The battle for points in the South Island Endurance Racing Series One-Hour category is about to heat up as we head into the second round at Teretonga Park in Invercargill this weekend.
At the series opener at Ruapuna Raceway at the start of September, it was Sam Collins who set the standard in the Class 2 and 3 One-Hour race, while Scott O’Donnell and co-driver Michael Lyons won in the Class 4 and 5 One-Hour race.
Armed with his Marc II Mustang, Collins won against a field filled largely of Porsches including the likes of Ronan Murphy in his 991.1 Cup car and Heremana Malmezac in a 991.2 Cup MR, finishing respectively.
Taking home the Class 3 One-Hour win was seventh place overall Grant and Ben Williams in their Toyota 86 V8, leading Nigel Cromie in his McLaren 570S GT4 and Deon Cooper in his Ford Mustang GT4.
O’Donnell and Lyons ended up on the top step of the podium after starting from the pit lane for the Class 4 One-Hour race with their Hyundai i20 TCR. It was a comfortable win after race leader James Penrose retired from the race. Competition will be fierce between these front runners going into Teretonga.
Mike Hall finished in second in his VW Golf TCR while third place went to Daniel Cropp in the Honda Civic 2.4.
It was an all Civic podium in the Class 5 One-Hour, with Brad Rule on the top step, James Mitchell in second and Donovan Istead in third. We can expect some close racing over the next two rounds in this class as most competitors use similar chassis including Civics and Toyota 86s.
Testing for the second round at Teretonga will get underway on Friday, September 30.
On Saturday, October 1, qualifying starts at 9AM for Classes 4 and 5 with the race beginning at 10:20AM, while Class 2 and 3 qualifying starts at 9:25AM with the race start set for 11:40AM.
Main image: South Island Endurance Series Facebook
