Eighteen cars covered by a second at Ruapuna

Round 2 of the Toyota 86 Championship got underway at the Mike Pero Motorsport Park today with three practice sessions around the iconic Ruapuna circuit - and the story of the day was how close the field was in every session.

Justin Allen was quickest in the first session while reigning champion Rowan Shepherd topped the times in the second session. Marco Giltrap took top spot and fastest time of the day in the third of the 20 minute run-outs.

Allen's 1.39.1 second lap in the morning put him ahead of Ronan Murphy, Matthew McCutcheon, Zac Stichbury and Hugo Allan. Murphy was quickly onto the pace after a frustrating weekend in Cromwell. Championship leaders Simon Evans sat back in ninth and Rowan Shepherd in tenth.

Chelsea Herbert (pictured above) caught the eye with a solid top ten run in the first session after a series of quick laps. She completed the session in eighth.

Her form continued in the second generally slower session with another top ten time. It was a close session too, with a second remarkably covering the top 18 drivers.

The session was dominated by the reigning champion Rowan Shepherd on his home track. He finished ahead of an impressive Zac Stichbury by a tenth of a second. Zac's second fastest time backed up his fifth best time in the first session. Giltrap was a solid third in the session, while Murphy was quick again in fifth. Evans was again outside the top ten - this time in 12th.

With Shepherd missing the third session completely, it was Allen who quickly made his mark. He clocked the first sub 1 minute 39 second lap of the day but that was quickly eclipsed by Giltrap who lapped in an impressive 1.38.837. Behind these two, Stichbury completed a solid day with the third fastest time and a lap under the 1 minute 39 second mark.

The third session was the best so far in the championship for the trio of drivers from The Heart of Racing. Hugo Allan clocked the fourth best time, with Herbert's sixth place and Rianna O'Meara Hunt's seventh putting them firmly in the top ten.

Round 1 winner Simon Evans also popped into the top ten in the third session too with the ninth fastest time, just half a second off team mate Giltrap.

Saturday ,morning will bring official qualifying with the first race of the weekend scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

Practice 1

Practice 2

Practice 3