Latest news with #CareVetsScholarship
Scoop
05-07-2025
- Automotive
- Scoop
Zeltwanger Completes Dominant Day With Race Win
Lee dominated practice and qualifying at the Manawatu track before fighting off Harry Townshend by just a couple of tenths of a second in the first of the weekend's races. Zeltwanger and his Skunkworks team are now hot favourites to win the inaugural series title. Townshend's strong run increased his lead in the Winter series class for Bridgestone GR86 runners in the Trophy Series. Chief class rival Ajay Giddy made contact with Harry in the heat of battle for third on lap five between turn 1 and 2, swiping the tyre barriers and putting him to the back of the field. Thankfully for him he was able to continue. Surprise of qualifying, Nathan Grammer backed up his front row start with a podium finish for Mackenzie Motorsport but was unable to maintain the blistering pace of the two leaders and came home four seconds behind Townshend at the flag. CareVets Scholarship winner Corban Sprague was next up a couple of seconds behind the impressive Grammer and he had his mirrors full of Matt Day throughout the ten lap race. Toby Elmiger was next up with a healthy margin over Giddy by the end. Two more races on Sunday could see the impressive Zeltwanger take a big step towards securing the title and a pathway into the 2025-2026 Bridgestone GR 86 Championship. Toyota 86 Trophy Series – Round 3 Manfeild – Circuit Chris Amon – Race 1 Pos Car # Driver name Trophy / Winter Team 1 22 Lee Zeltwanger Trophy Skunkworks Racing 2 73 Harry Townshend Winter Mackenzie Motorsport 3 50 Nathan Grammer Trophy 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 10 Ajay Giddy Winter Mackenzie 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
20-06-2025
- Automotive
- Scoop
Zeltwanger In Rivals' Sights For Taupo
Lee Zeltwanger is the man they have to catch at the second round of the new Toyota 86 Trophy Series at the Taupo International Motorsport Park this weekend. On an impressive debut last month at Hampton Downs, Lee clean swept the first round of the series with pole position, two race wins and the day's fastest lap. Now it's on to the 3.3km track in the South Waikato, notorious as being particularly hard on tyres over a race weekend. Zeltwanger was challenged hard at the first round by Bridgestone GR86 Championship regulars Harry Townshend and AJ Giddy at the first round, but those challengers are likely to be joined at the sharp end of the grid by CareVets Scholarship winner Corban Sprague and the impressive Matt Day, who improved with every session at Hampton Downs. Action Motorsport will once again field experienced racer Noel Simpson and rising talent Toby Elmiger who will be looking to continue the improvements they made at the first round. Conley Webley will be missing from the grid this round due to a clash with another event, but will be back for the third round at Manfeild. The field will be joined this weekend by Antal Sabo, an experienced club level driver and eSports motorsport competitor who will be racing a Toyota 86 for the first time this weekend, running with Race Lab Academy. The 29-year-old, who is originally from Timisoara in Romania will bring race and class winning experience from Elf Rhino Racing Series, the OK Cup and the NZ Honda Cup to his challenge, which will be supported by Crème Insurance after an introduction to the Toyota racing community by Mark Mallard. There's two practice sessions on Saturday afternoon but the rest of the action all takes place on Sunday with another practice, qualifying and two races on a busy Sunday for teams and drivers.
Scoop
10-05-2025
- Automotive
- Scoop
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
