A near-perfect season has seen Steve Brooks and Bill Riding (Audi R8 GT3) win the 2024 Three Hour Racer Products South Island Endurance Series. The pairing won the third and final round on Saturday at the Timaru International Raceway in Timaru, adding to their round wins in Invercargill and Christchurch.
“It’s been a great result,” commented Brooks. “We’ve really enjoyed it. Really pleased with Bill’s start as he was very quick today.”
Second home and first in Class 2 was the pairing of Paul Rickerby and Graeme Rhodes (Marc II Mustang).
“The car went well today,” said Rhodes. “Once again, Paul had a brilliant start. It’s been a great team effort.”
The closest title threat was potentially going to come from the Lamborghini GT3 Evo of Glen Brazier and Andrew Waite. Heading into the final round they were equal on points with Rhodes/Rickerby and just 18 behind Brooks/Riding. However, soon after the one hour mark the Lamborghini slowed and entered pit lane retiring with a gearbox issue.
“Unfortunately, that’s the way motorsport goes sometimes,” commented Brazier. “We were in the hunt for the title but to be fair to say, you need to finish and that’s the way it goes.”
For the rest of the race Brooks and Riding were never threatened, completing 180 laps, eight ahead of second place. The team also won the Class 1 (GT3) title plus the Michelin AM Cup.
James Sax/Todd Bawden (Mercedes AMG GT4) won the Series Class 3 (>3501cc) title finishing fifth overall while Matt Moore/Grant Moore (Toyota Altezza) claimed the Class 4 (2001-3500cc) title and third overall.
Much focus was on the battle for Class 5 (0-2000cc) honours which saw Chris Wall/D Thomsen/L Hammond (Honda Civic) win the title as well as the Rookie Cup, ahead of Cormac Murphy/Thomas Mallard (Toyota 86).
