Rhys Gould held off a spirited charge from Warren Black at Teretonga to go back-to-back in the South Island Endurance Series Class 4 & 5 1-Hour. After days of rain, the skies finally cleared to leave a dry track, but left an extremely wet infield which caused problems for a number of competitors.
Rhys Gould leads Pel Arnott, closely followed by Warren Black.
Having started at the back of the grid last round at Ruapuna before charging to victory, Gould put himself in a better position this time around, qualifying on pole ahead of Scott O’Donnell (Hyundai i30N TCR), Barry Moore (VW Golf GTI TCR), Pel Arnott (Hyundai i30N TCR), Mike Hall (VW Golf GTI TCR) and Russell McKenzie (BMW M3 E46 Coupe).
Dylan Petch, Gould’s Team mate, in an identical Hyundai i30N TCR was expected to have a strong race but was forced to miss Fridays practice session’s, due to a state of emergency declared in Queenstown, plus a road blockage at Carston, and instead have to go straight into qualifying on Saturday morning. Petch qualifying 10th in a car he had never raced before, but more bad luck befell the young Formula Ford racer, when the brake pedal, in his Hyundai went to the floor forcing him into the pits to retire on lap 5.
Dylan Petch’s tin top debut was short lived with a brake pressure issue
O’Donnell starting from the pits worked in favour of Gould, who started alone on the front row and was able to pull clear into Turn 1.
Further back, the Mazda RX8 of Sam Wallace and Harri Judd would come undone in an extremely tight mid-field, running off at Turn 1 and spinning several times before stranding in a sodden outfield, bringing out an early Safety Car.
The order up front had been established when this was called, with Gould holding the lead over Arnott, Black and Hall.
Those four would pull clear off the ensuing restart, with Black moving into second, having started eighth, with a pass on Arnott.
O’Donnell, meanwhile, was doing just as Gould had done at Ruapuna, quickly working his way through the field to sit eighth. That charge would be short-lived, however, when, while attempting to pass McKenzie on the 20-minute mark, he would lock up and run off the circuit through a large puddle before lightly nudging the wall.
This brought another Safety Car right as the pit window opened, resulting in an influx of stops.
Gould would quickly retake the lead when the race restarted just prior to the 30-minute mark, holding off Black, Moore, Arnott and Jacob Gjaja (Lotus Exige), who had quietly gone about his business and found himself at the pointy end of the field.
The two leaders pulled a gap over the field over the following laps while Arnott moved up a place with a superb pass around the outside at Turn 1 on Moore.
Gould eventually began to put distance on his rival, but the gap was reduced when a final Safety Car was called for in the dying stages when Hall came to a halt on the main straight.
The stopped car was narrowly avoided by Gjaja, who did well to avoid contact, coming from an unsighted position to run over the outside grass at speed and return to running.
Gould held on in the ensuing four-minute dash to the line, while Black claimed second and Arnott third. New Zealand Endurance ChampionshipClass 4 & 5 leaders Ayrton Hodson and Brett Sullivan (BMW Z4) were sixth, with Moore and Travers separating them from the podium
Chris Wall (Honda Civic) was the best of the Class 5 competitors, ahead of Donovan Isted (Honda Civic) and James Mitchell (Honda Civic).
The final round of the 2023 South Island Endurance Series takes place at Levels Raceway in Timaru on 13-14 October.
