Broc Feeney and Thomas Randle have both got an early taste of Pukekohe before next month’s ITM Auckland SuperSprint.
The two rookies participated in a recent test day for New Zealand’s Toyota 86 Championship, with that category to race on the support bill of the Pukekohe Supercars event.
While Randle has competed across the Tasman in the Toyota Racing Series, the laps were a first for both at the Auckland region venue, which will close to motorsport next April.
Not only did they get to familiarise themselves with the circuit, but they did so in wet conditions.
“It was all very short notice to be honest,” said Tickford Racing’s Randle, who had also jetted off to Britain for driver coaching from the respected Rob Wilson prior to the Sandown Supercars event.
“I had never driven the Pukekohe circuit before so to get some laps prior to the round was always going to be beneficial.
“I really loved driving the track today, we had a mixture of wet and dry conditions so it was great to experience both prior to our Supercars round here in a couple of weeks.
“It is a real shame that the circuit will be closing down as it has quite a lot of character to it.
“Even being quite a short track there are some very tricky sections; the first sector will be challenging over the bumps through Turn 1 and the run down through 2, 3 and 4.
“The final corner onto the straight will also be a lot of fun in the Supercar, requiring plenty of commitment.
“A big thank you to Toyota NZ, Nicolas Caillol, my dad, and Tickford Racing for helping organise the day.
“The Toyota 86 was fun to drive. It just took me a little bit to get used to the ABS and also the tyre as it is quite different to what we drive on.
“It was made even more challenging by the conditions with all the rain but nonetheless was a lot of fun and we achieved what we needed to.”
For the 86 field, the weekend is not a championship round, although a significant prize package will be on offer.
Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Feeney is currently sixth in the Repco Supercars Championship’s drivers’ standings, with Randle 21st, ahead of the Auckland SuperSprint on September 9-11.
