2019–20 NZ Touring Cars Championship

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Drivers Champion:
Andre Heimgartner
V8 Lites Champion:
Justin McIlroy
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2018–19
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2020–21

The 2019–20 NZ Touring Cars Championship (known for commercial reasons as the 2019–20 BNT V8s Championship) was the twenty-first season of the series, and the fifth under the [NZ Touring Cars name. The field consisted of three classes racing on the same grid. Class one featured both V8ST and NZV8 TLX cars. Class two consisted of older NZV8 TL cars. There was also a third class run for vehicles ineligible for points.

Andre Heimgartner dominated the season to take his second New Zealand V8 Touring Car Championship. Justin McIlroy meanwhile would take the V8 Lites honours. The series was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and forced the cancellation of the final two rounds at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park and Pukekohe Park Raceway.[1]

Race calendar

Rnd Circuit Date Map
2019
NC Pukekohe Park Raceway
(Pukekohe, Auckland Region)		 14–15 September
1 Pukekohe Park Raceway
(Pukekohe, Auckland Region)		 30 November–1 December
2020
2 Pukekohe Park Raceway
(Pukekohe, Auckland Region)		 8–9 February
3 Manfeild: Circuit Chris Amon
(Feilding, Manawatū District)		 15–16 February
C Hampton Downs Motorsport Park
(Hampton Downs, Waikato)		 28–29 March
C Pukekohe Park Raceway
(Pukekohe, Auckland Region)		 25–26 April

Teams and drivers

All teams are based and registered in New Zealand.

Manufacturer Vehicle Team No Drivers Rounds
Ford Falcon (FG) Phillips Motorsport 43 New Zealand Brayden Phillips All
Lathrope Racing 73 New Zealand Brad Lathrope[2] All
Holden Commodore (VE) Rob Wallace Racing 51 New Zealand Rob Wallace[2] All
Hamilton Motorsports 84 New Zealand Lance Hughes All
85 New Zealand Andre Heimgartner[3] All
Nissan Altima (L33) Concept Motorsport 007 New Zealand Nick Ross All
Toyota Camry (XV50) Richards Team Motorsport 6 Australia Alexandra Whitley[4] All
V8 Lites
Ford Falcon (BF) Thirsty Liquor 18 New Zealand Shane Whitley 1, 3
Brock Timperley Racing 59 New Zealand Brock Timperley 3
80 New Zealand Tony Rutherford 1
Nigel Karl Racing 172 New Zealand Nigel Karl 1
Holden Commodore (VZ) Precision Concrete & Paving 25 New Zealand Justin McIlroy All
30 New Zealand Murray Brook 1
82 New Zealand Ted Jarvis 1
Open
Holden Commodore (VE) McDonald Kerbing Specialist 50 New Zealand Blair McDonald All
4H Investments- Auto Garage 57 New Zealand Eric Hennephof 1–2
Ford Ford Mustang (S550( Collins Motorsport 77 New Zealand Sam Collins All

Driver changes

Andre Heimgartner returned to the series to drive with Hamilton Motorsports. Chelsea Herbert was originally slated to drive with the team, but withdrew after announcing her plans to compete in the Toyota Racing Series.

Results and standings

Season summary

The calendar was announced on April 30, 2019.[5] The calendar was later revised, removing the South Island rounds citing issues surrounding cost.[6]

