Early Sports Chat for 9 July 2025
Tags:
To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following:
See terms of use.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scoop
2 hours ago
- Scoop
Top US Team HMD Motorsports Confirmed For Castrol Toyota FR Oceania Trophy
Top US racing team HMD Motorsport will join forces with TJ Speed Motorsports to field a three-car line-up in the 2026 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy. The team will race under the name HMD Motorsports with TJ Speed and will join the New Zealand Championship's existing four teams for the new-look four-round championship when it begins in January 2026. HMD has campaigned in Indy Lights and INDY NXT since its inception in 2019, and also an alliance in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES from 2022 to 2023, and in the Formula Regional Americas championship in 2020. It's best known, however, for its INDY NXT campaigns, where it has run drivers including current INDYCAR racers Christian Rasmussen, Linus Lundqvist, Kyffin Simpson, Benjamin Pedersen and Nolan Siegel. It has won the team's championship twice and has also been runner-up twice, as well as two drivers' championships since 2021. Rising INDYCAR star David Malukas is the son of team owner Henry Malukas and is another to have raced in INDY NXT with the team. The New Zealand-based single-seater series has served as a critical development platform for many HMD-affiliated drivers, both past and present—including Josh Pierson, Liam Sceats, Tommy Smith, Callum Hedge, Bryce Aron, and Nikita Johnson—all of whom have progressed to race in INDY NXT. The championship has also contributed to the careers of drivers who have advanced to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, including Louis Foster and Jacob Abel. As an FIA-certified category, the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy awards Super License points to its top drivers, creating a strong pathway for drivers' progression within the sport. 'We are looking to strengthen the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy grid in New Zealand by prioritizing a competitive driver line-up that represents HMD and TJ Speed,' explained HMD Motorsports Team President Mike Maurini. 'With two strong and growing programs, joining forces to compete abroad, we will be able to combine our efforts and help get some drivers that could potentially compete with us in 2025, with some additional track time.' Indycar drivers Santino Ferruci, Devlin DeFrancesco, Jacob Abel, Louis Foster, Marcus Armstrong, and Robert Schwartzman are all graduates of New Zealand's premier single-seater championship. 'We have built a strong reputation in the United States as a great feeder series for IndyCar feeder series such as IndyNXT and the USFPro Championships,' explained TOYOTA GAZOO Racing NZ Motorsport Manager Nicolas Caillol. 'Removing the clashes in the NZ racing calendar and the US testing calendar cleared the way for more teams in key markets to join our championship, and the speed with which HMD Motorsports and TJ Motorsports have committed is reflective of the interest in New Zealand. Their addition will only make that pathway stronger both ways.' 2026 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
Early Sports Chat for 10 July 2025
An update on what's happening in the sports world with Nathan Rarere. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
RNZ News
3 hours ago
- RNZ News
How high can Hamish Kerr go?
New Zealand high jumper Hamish Kerr. Photo: Simon Stacpoole / Hamish Kerr is aiming high, literally. That may sound obvious for a high jumper, but the Olympic champion said height rather than titles is what he's focusing on. The World Athletics Championships are the pinnacle event of 2025 and will present the 28-year-old Cantabrian the opportunity to complete the 'triple crown'. While that would be nice, Kerr said it wasn't a priority. "Obviously I want to win every time I go out there and world championships is something that I haven't done," Kerr told RNZ. "What gets me out of the bed in the morning is the prospect of jumping high." Kerr has a personal best of 2.36 metres, having achieved that twice last year. He completed that height to win the World Indoor title in Glasgow and repeated it to get into the jump-off for the gold medal at the Paris Olympics. However, 2025 is about cementing what he learnt from last year and continuing to develop. "This year is about what makes me tick on tour and feeling connected to the places I'm going to. "Knowing that in the next few years 2.40m is definitely the main goal." That may be some way off for Kerr who has a best height this year of just 2.30m. "I'd be happy with 2.36m this year and 2.4m is a goal for 2026-27." Cuban Javier Sotomayor set the world record of 2.45 in 1993. Hamish Kerr during the International Athletics Meet in Christchurch, 2025. Photo: © Photosport Ltd 2025 For now Kerr is in Monaco preparing for the next Diamond League meeting. He will stay in Europe before heading to the world champs in Tokyo in September. With an increase in funding since his Olympic success Kerr is now able to take members of his support team overseas with him. Coach James Sandilands often travels with him but now he'll have his strength and conditioning coach and physiotherapist with him for periods of his European campaign. "They are the people who ultimately at the end of the day are the ones who are the difference between me doing well and not. "To be able to have those guys on the ground is super beneficial especially with the data they can gather while I'm in that full competition mode." Kerr admits that 2024 was such a big year for him that it has taken a while to get back to where he wants to be. "I'm pretty confident that we're starting to find some nice form again and we're really trying to peak in September (world champs)." Kerr tops the Diamond League standings after a win in Morocco in May . Following the Monaco meeting this week he'll spend a month training in the south of France before another three Diamond League meets and then the world champs.
