Ferrari’s for Bawden and Leach in Golden Homes GT New Zealand Championship

It’ll be a two car Ferrari attack for Wayne Leach and Todd Bawden when the Golden Homes GT New Zealand Championship gets underway at Highlands Motorsport Park in January.

Leach will campaign a 2018 Ferrari 488 Challenge Cup Car which he has upgraded from the 458 Challenge Car he raced at selected rounds last season in his Winger livery, while Bawden will drive a new 2022 model in his Online Contractors livery.

Last season, Bawden campaigned a McLaren 570S GT4, finishing eighth in the Championship and collecting a win along the way. With his new Ferrari not arriving in time for the start of the season, he will climb back into the McLaren for the opening round at Highlands.

“Todd’s car is not due in the country in time for Highlands so it will be launched at Hampton Downs at round two, at round one Todd will run is McLaren GT4 he used in last year’s series,” says Team Manager, Paul Burborough.

The Ferrari 488 Challenge Cup car is powered by a 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8, with a power output of 660hp.

To ensure parity in each of the different classes of racing, there will be a Balance of Performance criteria added to each of the races. The BOP will be implemented during the compulsory pit stop and the length of pit stop will be determined using qualifying times and lap times from previous races as well as previous race results.

It’ll be a busy season for the Winger Motorsport Team. The outfit will run the two Ferrari 488 Challenge cars in the Golden Homes NZ GT Championship, and two Toyota 86s at the same events, one for Wayne Leach’s son Tim and one for Harry Townshend from Napier – both will be rookies.

The 2023 GT New Zealand Championship will consist of a four-round series over three months commencing January 13-15 at Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell.

This will be followed by the second round with the New Zealand Grand Prix at Hampton Downs on February 3-5, before heading to Taupo on March 17-19. The final round will be at Manfeild on April 14-16.