Damon Leitch and Glenn Smith start from pole position for the final South Island Endurance Series three-hour race at Ruapuna.
The SBT Motorsport’s McLaren 650S GT3 posted a 1.18.846 to comfortably secure pole.
Anthony Leighs and Tom Alexander start second on their return to the championship. The Nissan GT-R GT3 was 1.7s off the McLaren’s best lap.
Series leaders Allan Dippie and Scott O’Donnell qualified third in their Porsche 991 GT3R.
As the only duo to claim an overall podium in every race, they are in a prime position to clinch the three-hour title this afternoon.
They will be targeting a clean, incident-free race to ensure they leave today with the coveted piece of silverware.
Another race weekend means another potential lap record for Ryan Wood.
The 17-year-old was already lapping under the previous one-hour class record by nearly two seconds in yesterday’s practice session.
Then, today, Wood goes even faster.
A lot faster.
Wood’s pole position lap was a blistering 1.21.100s.
Now, officially, to break a lap record, a driver has to do it during the race. But if his sensational qualifying speed is anything to go by, expect Wood to comfortably rewrite the record books today.
Wood wasn’t the only driver in the Class C and D field to turn up the wick.
Jarrod Owens qualified second with a lap in the mid-1.22s. He edged Marco Schelp for a spot on the front row by 0.052s.
The Steve Brooks/Jack Milligan combo also dipped into the 1.22s and starts fourth.
Rhys Gould started today as he meant to continue, earning his third straight pole position for the Class A and B one-hour field.
The Hyundai i30 N TCR racer was a full 1.8s faster than second-place Steven Kelly.
Scott O’Donnell and Dennis Chapman rounded out row two.
The Class A and B one-hour is about to begin, with the Class C and D affair starting at 11.40 am.
The three-hour then concludes the day’s running at 1.30 pm.
Radio commentary of each race can be listened to via the South Island Endurance Facebook page.
Main Image: ASP
