Competition going into the second Three-Hour category round of the South Island Endurance Series at Teretonga Park this weekend is set to be some of the best the Series has seen.
The first round at Ruapuna Raceway earlier this month saw the Audi R8 LMS Evo GT3 of Sam Fillmore and Johnny Reid become the team to beat after taking the Class 1 win.
Andrew Fawcett and Daniel Gaunt were hot on the heels of the winners in their McLaren 720S GT3, missing out on the win but catching up after a spin at the start brought about by another competitor.
Rounding out the podium was recent North Island Series champions Paul and Ant Pedersen in their Mercedes-Benz AMG GT3, finishing third in Chirstchurch.
The series opener didn’t come without its woes for some drivers though as Lance Hughes and Chris ven der Drift were denied a spot on the top steps due to a steering issue late into the race. Dwayne and Matt Carter were also met with trouble in their Brabham BT62.
Five separate classes make up the Three-Hour category with drivers gunning for the best overall spot they can get.
The top three finishers for Class 2 at Ruapuna include the Porsche 991.2 GT3 Cup MR of Heremana Malmezac and Jono Lester, with Schelp and Leighs in second, and Bezlac and Alexander in third.
Finishing on the Class 3 podium was Porsche 718 GT4 Clubsport pilots Marco Giltrap and Simon Evans. Second position went to Rogers and Green while third place was taken by Silvester and Perkins.
Class 4 saw Grant and Cole Askew claim the class victory, leading that of Paterson and Moore in second, and Parmenter and Brunton in third.
Finishing up the podiums for the Three-Hour category in Class 5 was Ben Silcock and Andre Simon. The pair beat Terence and Darryl Phillips who came second, along with the Moore pair in third place.
A One-Hour category round up can be found here.
Testing at Teretonga Park Raceway will get underway on Friday, October 1. Qualifying is set for 9:50AM on Saturday, October 2 with the Three-Hour race starting that afternoon at 1:30PM.
Main image: MotorSport New Zealand
