Lightning start sets Vincent on course for victory

Emerson Vincent turned a lightning getaway into a debut victory in the second race of the weekend for the new Bridgestone GR86 Championship at Taupo International Motorsport Park this morning.

The 16 year old Kings College student showed why he is one of the country’s best young driving talents with an accomplished drive from the first lap to the last.  His two second margin on the charging pack behind was testament to a very mature drive.

The championship format for the second race grid is a reverse of the top ten finishers from Saturday’s first race and that left a fascinating grid with reigning Master class winner John Penny on pole position with rookie Vincent alongside. Behind them it was an all-Australian second row with Alice Buckley starting third ahead of Cooper Barnes.

It was Emerson who made the best start and as the field exited turn one, he had already gained a couple of car lengths ahead of Penny. He never looked back, building a lead by the middle of the race that put the rest out of reach, particularly as all struggled to find a way past Penny who held second for much of the race.

“You never know what is going to happen, particularly when the field is so tight,” said a delighted Vincent on the podium afterwards. “So for me the important thing was to get into the right head space and focus on doing the best job.

“Getting that good start was really important as I didn’t want to be in the battle. I’m so happy to win. We weren’t quite there in testing but we’ve worked so hard as a team and we have got the car back to where we want it to be and it’s really a great result for everyone in the team.”

Behind Emerson, there was endless action as the faster cars fought their way through the field on their way to the front. Second row starters Barnes and Buckley made contact early on, forcing them into the pits for repairs and putting them out of contention for the race.

Ultimately, it was Hugo Allan who did the best job, making some great passes early on and eventually finding a way past a stubborn John Penny to move into second with just a couple of laps of the ten lap race remaining. He reduced the gap to Vincent, but could not catch him and was happy with his second runner-up spot in a row.

Josh Bethune made up for his Saturday penalty with a fine drive to third, passing Penny on the final corner to take that last place on the podium.  Like Allan he had been impressive through the race making his way up from tenth on the grid.

The wily Penny held on for fourth and a Masters class victory. Zach Blincoe looked odds on for a podium in his second race in the championship, but lost two places to Allan and Bethune after an attempt to get by Penny for second. He would have to be satisfied with fifth.

Chris White was another who could have made the podium but lost two places – crucially – on lap six and that put him within reach of Saturday’s winner Hayden Bakkerus. Hayden had prodigious race speed once again but couldn’t make the progress Allan and Bethune ahead and in the last couple of laps had a fierce battle with White and Mason Potter, who made impressive progress from 14^th on the grid. Their battle ended with Bakkerus sixth, Potter an excellent seventh and White eighth with Justin Allen and Arthur Broughan filling the top ten.

Further back, Harry Townshend made excellent progress from 22^nd on the grid to move up to 12^th by the flag, just seven seconds away from the leaders. Formula Ford champion Blake Knowles also impressed after fighting his way back to 16^th after a first lap spin sent him to the back with plenty of work to do to catch the field.

2024-2025 Bridgestone GR86 Championship – Round 1 Race 2