Matt Lockwood has gained back the V8 Challenge Cup points he lost at Hampton Downs and leads the Championship after the weekend's racing at Taupo.

The Palmerston North driver topped both practice sessions for class one of the V8 Challenge Cup on Saturday morning and qualified second behind Hugh Gardiner while Hayden MacKenzie was on pole for class two.

MacKenzie was in his own class for points during the weekend due to his car having upgrades he was still gridded as per usual.

Race one saw Lockwood get a great start from grid position three, passing Gardiner into turn one before taking the lead from MacKenzie at the end of lap one.

With McKenzie having a more powerful car and competing in a different class, Lockwood held him off for about four laps before he made his move under brakes.

“It was a matter of time before Hayden got by," Lockwood said. "He had a bigger engine, wheels and tyres, which really helped him.

Lockwood still managed to get the fastest lap of the race however and crossed the line 0.4 of a second behind Mackenzie, winning the race for class one.

Race two was reverse top five with Lockwood starting off grid four.

Again he had good pace getting the fastest lap of the race, passing Gibson in the middle of the race and Gardiner on the last lap put him second behind race winner Glen Inkster.

Lockwood started off pole position for the last race where he got off to a great start and ran away with the race win after building a 10 second gap to second place and setting the fastest lap of the race.

Lockwood goes into the last round of the V8 Challenge Cup at Pukekohe on October 27-29 with a 336-point lead.

- © Fairfax NZ News