Allen, Allan and Osborne first to show their pace

It was a case of Allan vs Allen for much of the day as the record 21 Toyota 86 Championship racers got stuck into Round One with four practice sessions in Cromwell but rookie Clay Osborne was also consistently fast throughout the day in the Highlands heat.

Justin Allen - in his second Toyota 86 race weekend at the track following his debut when the championship last travelled to the South Island in 2020 - was quickly into the groove. He set the fastest time in the cooler morning session and his 1.53.5 lap (pictured above) remained the benchmark for the rest of the day.

Second quickest overall was The Heart of Racing rookie Hugo Allan just a few tenths behind. In the second session the two traded fastest times, but it was the THoR driver who emerged fastest with another 1.53.8 time. Allen was just a tenth behind to finish second fastest.

Allen sat out the third session - along with Simon Evans and Brock Gilchrist - and Hugo went fastest again with a 1m 54 second lap that beat another rookie, Clay Osborne, into second. Osborne had a strong day, setting solid times in all four sessions. He capped a solid day with the second fastest time in the final session, when Hugo Allan made it three from four on an impressive day for the 17 year old.

"It was a strong day for International Motorsport and The Heart of Racing with Justin and I topping all four sessions today," said Allan afterwards. "We can be happy with the progress but people will not remember us for practice times. What's important is a strong points grab here at th first round then heading into Ruapuna."

Reigning champion Rowan Shepherd also caught the eye in P3 and after two sessions in the morning in the midfield, popped up in a solid third after hopping back into his championship winning car. He repeated that form in the final session too.

Last year's runner up Simon Evans and Brock Gilchrist ran well throughout the day, as did North Island Formula Ford champion Matthew McCutcheon.

Saturday at Highlands will bring a morning qualifying session and the first of the weekend's three races on Saturday afternoon.

You can find out much more about TOYOTA GAZOO Racing tonight on TV3 at 10.50pm when a special programme about the racing side of the Toyota brand will be broadcast. It will include insights into the World Rally Championship campaign, TRS and Toyota 86 racing.

A full set of images from today at Highlands can be found here:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/toyotaracingnz/

Practice 1

Practice 2

Practice 3

Practice 4