Ransley untouchable at Teretonga day one
After an up-and-down visit to Highlands Motorsport Park last weekend, Jaden Ransley has swept all three Friday Toyota 86 Championship practice sessions at Teretonga Park in Invercargill in his Miles Toyota supported car.
The Christchurch-based teenager set the fastest lap of the day in the third session - a 1:08.204 — half a second quicker than International Motorsport driver Connor Adam in the Post Haste car, with the 15-car field separated by 1.6 seconds at the end of play.
While Friday's forecast was expected to be a mixture of conditions with a chance of rain, an overcast start eventually departed to reveal blue skies over the 2.5km track.
Ransley's benchmark was a consistent one over the course of the day, with his practice three result just over a tenth quicker than the time he set to top session one. His nearest rival, for the second round in a row, was CareVets Scholarship driver and series leader Callum Hedge. In practice one and two, he was just three tenths and one tenth adrift of Ransley's benchmarks respectively.
Things came undone in third practice for Hedge, after his session ended prematurely with a mechanical failure. Connor Adam ended the day in second, having posted the third and fourth fastest times in first and second practice. Despite a rough weekend at Highlands Motorsport Park last time out, Adam still sits second in the championship standings. However the gap between him and Hedge has grown to 40 points.
The Toyota 86 Championship has three races at Teretonga Park spread across this weekend. Qualifying for races one and two takes place at 11.50am tomorrow, with the opening showdown set to start at 2.45pm.
Practice 1
1. Jaden Ransley
2. Callum Hedge
3. Connor Adam
4. Jordan Baldwin
5. Brock Gilchrist
Practice 2
1. Jaden Ransley
2. Callum Hedge
3. Arran Crighton
4. Connor Adam
5. Campbell Stewart
Practice 3
1. Jaden Ransley
2. Connor Adam
3. Peter Vodanovich
4. Arran Crighton
5. Jordan Baldwin
