2017–18 NZ Touring Cars Championship

2017–18 NZ Touring Cars Championship
Previous: 2016–17 Next: 2018–19

The 2017–18 NZ Touring Cars Championship (known for commercial reasons as the 2017–18 BNT V8s Championship) is the nineteenth season of the series, and the third under the NZ Touring Cars name. The field comprises three classes racing on the same grid. Class one features both V8ST and NZV8 TLX cars. Class two and three consists of older NZV8 TL and varying touring cars.

Entrants edit

Team Vehicle No. Driver Events
Class One
Concept Motorsport Nissan Altima (L33) 007   Nick Ross[1] All
JumpFlex Racing Holden Commodore (VE) 42   Matthew Tubbs 2–6
Richards Team Motorsport Toyota Camry (XV50) 71   Andre Heimgartner[2] All
97   Jason Bargwanna All
222   Scott Taylor 6
Lathrope Racing Ford Falcon (FG) 73   Brad Lathrope[3] 1–2, 5–6
Hamilton Motorsports Holden Commodore (VE) 84   Lance Hughes All
85   Jack Smith[4] 1–3, 5–6
Class Two
Alan McCarrison Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 9   Alan McCarrison 1
Digga Ford Falcon (BF) 11   Justin Ashwell All
Bronson Porter Racing Holden Commodore (VZ) 40   Bronson Porter 1–2
Brock Timperley Motorsport Ford Falcon (BF) 59   Brock Timperley All
Chelsea Herbert Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 62   Chelsea Herbert All
Nick Farrier Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 63   Nick Farrier 1–2, 6
Liam MacDonald Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 69   Liam MacDonald All
Grand Design Timber Ford Falcon (BF) 77   Rob Wallace 1–2, 5–6
Dign4U Ford Falcon (BF) 777   Matt Podjursky[5] 1–2, 5–6
Invitational
Nigel Karl Racing Ford Falcon (BF) 17
171
  Nigel Karl 1–2, 5–6
Motorsport Services Hyundai i45 17   Todd Murphy 6
Thirsty Liquor Ford Falcon (BF) 18
117
  Shane Whitley 1
2
Shaws Asphalters Holden Commodore (VE) 23   John de Veth 6
AV8 Motorsport Holden Commodore (VE) 3   Tony Anderson 2
Ford Falcon (BA) 32 6
McDonald Kerbing Specialists Holden Commodore (VE) 50   Blair McDonald 6
4H Investments Holden Commodore (VE) 57   Eric Hennephof 6
DFM Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 80   Jono Lester 6
BM Racing BMW M3 (E92) 98   Andrew Nugent 1
Mortimer Motorsport BMW M3 (E46) 177   Matt Griffin[6] 1
BMW M3 (E92) 197   Warwick Mortimer[6] 1

Calendar edit

Round 1 will be held in support of the 2017 ITM Auckland SuperSprint while Round 5 will be in support of the 2018 New Zealand Grand Prix.[7]

Rnd Circuit Date Pole Position Fastest Lap Class 1 Winner Class 2 Winner Invitational Winner
2017
1 R1 Pukekohe Park Raceway 3–5 November   Andre Heimgartner   Jason Bargwanna   Jason Bargwanna   Liam MacDonald   Andrew Nugent
R2   Nick Ross   Jason Bargwanna   Liam MacDonald   Matt Griffin
R3   Andre Heimgartner   Andre Heimgartner   Liam MacDonald   Andrew Nugent
2 R1 Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park 1–3 December   Andre Heimgartner   Andre Heimgartner   Andre Heimgartner   Chelsea Herbert   Nigel Karl
R2   Jason Bargwanna   Jason Bargwanna   Liam MacDonald   Nigel Karl
R3   Andre Heimgartner   Andre Heimgartner   Brock Timperley no starters
2018
3 R1 Mike Pero Motorsport Park 12–14 January   Andre Heimgartner   Andre Heimgartner   Andre Heimgartner   Chelsea Herbert no entrants
R2   Jason Bargwanna   Andre Heimgartner   Liam MacDonald no entrants
R3   Nick Ross   Andre Heimgartner   Justin Ashwell no entrants
4 R1 Teretonga Park 19–21 January   Andre Heimgartner   Andre Heimgartner   Andre Heimgartner   Brock Timperley no entrants
R2   Jason Bargwanna   Jason Bargwanna   Liam MacDonald no entrants
R3   Jason Bargwanna   Nick Ross   Brock Timperley no entrants
5 R1 Circuit Chris Amon 9–11 February   Nick Ross   Andre Heimgartner   Andre Heimgartner   Brock Timperley no starters
R2   Jack Smith   Nick Ross   Brock Timperley no starters
R3   Jack Smith   Jason Bargwanna   Brock Timperley no starters
6 R1 Hampton Downs Motorsport Park 9–11 March   Jason Bargwanna   Jason Bargwanna   Jason Bargwanna   Brock Timperley   John de Veth
R2   Jack Smith   Nick Ross   Liam MacDonald   John de Veth
R3   Jack Smith   Jack Smith   Brock Timperley   Nigel Karl

