The last lap contact was enough to leave Sprague in fifth and Elmiger seventh behind Noel Simpson, who had a solid drive to the front of another race long battle with Nathan Grammer and Kyan Davie.
Conley Webley chased hard at the back of the pack, but took the flag in tenth, less than a second behind Davie.
Toyota 86 Trophy Series - Hampton Downs - Race 2
Grid Car # Driver name Trophy / Winter Team
1 22 Lee Zeltwanger Trophy Lee Zeltwanger
2 73 Harry Townshend Winter Mackenzie Motorsport
3 10 Ajay Giddy Winter Mackenzie Motorsport
4 100 Matt Day Trophy Dayle ITM Racing
5 84 Corban Sprague Trophy iMac Engineering
6 88 Noel Simpson Winter Action Motorsport
7 74 Toby Elmiger Trophy Action Motorsport
8 50 Nathan Grammer Trophy Mackenzie Motorsport
9 19 Kyan Davie Trophy Mackenzie Motorsport
10 18 Conley Webley Trophy Action Motorsport
2025 Toyota 86 Trophy Series
Rd1 9-10 May 2025 Hampton Downs - NZIGP Finale
Rd2 21-22 June 2025 Taupo Int. Motorsport Park - Taupo Winter Series
Rd3 5-6 July 2025 Manfeild – Circuit Chris Amon - Manfeild Winter Series
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10-05-2025
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Zeltwanger Clean Sweeps At Hampton Downs
It meant he clean swept the first round of the new winter series with pole position, two race wins and the day's fastest lap. 'It's been a great day, and I'm very pleased to have done so well,' he said on the podium afterwards. 'I enjoyed the race and the car was very good so I have to say thanks to the team for a great job today. We'll move on to the second round and hopefully have the same speed. 'I also want to thank Dion Pitt who offered to help me in this series. He's made a big difference on helping me get up to speed and that's also been a big factor in today.' Starting alongside him on the front row and far more circumspect after his jumped start in the first race, Harry Townshend was an untroubled second off the start and had a lonely race, comfortably faster than Ajay Giddy behind him but with no answer to Zeltwanger's impressive speed at the front. Townshend cruised home in second, which was nonetheless his best ever finish in a Toyota 86 race. Giddy came out on top in a fantastic four way battle for the final spot on the podium which also involved Corban Sprague, Toby Elmiger and young Matt Day in the Dayle ITM car. For much of the ten lap race the four were nose to tail until a late clash saw CareVets Scholarship winner Sprague and Elmiger made contact on the last lap and spin away nine seconds before they got underway again. That meant Giddy came home third and Day an eye-catching fourth. The last lap contact was enough to leave Sprague in fifth and Elmiger seventh behind Noel Simpson, who had a solid drive to the front of another race long battle with Nathan Grammer and Kyan Davie. Conley Webley chased hard at the back of the pack, but took the flag in tenth, less than a second behind Davie. Toyota 86 Trophy Series - Hampton Downs - Race 2 Grid Car # Driver name Trophy / Winter Team 1 22 Lee Zeltwanger Trophy Lee Zeltwanger 2 73 Harry Townshend Winter Mackenzie Motorsport 3 10 Ajay Giddy Winter Mackenzie Motorsport 4 100 Matt Day Trophy Dayle ITM Racing 5 84 Corban Sprague Trophy iMac Engineering 6 88 Noel Simpson Winter Action Motorsport 7 74 Toby Elmiger Trophy Action Motorsport 8 50 Nathan Grammer Trophy Mackenzie Motorsport 9 19 Kyan Davie Trophy Mackenzie Motorsport 10 18 Conley Webley Trophy Action Motorsport 2025 Toyota 86 Trophy Series Rd1 9-10 May 2025 Hampton Downs - NZIGP Finale Rd2 21-22 June 2025 Taupo Int. Motorsport Park - Taupo Winter Series Rd3 5-6 July 2025 Manfeild – Circuit Chris Amon - Manfeild Winter Series
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10-05-2025
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Zeltwanger Takes Debut Win
Saturday, 10 May 2025, 2:58 pm Press Release: TOYOTA GAZOO Racing New Zealand Harry Townshend leads the field but Lee Zeltwanger took the spoils. Photo: Bruce Jenkins. Winter series class racer Townshend was simply too eager to get away from the lights quickly and picked up a five second penalty. Lee tucked in behind and for two laps the two enjoyed an entertaining battle for the lead but the damage to Townshend's race was done. Harry simply didn't have the speed to build a five second margin on Zeltwanger and after a couple of attempts to pass the Bridgestone GR86 Championship racer, Lee contented himself sitting in close proximity to the leader and counted down the eight laps to the flag. After taking pole position in the morning, he was delighted to secure an impressive first win. 'I knew early on that Harry had picked up a penalty,' he said afterwards. 