A thrilling final Golden Homes GT New Zealand round at Manfeild has seen Marco Giltrap walk away as Open Class Champion and Jono McFarlane emerge victorious in GT4.
Both entered the round narrowly leading their respective classes, needing a strong weekend in order to bring the title home.
Beginning with Saturday’s 1-Hour race, it was Francois Beziac and Jono Lester who emerged victorious in Open Class, with Joel Giddy topping the GT4 class aboard his Mercedes AMG.
The open class podium was rounded out with Marco Giltrap second and Paul Pedersen finishing in third. The GT4 podium saw Todd Bawden in his McLaren second, with Grant Aitken in a Porsche third.
There was some unfortunate drama before the race started, with Open Class title contender Heremana Malmezac stranded in the pits. An apparent fuel pump issue in his Porsche prevented him from starting the race.
Off the start, pole sitter Beziac was passed by Giltrap, with the Porsche of Luke Manson also making a pass on Beziac at the end of lap one to slot into P2.
Further behind in GT4, class polesitter, Nigel Cromie held his lead off the start, with his title rival and points leader McFarlane behind in seventh.
As the field got into a rhythm, there was a problem for the Aston Martin of Stephen Harrison, who pitted with an oil cooler issue, following damage after contact with another car.
It was a similar issue for teammate Allan Sargeant in his Ginetta. An excursion into the gravel breaking an oil pump belt. The Race Lab were forced to work hard to get both cars repaired for today’s races.
By lap 18, the leaders started to make their compulsory pit stops, Giltrap coming in along with Manson, who managed to emerge ahead when they re-joined the race. Beziac also pitted, handing over to co-driver Lester.
There was trouble for Manson, who was forced to make an unscheduled pitstop on lap 25 to change a punctured left rear tyre, his International Motorsport team getting the tyre changed, and putting him back into the race.
While GT4 leader Cromie pitted for his stop, there was a moment of panic for GT4 championship leader McFarlane, who spun in at the turn-five hairpin.
With the pitstops complete, Lester began to claw his way back through the field, eventually catching Giltrap who had reclaimed the lead after his stop. Lester slipped by, and then proceeded to pull away with 20 minutes to go.
Behind, it was Paul Pedersen in third, who was hounded for the remaining 10 laps. With the chequered flag falling, it was Lester, Giltrap and Pedersen, with Steele/Southam in fourth, and Rob Anderson fifth.
Back in GT4, Joel Giddy found himself in the lead, and further back, Jono McFarlane had recovered from his spin on track and managed to catch and pass his title rival Cromie. The duo finished just off the podium in fourth and fifth respectively.
Giltap went into the final day of the championship with a 76-point lead over Beziac, with Manson a further 11 behind. GT4 was a much tighter affair, with only 48 points separating McFarlane and Cromie.
In race two held this morning at the Manfeild circuit, Open Class was won by Wayne Leach in a Ferrari. Second place went to Malmezac in a Porsche, with Manson third.
The GT4 class win went to the McLaren of Bawden, with Giddy second, and Harrison third.
The third and final race of the weekend, and the season finale, saw Jono Lester take victory in Open Class, with the Ferrari of Leach second, and Giltrap third.
In GT4, the Ginetta of Scoles won, with Bawden second and Richard Crabb in a McLaren finishing third.
The round wins went to Lester & Beziac in Open Class, with Todd Bawden taking the round win in GT4.
Heading into the final race of the weekend and the season, Giltrap had a 69-point lead over nearest rival Manson, and just had to finish to secure the championship crown.
“It was a pretty cool race, to be honest, it was shaping up to be a close finish, then the safety car got called and it was all on from there,” said Giltrap.
“We knew we didn’t have to do much we were in a comfortable position to win the Championship, the seas sort of parted ways on the restart, and I saw a gap and moved up to P3 which was awesome. We only had to finish the race to win.”
Giltrap was ‘Mr Consistency’ all season long, regularly finishing on the podium at every round, though not managing to clinch an elusive win.
“It’s a little bit bittersweet to be honest. To not have won a race, but to have the championship is awesome. We were consistent from day dot, with Matt Houston (engineer) and then Stephen Giles coming in this round to help us. Lots of podiums at least, so we will take that.”
Beziac finished second in the championship, with Manson third.
In GT4, newly crowned champion McFarlane beat reigning GT4 champion Cromie to the title in a hard-fought season-long battle. Similar to the battle in Open Class, McFarlane just had to finish the last race of the season to maintain his points lead.
“Very happy, so stoked for the team Mach 1 Engineering, all of the crew,” said McFarlane.
“The plan for the weekend was to stick to Nigel (Cromie) like glue and not let him get too far ahead. And to finish the race which is the hard thing.”
In the final race of the season, a late safety car saw a one-lap dash to the chequered flag.
“I was a bit nervous on the safety car restart in that last race, I thought it was going to be chaos, so I just pulled back and let everyone do their thing.
“The season has been awesome, I’ve had so much fun, all the teams, all the drivers, we all get on really well. Awesome fun.”
Cromie finished second in the championship to McFarlane, with Bawden third.
Words & Images: Supplied
Additional Reporting: Matthew Sampson
