Supercars has officially hit the track on the South Island of New Zealand, with practice complete this morning at the inaugural ITM Christchurch Super 440.
This weekend’s event is Supercars’ first at Ruapuna Raceway, with drivers testing the limits in their first and only practice session of the weekend Friday morning.
Aucklander Matt Payne topped the 45-minute session, with a fast lap of 1 minute, 21.3016 seconds.
23-year old Payne is the defending Jason Richards Memorial Trophy winner, but is still looking for his first win of the 2026 Repco Supercars Championship season.
It was a 1-2 for Grove Racing in practice, with Payne’s 20-year old teammate Kai Allen second quickest in the session.
Fresh off his emotional home win last weekend, Ryan Wood was third fastest for Toyota in this morning’s practice.
Teams now turn their focus to Boost Mobile Qualifying, with two-part knockout qualifying to set the grid for today’s 120-kilometre Supercars race.
Today’s race replaces the Sunday race that was originally scheduled for last weekend’s event in Taupō, lost to the day’s cancellation due to Cyclone Vaianu.
Qualifying for today’s race begins at 2:15 p.m., with the 37-lap race set to begin at 4:35 p.m.
The driver who scores the most points across the Taupō and Christchurch events will be awarded the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy, named for beloved Kiwi driver Jason Richards who succumbed to cancer in 2011.
Wood currently leads Broc Feeney in the battle for the JR Trophy, with four races to go to determine this year’s winner.
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