Heimgartner tops Taupo opener

By Thomas Miles

Date posted: 11 April 2025

Home hero Andre Heimgartner has continued his strong form at Taupo by claiming the opening Supercars practice which was far from easy.

A delayed, but dramatic Practice 1 of the Taupo Super440 saw teams forced to make numerous setup changes as many had trouble staying on the black stuff.

A red flag for a beached Ryan Wood with steering damage brought the session to an early end.

However, nothing was in it with just 0.0830s covering the top three that also included Anton De Pasquale and Matt Payne.

But just like the first ever Supercars race at Taupo, Heimgartner was in P1 providing a positive start for BJR.

After a short delay of around 10 minutes due to a timing issue, the field finally got their first crack at Taupo Motorsport Park on the new tyre.

To the thrill of the home crowd, home hero Matt Payne shot straight to the top as 23 of the 24 cars went on the attack at the earliest opportunity.

Payne was the only driver in the 1m26s threshold for the first half of the session, but only enjoyed a 0.0445s buffer over Cameron Hill.

Hill was the only Camaro in the top four with teammates Ryan Wood and Chaz Mostert also showing speed.

The only car not on track was Macauley Jones, who spent the first 20 minutes in the garage with an electrical issue impacting the engine RPMs.

The opening minutes were the only time of the first half of the session where drivers chased time before settling on race runs.

It was not for another 16 minutes before drivers started posting personal bests once again.

Brown’s second run started around the 12 minute mark, but had to back out instantly.

The #1 Camaro got a nasty bout of oversteer at the change of direction at Turn 9, which fired the reigning champion off.

Meanwhile, teammate Feeney also found some grass trying to climb the kerb and on corner exit.

It took 18 minutes for someone to topple Payne and join him in the 1m26s club and that was Heimgartner, finding a further 0.0830s to lower the benchmark to 1:26.8830.

Jones was forced to wait more than 20 minutes to get on track and there was unfortunately a moment instantly as he had a touch of oversteer and went off at Turn 9.

The final five minutes saw teams bolt on fresh tyres and the first to land a blow was De Pasquale.

The Team 18 recruit rose from eighth to second and came within 0.0258s from the top.

But many were denied the chance of doing the same as the reds were waved with just 1m40s on the clock.

Wood just got himself caught at the start of the gravel trap on the final corner after mucking up the chicane.

The WAU Kiwi came in hot and struck the tyre bundle at the opening left hander.

This sent the #2 Mustang spearing off at right handed penultimate turn, which sent him on a trip through the gravel.

The tyre bundle contact broke the steering of the right front, which meant Wood had no choice but to spear across the track and pull up in the gravel on the outside of the final corner.

Only one more practice session is on offer at 12.30 AEST.

Image: Pace Images/Supplied

Taupo Super440 Practice 1 results

1: Andre Heimgartner 1:26.8830

2: Anton De Pasquale +0.0258

3: Matt Payne +0.0830

4: Cameron Hill +0.1275

5: Ryan Wood +0.2696

6: Chaz Mostert +0.3006

7: Brodie Kostecki +0.3652

8: Broc Feeney +0.3666

9: Richie Stanaway +0.4275

10: Will Brown +0.4752

11: Jack Le Brocq +0.5302

12: Will Davison +0.5809

13: Cameron Waters +0.7393

14: Thomas Randle +0.7978

15: Jaxon Evans +0.8214

16: James Golding +0.8965

17: Bryce Fullwood +0.9216

18: David Reynolds +0.9216

19: Nick Percat +1.0471

20: James Courtney +1.1756

21: Macauley Jones +1.2124

22: Kai Allen +1.4919

23: Aaron Cameron +1.5112

24: Cooper Murray +1.7174

2025 Taupo Super440 schedule (times in AEST)

Friday, April 11

8.10-8.30: Super V8s Practice 1

8.40-9.00: Toyota 86 NZ Practice 1

9.10-9.30: Central Muscle Cars Practice

9.45-10.15: Supercars Practice 1

10.30-10.50: Super V8s Practice 2

11.20-11.40: Toyota 86 NZ Practice 2

11.55-12.15: Central Muscle Cars Qualifying

12.30-13.00: Supercars Practice 2

13.10-13.30: Super V8s Qualifying

13.40-14.00: Toyota 86 NZ Qualifying

14.10: Central Muscle Cars Race 1 (10 laps)

Saturday, April 12

7.50: Super V8s Race 1

8.25-8.55: Supercars Race 8 Qualifying

9.05-9.35: Supercars Race 9 Qualifying

10.00: Toyota 86 NZ Race 1 (8 laps)

10.50: Supercars Race 8 (37 laps)

12.30: Super V8s Race 2 (10 laps)

13.00: Central Muscle Cars (8 laps)

14.05: Supercars Race 9 (37 laps)

Sunday, April 13

7.25: Toyota 86 NZ Race 2 (8 laps)

7.55: Central Muscle Cars Race 3 (10 laps)

8.35-9.05: Supercars Race 10 Qualifying

9.20: Toyota 86 NZ Race 3 (8 laps)

10.15: Super V8s Race 3 (10 laps)

10.50-11.35: Supercars Race 10 Top 10 Shootout

12.00: Central Muscle Cars Race 4 (8 laps)

13.05: Supercars Race 10 (61 laps)

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Heimgartner tops Taupo opener

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