BNT V8 SEASON CALLED AND FORMAT CHANGES

With the 2019/’20 BNT V8 champion season called early, because you know why, Andre Heimgartner has been crowned the champion. It should be no surprise, however, as his campaign to date had been dominant — the Supercars driver claimed all eight pole positions and race wins across the season. The win marks Heimgartner’s second championship.

But, off the back of the season-ender, it’s the news of a radical format change that has everyone talking. The class announced revised race formats and sporting regulations to help accommodate the arrival of TA2, an attempt to improve V8 racing in New Zealand.

Both TA2 and NZ V8s will race in the same field, with race formats tweaked to consist of two Sprint races and one longer feature race, which will have a compulsory pit stop. It will be a balance-of-power timed stop, with times determined from previous timed laps. The model aims to give everyone a fair and even chance to perform in the feature race. A fresh point system will also be introduced, weighed heavily in favour of the feature race. Category manager Gary Lathrope says that the changes will add plenty of excitement to the New Zealand V8 touring car scene and provide an incentive for teams to compete.

“As we are no longer a MSNZ [MotorSport

New Zealand] championship, it’s given us an opportunity to be a bit more versatile,” he says. “Instead of trying to limit horsepower and other things, we have come up with a better way to even out the field with limited technical regulations.” Season dates for 2020/’21 are yet to be announced.