Home advantages and title charges: The final Pukekohe Prebrief

2022 Repco Supercars Championship Official Tipping presented by Bunnings Trade is back! Sign up today and challenge your friends and family to show them how well you know the 2022 pit lane! With thousands of dollars in gift cards to be won each round visit tipping.supercars.com to secure your spot!

The Repco Supercars Championship returns to New Zealand for this weekend’s tenth round of the 2022 season – the ITM Auckland SuperSprint.

The final Pukekohe event will feature an on-track entertainment extravaganza, alongside three days of Supercars action.

Event track action will be spread over three days, with Supercars featuring each day. Click HERE to purchase your event tickets.

The September 9-11 event will be headlined by Races 27, 28, and 29 of the 2022 Repco Supercars Championship.

Drivers will again race for the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy, which is awarded to the highest point-scorer of the weekend.

Pukekohe is a fast, bumpy track that requires maximum commitment, and is a handful for the drivers for the entire lap.

The final Supercars event at Pukekohe will be run exclusively on the Dunlop Hard tyre compound, with rain currently forecast for all three days.

Kiwi drivers have swept the last two Pukekohe events, Scott McLaughlin and Shane van Gisbergen winning a race each in 2018 and 2019.

Will we see an Aussie overthrow van Gisbergen on his home turf?

Before the cars hit the track, Supercars.com takes a look at the key storylines of the ITM Auckland SuperSprint.

Pukekohe’s swansong

The upcoming ITM Auckland SuperSprint will be the last at Pukekohe.

It was announced earlier this year that Pukekohe will cease motorsport activities in 2023.

Supercars will pay homage to Pukekohe’s place in motorsport history when it makes it final visit to the New Zealand circuit.

The Raceway was opened in 1963 as a permanent track and hosted the New Zealand Grand Prix.

The likes of Stirling Moss, Graham Hill, Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart all raced at the venue.

A special segment will feature in the Supercars broadcast on Foxtel and streamed via Kayo, celebrating past winners and motorsport identities who have raced at Pukekohe.

Pukekohe: The Final Lap will kick of Friday’s broadcast on Fox Sports 506 and Kayo.

Hosted by Jess Yates, Friday’s coverage will commence at 12.00pm AEST/2.00pm local time on Foxtel with the first practice session beginning at 12:40pm AEST/2:40pm local time.

Hometown advantage

Pukekohe has been dominated by local drivers, with Scott McLaughlin and Shane van Gisbergen doing the winning in the recent past.

Van Gisbergen will arrive on home soil in New Zealand with a 500-point series lead.

The defending champion has been dominant at Pukekohe, winning at least one of the races across the weekend since 2016.

Triple Eight also has impressive form in NZ, the team has won 9 of the past 13 races at the circuit.

With wet weather predicted across the weekend, SVG will prove hard to beat in Pukekohe.

Another Kiwi to keep your eye on this weekend is Andre Heimgartner.

The Brad Jones Racing driver had mixed results in Sandown, recording, 23rd, sixth and 13th.

He started ninth for Saturday’s opener but turned Broc Feeney on the opening lap.

Heimgartner was penalised 15 seconds and finished 23rd.

Unlike a lot of the Supercars championship field, Heimgartner has raced at Pukekohe since 2019, winning a NZ Touring Cars Championship race in 2020 aboard a Holden VE Commodore.

Heimgartner has won nine times in a Commodore at Pukekohe; form he will hope to translate into a Supercar this weekend.

Battle for minors

Despite van Gisbergen skipping away with the points lead, there is plenty to play out at the pointy end of the championship.

Will Davison enjoyed a remarkable weekend in Sandown, scoring a win and a podium at the historic Melbourne circuit.

The results see Davison sitting third in the standings, just 3 points ahead of teammate Anton De Pasquale.

It also saw Davison gain ground on second-place Cam Waters with 19 points separating them.

Chaz Mostert rounds out the top five in the points standings, 207 points behind De Pasquale.

Davison has won twice at Pukekohe, the last coming in 2013 aboard a Ford Falcon.

He recorded a top ten result when Supercars last visited New Zealand in 2019.

Now in a DJR Mustang, Davison has 12 podiums, two wins, and eight poles so far this season.

On a hot streak in this year’s championship, Davison will likely be a consistent threat to Waters.

Pouring at Puke?

Pukekohe Park Raceway will present a major challenge to Supercars drivers if forecast rain does come to pass at this weekend’s ITM Auckland SuperSprint.

Drivers and teams are bracing to be greeted with mixed weather conditions across the ditch.

Rain lashed the opening practice session when Supercars last raced at the historic venue in 2019.

This year, Friday’s practice session has the least chance of seeing rain, with showers forecasted with a high of 16 degrees Celsius.

There’s a 70 percent chance of 5mm rain on Saturday.

But rain on the final day of racing could make for an interesting 41-lap battle, as the circuit can get lively when it's wet.

Sunday’s dual races could see up to 9mm of rainfall, with fairly breezy conditions.

Rookie’s first Kiwi dip

Thomas Randle, Broc Feeney, and Will Brown will be keen to show their skills aboard a Supercar at Pukekohe.

All three drivers have never raced a Supercar at the New Zealand circuit before.

Randle and Feeney cut their first laps of Pukekohe two weeks ago, aboard a Toyota 86.

Just 12 days out from the Auckland SuperSprint, the duo were met with inclement weather conditions.

However, the test day could see the young guns hit the ground running.

It could be an upper hand for the Triple Eight recruit, with the Red Bull Ampol Racing team enjoying plenty of success on Kiwi soil before.

Cars will hit the track on Friday. Purchase your ITM Auckland SuperSprint tickets now.