Broughan fight back on the cards at Highlands
Arthur Broughan – who was the man to beat back in November at the first round – showed he will be a force to be reckoned with this weekend at Highlands for the fourth round of the Bridgestone GR86 Championship.
Broughan was fastest in two of the three practice sessions at the track today, and second in the other.
At a circuit he enjoys immensely, reigning champion Hugo Allan got his weekend off to the best possible start with fastest time on the first of Friday’s three official practice sessions. He was closely followed by Arthur Broughan – one of the early pacesetters in this season’s championship.
Behind those two it was the series leader Chris White and Zach Blincoe emerging as the season’s major title challengers. It was also no surprise to see youngster Ajay Giddy close to the top of the timesheets again, along with Simon Hunter – leading the charge in the session for Right Karts by M2 Competition.
Harry Townshend was seventh fastest with a resurgent Justin Allen – winner at Teretonga last weekend – eighth ahead of Right Karts’ Cooper Barnes and Josh Bethune. Allen was delighted to be finding some consistent form again and to be back consistently in the lead pack. Rookie Lucas McGill went well to go 12th fastest while series debutant Nieko Scoles – who has plenty of laps around the track from Clubmans racing under his belt - was 15th.
Broughan looked well at home in the second session, hustling his car spectacularly each lap through the circuit’s fast first chicane. It paid off too, with Arthur clocking the best time of the session. Giddy improved his pace relative to the others with second fastest time, while Allan and Allen were there in third and fourth.
Harry Townshend got himself ahead of Blincoe and White to go fifth ahead of the two championship protagonists while Bethune was just behind those too, seemingly struggling a little for ultimate pace around the challenging 4.1km track. Teammate Cooper Barnes was next and Mac Templeton, White’s teammate at Neale Motorsport, made the top ten too.
Broughan stamped his relative authority on the day by topping the final session of the day, eclipsing Allan and White. Harry Townshend was the surprise performer of the final session putting in his best performance of the day to go fourth.
Giddy was fifth and Bethune made great strides in the session too, finishing sixth. Normal service looks to have been resumed for Justin Allen – in the top ten again in seventh, while Zach Blincoe would have hoped to be closer to the front in the final session of the day. He was eighth fastest.
2025-2026 Bridgestone GR86 Championship – Round 4 – Practice 1
|
1 |
1 |
Hugo ALLAN |
NZ |
iMac Engineering |
|
2 |
222 |
Arthur BROUGHAN |
NZ |
Mackenzie Motorsport |
|
3 |
88 |
Chris WHITE |
NZ |
Neale Motorsport |
|
4 |
90 |
Zach BLINCOE |
NZ |
Mackenzie Motorsport |
|
5 |
10 |
Ajay GIDDY |
NZ |
Mackenzie Motorsport |
|
6 |
42 |
Simon HUNTER |
NZ |
Right Karts by M2 Competition |
|
7 |
73 |
Harry TOWNSHEND |
NZ |
Mackenzie Motorsport |
|
8 |
99 |
Justin ALLEN |
NZ |
Syndicate Motorsport |
|
9 |
186 |
Cooper BARNES |
AUS |
Right Karts by M2 Competition |
|
10 |
32 |
Josh BETHUNE |
NZ |
Right Karts by M2 Competition |
|
11 |
92 |
Mac TEMPLETON |
NZ |
Neale Motorsport |
|
12 |
25 |
Lucas MCGILL |
NZ |
James Marshall Motorsport |
|
13 |
22 |
Lee ZELTWANGER |
NZ |
CareVets Racing |
|
14 |
43 |
Cameron HILL |
NZ |
Right Karts by M2 Competition |
|
15 |
861 |
Nieko SCOLES |
NZ |
Mackenzie Motorsport |
|
16 |
39 |
Jack SZEWCZUK |
AUS |
Action Motorsport |
2025-2026 Bridgestone GR86 Championship – Round 4 – Practice 2
|
1 |
222 |
Arthur BROUGHAN |
NZ |
Mackenzie Motorsport |
|
2 |
10 |
Ajay GIDDY |
NZ |
Mackenzie Motorsport |
|
3 |
1 |
Hugo ALLAN |
NZ |
iMac Engineering |
|
4 |
99 |
Justin ALLEN |
NZ |
Syndicate Motorsport |
|
5 |
73 |
Harry TOWNSHEND |
NZ |
Mackenzie Motorsport |
|
6 |
90 |
Zach BLINCOE |
NZ |
Mackenzie Motorsport |
|
7 |
88 |
Chris WHITE |
NZ |
Neale Motorsport |
|
8 |
32 |
Josh BETHUNE |
NZ |
Right Karts by M2 Competition |
|
9 |
186 |
Cooper BARNES |
AUS |
Right Karts by M2 Competition |
|
10 |
92 |
Mac TEMPLETON |
NZ |
Neale Motorsport |
|
11 |
42 |
Simon HUNTER |
NZ |
Right Karts by M2 Competition |
|
12 |
22 |
Lee ZELTWANGER |
NZ |
CareVets Racing |
|
13 |
25 |
Lucas MCGILL |
NZ |
James Marshall Motorsport |
|
14 |
861 |
Nieko SCOLES |
NZ |
Mackenzie Motorsport |
|
15 |
43 |
Cameron HILL |
NZ |
Right Karts by M2 Competition |
|
16 |
39 |
Jack SZEWCZUK |
AUS |
Action Motorsport |
2025-2026 Bridgestone GR86 Championship – Round 4 – Practice 3
|
1 |
222 |
Arthur BROUGHAN |
NZ |
Mackenzie Motorsport |
|
2 |
1 |
Hugo ALLAN |
NZ |
iMac Engineering |
|
3 |
88 |
Chris WHITE |
NZ |
Neale Motorsport |
|
4 |
73 |
Harry TOWNSHEND |
NZ |
Mackenzie Motorsport |
|
5 |
10 |
Ajay GIDDY |
NZ |
Mackenzie Motorsport |
|
6 |
32 |
Josh BETHUNE |
NZ |
Right Karts by M2 Competition |
|
7 |
99 |
Justin ALLEN |
NZ |
Syndicate Motorsport |
|
8 |
90 |
Zach BLINCOE |
NZ |
Mackenzie Motorsport |
|
9 |
22 |
Lee ZELTWANGER |
NZ |
CareVets Racing |
|
10 |
186 |
Cooper BARNES |
AUS |
Right Karts by M2 Competition |
|
11 |
43 |
Cameron HILL |
NZ |
Right Karts by M2 Competition |
|
12 |
42 |
Simon HUNTER |
NZ |
Right Karts by M2 Competition |
|
13 |
92 |
Mac TEMPLETON |
NZ |
Neale Motorsport |
|
14 |
861 |
Nieko SCOLES |
NZ |
Mackenzie Motorsport |
|
15 |
39 |
Jack SZEWCZUK |
AUS |
Action Motorsport |
|
16 |
25 |
Lucas MCGILL |
NZ |
James Marshall Motorsport |