Champion
Matthew Payne with the Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy.
Picture Bruce Jenkins
In the
process he added his name to an impressive list of former
TRS champions. An impressive 25% of the current F1 field are
TRS graduates and the FIA F2 and F3 championships are also
bristling with racers who’ve competed and won in TRS.
Matthew Payne could well be another significant graduate and
champion in years to come based on his dominance in
2021.
Payne has won five TRS races since Shane van
Gisbergen’s famous New Zealand Grand Prix victory at
Hampton Downs and is the most dominant champion in several
Thursday, 11 February 2021, 2:08 pm
The 2021 Castrol Toyota Series will be remembered
as being unique in the COVID-19 world, but it has also seen
the emergence of a major new Kiwi racing talent in Matthew
Payne.
Against a field of established stars
at the New Zealand Grand Prix, Payne made his mark with a
trifecta of third place finishes. He went even better the
following weekend with two race wins from the two races
securing the Dorothy Smith Memorial Cup in the feature
race.
Matthew Payne leads the
TRS title chase with four races left.
Picture Bruce
Jenkins
It’s that startling form that sees the
Shane van Gisbergen showed once again that he can seemingly drive anything, anywhere at the top level on Sunday by winning the 66th New Zealand Grand Prix - after starting at the back of the grid from pit lane.
Van Gisbergen accidentally set the fire extinguisher off in his car as the field set out on the formation lap prior to the fans grid walk. That meant a hasty return to the pits to clean out the car, his overalls, his boots and a replacement extinguisher. When the race got under way he had to start from pit lane, at the back of the field.
Picture Bruce Jenkins
Shane
van Gisbergen continued his 100% record at the New Zealand
Grand Prix meeting with victory in the second race of the
Castrol Toyota Racing Series.
It was no easy task for
the V8 Supercar racer, however, as rival Chris van der Drift
pressured him throughout.
After starting from pole
position, he made a much better getaway at the lights and
beat fellow front row sitter Chris van der Drift in the drag
race to the first turn. Second row sitter Ngatoa got a poor
start and dropped back outside of the top five while Matthew
continued his impressive rookie form with another good
Pit lane to P1: SVG clinches stunning NZGP win Repco Supercars Championship By James Pavey, Pics by John Cowpland
Shane van Gisbergen has claimed a remarkable New Zealand Grand Prix victory after starting from pit lane.
It marks the Supercars star’s first win in the marquee race, with van Gisbergen winning both curtain raiser races.
The Kiwi was favourite for the 66th running of the grand prix, which was held at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park.
He backed up his Race 1 win on Saturday with victory in the morning Race 2, leading from pole position.
As it was on Saturday, Race 2 saw the battle for the win fought between van Gisbergen and countryman Chris van der Drift.