Round Circuit Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver V8 Lites Winner Open Winner
2019
NC R1 Pukekohe Park Raceway
Pukekohe, Auckland Region		 New Zealand Nick Chester New Zealand Simon Evans New Zealand Nick Chester Field combined for non-championship round
R2 New Zealand Simon Evans New Zealand Nick Chester
R3 New Zealand Simon Evans New Zealand Nick Chester
1 R1 Pukekohe Park Raceway
Pukekohe, Auckland Region		 New Zealand Andre Heimgartner New Zealand Andre Heimgartner New Zealand Andre Heimgartner New Zealand Shayne Whitley New Zealand Sam Collins
R2 New Zealand Nick Ross New Zealand Andre Heimgartner New Zealand Justin McIlroy New Zealand Sam Collins
R3 Race abandoned due to adverse weather conditions.
2020
2 R1 Pukekohe Park Raceway
Pukekohe, Auckland Region		 New Zealand Andre Heimgartner New Zealand Andre Heimgartner New Zealand Andre Heimgartner New Zealand Justin McIlroy New Zealand Sam Collins
R2 New Zealand Andre Heimgartner New Zealand Andre Heimgartner New Zealand Justin McIlroy New Zealand Sam Collins
R3 New Zealand Andre Heimgartner New Zealand Andre Heimgartner New Zealand Justin McIlroy New Zealand Sam Collins
3 R1 Manfeild: Circuit Chris Amon
Feilding, Manawatū District		 New Zealand Andre Heimgartner New Zealand Andre Heimgartner New Zealand Andre Heimgartner New Zealand Brock Timperley New Zealand Sam Collins
R2 New Zealand Andre Heimgartner New Zealand Andre Heimgartner New Zealand Brock Timperley New Zealand Sam Collins
R3 New Zealand Andre Heimgartner New Zealand Andre Heimgartner New Zealand Brock Timperley New Zealand Blair McDonald

Championship standings

Pos Driver PUK1 PUK2 PUK3 MAN Pts
R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3
1 New Zealand Andre Heimgartner 1 1 C 2 1 1 1 1 1 525
2 Australia Alexandra Whitley 5 5 C 4 3 4 10 6 5 420
3 New Zealand Brad Lathrope 7 7 7 6 6 C 6 5 6 5 10 6 375
4 New Zealand Lance Hughes 3 4 12 3 DNS C Ret 4 5 3 3 2 321
5 New Zealand Robert Wallace 8 6 8 7 7 C 5 6 7 6 Ret 9 310
6 New Zealand Brayden Phillips Ret 10 9 8 8 C Ret 7 8 Ret 7 7 229
7 New Zealand Nick Ross 5 3 6 DNS 2 C Ret Wth Wth 7 5 4 176
V8 Lites
1 New Zealand Justin McIlroy 12 9 C 9 10 11 9 9 11 269
2 New Zealand Brock Timperley 8 8 10 150
3 New Zealand Shane Whitley 10 11 C Ret Wth Wth 142
4 New Zealand Nigel Karl 13 Ret 11 11 DNS C 67
5 New Zealand Tony Rutherford 13 Ret C 54
6 New Zealand Murray Brook 0
7 New Zealand Ted Jarvis Ret Ret C 0
Open
- New Zealand Nick Chester 1 1 1 0
- New Zealand Simon Evans 2 2 2 0
- New Zealand Sam Collins 2 3 C 1 2 2 2 2 8 0
- New Zealand Blair McDonald 4 4 C 3 Ret 3 4 4 3 0
- New Zealand Eric Hennephof 9 10 C 7 8 10 0
- New Zealand Grant Hannah 8 9 9 0
- New Zealand Paul Radisich 9 5 3 0
- New Zealand Shaun Varney 6 Ret Ret 0
- New Zealand Ken Hunter DNS Wth Wth 0
Pos Driver R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 Pts
PUK1 PUK2 PUK3 MAN

References

  1. Shackleton, Zane (2020-06-22). "Heimgartner crowned BNT V8 Champion as season gets called early". Velocity News. Retrieved 2026-04-28.
  2. "20-car grid confirmed for BNT V8s season opener". Archived from the original on November 28, 2018. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  3. "Heimgartner Makes BNT V8 Return". Motorsport NZ. 2019-11-26. Retrieved 2026-04-28.
  4. "Alexandra Whitley Lands BNT V8 Drive". Motorsport NZ. 2019-11-22. Retrieved 2026-04-28.
  5. "Speed Works Events pull big punches with provisional calendar". 30 April 2019. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  6. "BNT V8s Announce Revised Calendar". 10 November 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2019.