Wanganui expat racer Matt Gibson will be desperate to make up for lost ground when the second round of the TR86 Championship roars into life at the Pukekohe Raceway tomorrow.
The Toyotas will be part of a big motor racing weekend, headlined by the BNT NZ SuperTourers and the Fuchs 500 for the New Zealand SuperTruck Championship.
In September's opening round of the TR86 in Taupo, the 23-year-old Gibson was having a great weekend with a win in the opening race and third place in the second.
However, in the final race, Gibson suffered brake fade in a bunched up field and made contact with defending series champion Jamie McNee.
He retired three laps later as the collision had bent one of the steering arms and he could no longer handle the car.
It was Gibson's first DNF in a couple of years and dropped him to sixth place overall at the conclusion of the round with 135 points. He said: "I'm absolutely gutted about the end result of the race as we had awesome car pace, and it showed as we were again the fastest car on track."
Coming into this weekend, McNee leads the series with 187 points, followed by Auckland's Ash Blewett on 181, with Christchurch's Tom Alexander third on 163.