'But I like to try and win on the road so I had a couple of goes at passing him, but the win was more important in the end so I was happy to tuck in behind and stay nice and close.' Behind the two leaders, Corbyn Sprague improved further on his qualifying performance and went one better to beat Ajay Giddy to the flag. That third became second in the final results with Townshend's penalty and that five seconds was also enough to promote Giddy to the final place on the podium and the Winter Series class win. Sprague was satisfied with the result after having only limited running in the CareVets TR86. 'I genuinely haven't had a lot of time in the car and I am still very much learning it and building a relationship with the team, we are getting faster every time we go out on the track so I am pretty happy with second and we know there is much more to come.' Townshend's penalty dropped him to an eventual fourth. Fifth should have been Matt Day in the Dayle ITM TR86 but he was another to jump the gun at the start and also copped a five second penalty. That put Noel Simpson fifth overall ahead of Toby Elmiger after a fine battle midfield, with Nathan Grammer seventh, Kyan Davie eighth, Day ninth and Conley Webley rounding out the top ten. Toyota 86 Trophy Series – Round 1 Hampton Downs Qualifying Grid Car # Driver name Trophy / Winter Team 1 22 Lee Zeltwanger Trophy Lee Zeltwanger 2 84 Corban Sprague Trophy iMac Engineering 3 10 Ajay Giddy Winter Mackenzie Motorsport 4 73 Harry Townshend Winter Mackenzie Motorsport 5 88 Noel Simpson Trophy Action Motorsport 6 74 Toby Elmiger Trophy Action Motorsport 7 50 Nathan Grammer Trophy Mackenzie Motorsport 8 19 Kyan Davie Trophy Mackenzie Motorsport 9 100 Matt Day Trophy Dayle ITM Racing 10 18 Conley Webley Trophy Action Motorsport 2025 Toyota 86 Trophy Series Rd1 9-10 May 2025 Hampton Downs - NZIGP Finale Rd2 21-22 June 2025 Taupo Int. Motorsport Park - Taupo Winter Series Rd3 5-6 July 2025 Manfeild – Circuit Chris Amon - Manfeild Winter Series Rd4 26-27 July 2025 Taupo Int. Motorsport Park - Taupo Winter Series Visit us: © Scoop Media
Scoop
10-05-2025
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Zeltwanger Races To First Toyota 86 Trophy Series Pole
For all of the drivers competing, it was the first dry time on track in the TR86 at the race meeting after most of Friday was rained off and it was Zeltwanger in his self-run TR86 – overseen by experienced Toyota racer Dion Pitt - who was quickest into the groove. His first flying lap was in the 1 minute 16 second bracket before he unleashed his best on his second flying lap – an impressive 1 minute 16.150 second effort. He was delighted to have found pole winning speed so quickly, commenting: 'I set a decent lap time on my first flying lap but when the tyres were up to temperature I was able to go a bit faster and I am very happy with my speed. It's a great car to drive, with much less roll than I am used to. 'I'm one hundred percent looking forward to the races a little later.' Alongside Lee on the front row for the first race of the new series will be old hand Harry Townshend. Back in the car he raced in the Toyota 86 Championship, but ineligible for Trophy Series points having run in the Bridgestone GR86 Championship last season, he nevertheless showed his intent to bag a few race wins and podiums with a fine lap of 1 minute 16.419 on his second flying lap. That was good for the fastest time in the Winter Series class, edging out rival Ajay Giddy by three tenths of a second. CareVets Scholarship winner Corbyn Sprague saved his best effort until later in the session to claim the outside starting position on the second row with fourth fastest time. Matt Day was at the sharp end from the first flying lap and had a solid session aboard the Dayle ITM Racing TR86, also clocking a time under the 1 minute 17 second TR86 benchmark to take the fifth fastest time. Sixteen year old Taupo student Toby Elmiger will be alongside Day on the third row of the grid. Former TR86 championship series Master class racer Noel Simpson qualified a solid seventh in the Lexel TR86, edging Nathan Grammer. Ninth and tenth will be Kyan Davie and Conley Webley. Toyota 86 Trophy Series – Round 1 Hampton Downs Qualifying Grid Car # Driver name Trophy / Winter Team 1 22 Lee Zeltwanger Trophy Lee Zeltwanger 2 73 Harry Townshend Winter Mackenzie Motorsport 3 10 Ajay Giddy Winter Mackenzie Motorsport 4 84 Corban Sprague Trophy iMac Engineering 5 100 Matt Day Trophy Dayle ITM Racing 6 74 Toby Elmiger Trophy Action Motorsport 7 88 Noel Simpson Trophy Action Motorsport 8 50 Nathan Grammer Trophy Mackenzie Motorsport 9 19 Kyan Davie Trophy Mackenzie Motorsport 10 18 Conley Webley Trophy Action Motorsport 2025 Toyota 86 Trophy Series Rd1 9-10 May 2025 Hampton Downs - NZIGP Finale Rd2 21-22 June 2025 Taupo Int. Motorsport Park - Taupo Winter Series Rd3 5-6 July 2025 Manfeild – Circuit Chris Amon - Manfeild Winter Series
