De Pasquale wins JR Trophy as Brown extends points lead

Anton De Pasquale claimed the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy with a pair of podiums at the inaugural ITM Taupō Super400, though the race wins went to Will Brown and Andre Heimgartner.

Championship leader Brown won the second and final race in Taupō, after a battle with his teammate and closest rival in the title race, Broc Feeney.

Brown trailed Feeney for most of the race, even making contact on several occasions with Feeney, before finally getting past in the closing stages for Brown to claim his third win of 2024.

Kiwi Andre Heimgartner won the first ever Supercars race at Taupō International Motorsport Park in wet conditions in the first race of the weekend.

Almost two years since Supercars last raced in New Zealand, the Auckland-born Heimgartner won just his second career race in the #8 Chevrolet Camaro – the same number the late Jason Richards used while racing for Brad Jones Racing.

Third in both races was De Pasquale, in doing so claiming the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy for scoring the most points in the New Zealand round of 2024.

Defending Supercars champion Brodie Kostecki returned to racing with Erebus Motorsport but had a troubled weekend with 14th and 13th places.

Brown has now opened up a 71-point championship lead over Feeney, while Ford’s best in the title race is Chaz Mostert ahead of fellow Mustang driver Richie Stanaway.

Matt Payne is fifth ahead of Nick Percat, Jack Le Brocq, Heimgartner, Will Davison and James Golding, who rounds out the top 10.

The 2024 Repco Supercars Championship will resume at the Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint on May 17 to 19.