A thrilling season finale is set to take place this weekend in Christchurch for the 2024/25 Mazda Pro8 New Zealand series with the two top contenders battling for the overall title. Jarod Pyke as a 48-point advantage over Corban Sprague with four races to take place over the weekend at the Euromarque Motorsport Park in Ruapuna.
Sprague has been playing catch up all season after two non-scoring results at the opening round, also in Christchurch while Pyke has continued to collect points, maintaining his lead over the five rounds series. Sprague has the momentum and has been the driver to beat, however it will be a ‘big-ask’ to overtake Pyke.
“Corban was fast there in Round 1,” commented Pyke. “It will be tight and he will be hard to beat so I’m just hoping for some consistent racing.”
With a 12-point difference between first and second in each of the four races, if Sprague was to win all and Pyke took second, the result will be a tie on points.
“I’m looking forward to it,” said Sprague. “We had pretty good pace at the first round which I’ve got to convert into good points. It is a big ask and It is going to be difficult, I’ll give it a crack and my best shot.
“Carrying momentum is the key at this track (Ruapuna). It’s a big long wide track with big braking zones which will be important to nail and carry moment. I’m quite happy to be the chaser which I like. It will be game on.”
In a solid third place is Bradley Dawson who will be capable of disrupting the proceedings in also seeking to seeking to win races.
Drivers face four races with the grid for Race 1 determined by fastest laps in qualifying. A marble draw sets the grid for the second race with a reverse of that grid for Race 3. The final Race 4 grid will be determined by most points awarded over the previous three races.
Mazda Pro8 New Zealand Points after 4/5 rounds (Top 15)
1/ Jared Pyke 2007
2/ Corban Sprague 1959
3/ Bradley Dawson 1881
4/ Ben McConochie 1668
5/ Hamish Evans 1647
6/ Jeremy Dawson 1560
7/ Cory Stewart 1377
8/ Kaleb Pateman 1248
9/ Sam Knight 1238
10/ Lincoln Brunton 1128
11/ Jeremy Skeggs 879
12/ Ash Mcconchie 828
13/ Micheal Court 783
14/ Kris Mackie 702
15/ Simon Wheeler 702
Mazda Pro8 New Zealand Team Points
1/ Timaru Racing club (Corban, Kaleb, Linc) 4662
2/ Southern most race team (Brad, Jeremy, Jeremy) 4320
3/ Team BMC (Jared, Ben, Corey, Tom) 4000.5
4/ Team Need for speed (Hamish, Sam K , Michael C) 3656
5/ KAS Racing (Kris, Ash, Simon) 2217
Comments