Championship standings edit

Pos Driver PUK TAU RUA TER MAN HAM Pen. Pts
Class One
1   Andre Heimgartner 18 2 1 1 4 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 3 10 2 4 4 1179
2   Jason Bargwanna 1 1 4 2 1 2 2 Ret 2 2 1 3 12 5 1 1 10 3 1106
3   Nick Ross 3 17 2 4 2 3 3 2 3 Ret 3 1 2 1 3 17 1 2 1065
4   Lance Hughes 2 4 Ret 5 5 4 4 9 4 3 4 9 4 4 2 3 18 15 873
5   Jack Smith 8 5 12 3 3 5 9 3 Ret 3 2 4 5 2 1 817
6   Matthew Tubbs 7 7 10 10 4 7 7 5 6 10 13 11 9 5 6 704
7   Brad Lathrope Ret 6 Ret 6 6 6 5 6 13 8 6 5 463
8   Scott Taylor 7 8 7 136
Class Two
1   Liam MacDonald 6 8 3 13 8 8 6 5 Ret DSQ 6 5 7 9 6 15 11 9 1090
2   Brock Timperley 12 16 6 Ret 10 7 8 7 Ret 4 7 4 6 7 5 11 12 8 1055
3   Chelsea Herbert 9 9 7 8 Ret 11 5 6 6 5 8 7 8 8 8 13 15 14 1041
4   Justin Ashwell 11 15 14 12 13 13 7 8 5 6 9 8 9 11 9 16 14 11 948
5   Matt Podjurksy 10 Ret Ret 9 14 14 11 10 7 12 13 10 555
6   Robert Wallace 7 11 5 Ret 11 Ret DNS 12 12 14 16 18 431
7   Nick Farrier 13 10 8 14 9 9 20 17 13 418
8   Bronson Porter Ret 12 13 Ret 12 12 192
9   Alan McCarrison 15 Ret Ret 39
Invitational
-   John DeVeth 4 3 16 -
-   Matt Griffin 5 3 Ret -
-   Andrew Nugent 4 Ret 9 -
-   Blair McDonald 6 7 19 -
-   Warwick Mortimer 17 7 10 -
-   Jono Lester 10 9 17 -
-   Nigel Karl 14 13 11 10 15 DNS DNS DNS DNS 19 DNS 12 -
-   Shane Whitley 16 14 15 11 Ret DNS -
-   Eric Hennephof 18 DNS DNS -
-   Tony Anderson DNS DNS DNS -
Pos Driver PUK TAU RUA TER MAN HAM Pen. Pts
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver Second place
Bronze Third place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

Bold - Pole position
Italics - Fastest lap

References edit

  1. ^ "NICK ROSS READY FOR MILESTONE BNT V8S SEASON". Retrieved 8 November 2017.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "ANDRÉ HEIMGARTNER RETURNS TO BNT V8S IN RTM TOYOTA CAMRY". Retrieved 8 November 2017.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ "BRAD LATHROPE READY FOR BNT V8S CLASS ONE DEBUT". Retrieved 8 November 2017.[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ "AUSTRALIAN V8 CHAMPION JOINS BNT V8 GRID FOR ITM AUCKLAND SUPERSPRINT". Retrieved 8 November 2017.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ "YOUNG GUN MATT PODJURSKY CONFIRMED FOR NZ TOURING CAR DEBUT". Retrieved 8 November 2017.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ a b "MATT GRIFFIN BRINGS BMW M3 TO BNT V8S GRID FOR CLASS THREE TILT". Archived from the original on 8 November 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  7. ^ "NZ V8 Touring Cars - 2017/18 Calendar". NZ Touring Cars Championship. NZ V8 Touring Cars. 5 November 2017. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 5 November 2017.

External links edit