New Zealand's first taste of the Ferrari Challenge Asia-Pacific Series kicked off today at Hampton Downs, with 24 488 Challenge machines taking on tricky conditions.
Heavy rain overnight and earlier this morning shuffled the day's schedule. Today's planned race was postponed to tomorrow, and in its place the series carried out its dual 30-minute qualifying sessions.
It was a mixed day for the two Kiwis in the series; Melbourne race winner Grant Baker and Rodin Cars owner David Dicker. The pair spent most of the day midfield, though Dicker emerged as a strong contender in the second session.
In the end Baker secured a 14th and 12th across the two races, while Dicker was 17th and 8th-fastest respectively.
Pole in both sessions belonged to Louis Prette [pictured below], who made the most of the drying circuit. Japanese driver Go Max will join him on the front row for both races.
Several cars were tripped over by the difficult conditions. These included Kent Chen and Rezza Kamaditya, who both went off in the second session (Chen at turn two and Kamaditya at the exit of turn one) and incurred minor damage.
Conditions are forecast to improve overnight, ahead of tomorrow's two races (which will be 30 minutes and 40-minutes long respectively.
Race one grid (top 10)
1. Louis Prette (Italy)
2. Go Max (Japan)
3. James Weiland (USA)
4. Philippe Prette (Italy)
5. Martin Berry (Australia)
6. Renaldi Hutasoit (Indonesia)
7. Tani Hanna (Lebanon)
8. Rama Danindro (Indonesia)
9. Alex Au (Hong Kong)
10. Tiger Wu (Taiwan)
Race two grid (top 10)
1. Louis Prette (Italy)
2. Go Max (Japan)
3. Alex Au (Hong Kong)
4. Angelo Negro (Italy)
5. James Weiland (USA)
6. Philippe Prette (Italy)
7. Yabin Xing (China)
8. David Dicker (New Zealand)
9. Tani Hanna (Lebanon)
10. Martin Berry (Australia)