We are headed across the ditch for the New Zealand double header, with the first stop at Taupo International Motorsport Park.

This is a track the team have had strong results at in the past, with Ryan collecting his maiden Supercars podium and Chaz scoring a race win there last year.

Format

Friday: On track action begins with two 25-minute practice sessions which are back-to-back.

Saturday: There are two qualifying sessions for Race 8 and 9 which follow the below format:

• Part 1: Sets the grid for positions 11 – 24
• Part 2: Sets the grid for positions 1 – 10

There will be two 120km races on Saturday afternoon that will see the lights go out for Race 8 at 12:55pm NZT and Race 9 at 4:05pm.

Sunday: There is a three-part qualifying session for Race 10 which will follow the below format:

• Part 1: Sets the grid for P19 – P24
• Part 2: Sets the grid for P11 – P18
• Top 10 Shootout: Determines the top 10 positions for the race

The final race of the weekend will get underway at 3:05pm NZT, for 200km of exciting racing.

A new rule has been introduced this weekend, going forward for all sprint rounds, which sees cars under parc ferme from the commencement of the second qualifying session on Saturday until the race start of the first race on Saturday. What this means is that the mechanics cannot touch the car between these sessions, so essentially, when the checkered flag waves at the end of qualifying on Saturday, is the set-up the cars will run for the following race.

The Track

The track spans over 3.3km, offering a mix of fast straights and tight corners making it a challenging track for drivers.

Keep an eye out for turns 5 and 12 where you will see the best passing opportunities over the weekend. The drivers must be fully focused, especially as they navigate their way through the tricky turns 9, 10 and 11.

Tyres

We will be running both the Dunlop Soft and Dunlop SuperSoft compound tyres. For Race 11 and 13 we will be on the Dunlop Soft tyre and Race 12 we will be on the Dunlop SuperSoft tyre.

With the way the weather is looking, we could get quite a bit of running on the Dunlop wet tyre, which we have yet to use this year.

Pitstops

There is a minimum for one compulsory pit stop for Saturday’s races, with a minimum of two tyres being changed. On Sunday there are two compulsory pit stops for Race 13.

Weather

It looks like it’s going to be a very wet weekend, if you’re joining us at the track, make sure you bring your umbrellas!

How to Watch

Get ready for a big weekend, you won’t want to miss a minute across the weekend!

• Fox Sports & Kayo: Live coverage of every session
• Sky Sports NZ: Live coverage of every session

For the full TV guide, please CLICK HERE.

Chaz Mostert

“It’s great to be heading back to Taupo this year, my wife is a Kiwi so there is plenty of family support over there.

“It looks like the weather could play a big part this weekend, we haven’t used the wet tyre much this year so there will be plenty for us to learn this weekend.

“We have back-to-back practice sessions on Friday, it’ll be important that we use our time wisely so that we can go out swinging for the two qualifying sessions on Saturday morning.”

Ryan Wood

“I’m really looking forward to two weeks of racing at home, we have such passionate fans in New Zealand and to reward them back-to-back race weekends is awesome.

“I’ve got some pretty special memories of this track, I got my first Supercars podium here last year and to have my parents by my side, is something I’ll never forget.

“Managing tyres this weekend will be key, the surface is really rough on our tyres so you’ve got to be really strategic on when we need to push or conserve.”