After a spectacular second round of the North Island Endurance Series at Taupo Motorsport Park last weekend, it’s all to play for in both the One and Two-hour categories in round three.
One Hour Category:
Round two’s One Hour race saw Steve Brooks and Bill Riding take victory after coming fourth in round one at Pukekohe Park Raceway who now stand at the top of the One Hour points table. The two are closely tailed by Marco Schelp who is currently second in the points after taking third and second place in the previous two rounds.
Schelp sits second in the points table but leads Class One while Marco Giltrap and Simon Evans lead in Class Three and are third overall in the One Hour standings.
After only scoring 14th at Taupo, round one winner Sam Collins sits fourth in the One Hour standings. With only 31 points difference between the top five One Hour championship drivers, it’s going to be a close battle for the title.
Golden Homes One Hour Championship points (Top 10):
| Driver | Car | R1 | R2 | Total |
| S Brooks/B Riding | Porsche 992 | 82 | 95 | 177 |
| Marco Schelp | BMW Z4 GT3 | 86 | 90 | 176 |
| Marco Giltrap/S Evans | Porsche Cayman GT4 | 73 | 79 | 152 |
| Sam Collins | Marc Gen 2 Mustang | 95 | 56 | 151 |
| Nick Ross | Nissan Altima L33 TLX | 79 | 67 | 146 |
| Geoff Short | Porsche 997 Gen2 | 76 | 60 | 136 |
| Steve Sullivan | Porsche 991 Gen1 | 67 | 62 | 129 |
| Grant Aitken | Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 | 70 | 58 | 128 |
| Todd Murphy | Hyundai i45 V8ST | 64 | 52 | 116 |
| Robert Wallace | Holden Commodore V8ST | 20 | 86 | 106 |
Two Hour Category:
In the Two Hour race category, David Whitburn and Graham Ball are looking strong at the top of the Two Hour standings after a race win in the first round and third place in round two. They are closely followed by the Seat Leon Supercopa drivers Brendan Murphy and Brock Cooley who have scored a consistent second place in both rounds. The same can be said for William Morton and Tom Alexander scoring two third places in their Toyota 86.
But the Two Hour race win in Taupo went to Steff Chambers and Cameron McCormack piloting their Porsche 996.
Golden Homes Two Hour Championship points (Top 10):
| Driver | Co-driver | Car | R1 | R2 | Total |
| David Whitburn | Graham Ball | BMW E92 | 95 | 86 | 181 |
| Brendan Murphy | Brock Cooley | Seat Leon Supercopa | 90 | 90 | 180 |
| William Morton | Tom Alexander | Toyota 86 | 82 | 82 | 164 |
| Chris Wall | Simon/Hammond | Honda Civic | 79 | 76 | 155 |
| Philip Ross | S Dias | Holden Commodore Ute | 70 | 70 | 140 |
| Greg Kroef | P.Manuell/B.Kroef | Ford Falcon FG V8 Ute | 86 | 52 | 138 |
| Simon Ussher | Jake Stoneman | Ford Falcon FG V8 Ute | 73 | 62 | 135 |
| Codie Banks | Russell Brock | BMW E36 323 | 67 | 50 | 117 |
| Donovan O’Neil | Bruce Simmonds | Toyota Celica | 64 | 48 | 112 |
| Paul Fougere | Alex Fougere | Holden Commodore Ute | 54 | 58 | 112 |
Three Hour Category:
Round two saw Andrew Fawcett and Daniel Gaunt take home the win in their McLaren 720S and now lead the championship standings in the Three Hour category with one round remaining.
Golden Homes Three Hour Championship points (Top 10):
| Driver | Co-driver | Car | R1 | R2 | Total |
| Andrew Fawcett | Daniel Gaunt | McLaren 720 S GT3 | 86 | 95 | 181 |
| Paul Pedersen | Ant Pedersen | Mercedes-Benz AMG GT3 | 90 | 90 | 180 |
| John Penny | R.Murphy | Aston Martin Vantage GT3 | 79 | 76 | 155 |
| David Cremer | Jason Liefting | McLaren 570 S GT4 | 76 | 67 | 143 |
| Sam Fillmore | A.Waite/D.Stutterd | Audi R8 LMS GT3 | 95 | 20 | 115 |
| Lance Hughes | Chris van der Drift | Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 | 20 | 82 | 102 |
| Steve Brooks | Bill Riding | Porsche 991 Gen2 | 20 | 73 | 93 |
| Shane Helms | Greg Murphy | Renault R.S.01 | 82 | 10 | 92 |
| Francois Beziac | Mana Malmezac | Porsche 991 MR | 20 | 70 | 90 |
| Neil Foster | Jonny Reid | Audi R8 LMS GT3 | 0 | 86 | 86 |
We can expect to see some thrilling racing at Hampton Downs on June 17 and 18!
Feature photo: Matt Smith
