2008 and the Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Championship was in its heyday. This week we look back to the 2008 Hamilton 400 V8 Supercar round. Here’s Ross MacKay’s race report from the weekend…..
Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge champion Craig Baird (VnC Cocktails/Mad Butcher 997 GT3) signed off his 2007/08 New Zealand season with another winning trifecta at the inaugural Hamilton 400 V8 Supercar meeting in Hamilton this weekend.
Though he was pipped for pole position in qualifying on Friday by Triple X Motorsport teammate David Reynolds (Hampsta/Mad Butcher 997 GT3) Baird made every post a winning one in the three Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge races.
In the first, on Saturday morning, he led home young guns Jono Lester (Blackwood Paykels 997 GT3) and Jody Vincent, in the second that afternoon Vincent and Reynolds and in Sunday’s reverse top six grid third, Vincent and 2007/08 Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge championship runner-up Daniel Gaunt (Mitre 10 Mega 997 GT3).
Queensland-based professional Baird started the 2007/08 Battery Town season with a similar three-wins-from-three-starts result and this weekend’s trifecta was his fourth in seven rounds with the win the reverse grid final race his 17th (out of 21) this season.
Despite being no great fan of the reverse grid format Baird made short work of the race, catapulting from sixth spot at the start to second place into the first corner then hunting down early leader Jody Vincent after an early Safety Car intervention.
“Obviously the Safety Car knocked a bit of momentum out of it but the plan was to get a good start and get to the front as quickly as I could,” said Baird. “Jody was quick but once I got past Ant Pedersen and Dan (Gaunt) it was just a matter of sizing him up for a couple of laps, working out where I was strong and he was strong, then making a move.”
Having finished third in the first race and runner-up to Baird in the second, there was only one place Vincent (Koken Tools 997 GT3) was interested in having started from the front row of the grid in the third, but though he remained close once Baird had got past he accepted that the top step of the podium was again going to be Baird’s.
“Overall I’m rapt with the weekend, particularly being able to race in front of the crowd and all my sponsors. The pace is definitely there too, it’s just that Craig has a knack of getting the best out of these cars on cold tyres. We’re able to run at that pace when the tyres have got some heat in them but I’m definitely going to have to work on my pace when they don’t.”
Hot or cold, with his third and two seconds Vincent was second overall for the round from impressive young 2007/08Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup rookie Ant Pedersen (J A Russell/Volvo Construction Equipment 997 GT3).
Pedersen, the 19-year-old, son of top NZV8s driver Paul Pedersen – who was racing his Ford Falcon in the NZV8s races at the meeting – raised eyebrows with third quickest time in qualifying on Friday then finished fourth in each race.
Fellow young gun Jono Lester beat him to the line in the first race but struggled with handling issues in the second and third, leaving Pedersen to battle it out with Vincent, Daniel Gaunt and visiting Australian drivers David Reynolds and Jonathan Webb (VnC Cocktails 997 GT3).
And like Vincent, he was justifiably pleased with his weekend.
“Yes,” he said, ” Everything really just fell into place after qualifying. I felt really comfortable in the car on Friday and it has just gone from there. It’s good to be like that at a place like this too because I’ve got my heart set on driving V8 Supercars and where better to have a good weekend than at a meeting like this in front of all the guys in the V8 teams?”
After a cautious start to the weekend Mitre 10 Mega-backed 2007/08 Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge runner-up Daniel Gaunt looked more comfortable in Sunday’s race, finishing third behind Baird and Vincent but in front of Pedersen, Webb and Reynolds.
“Definitely happier,” he agreed, explaining that it took time to find a set up he liked in qualifying and in the first two races.
“As much as anything,” he said, ” it was just a matter of getting more confident on the brakes so that I could really start to use them round here. In that race (the third one) I finally had the car close enough that I could feel the subtle changes needed to go that bit quicker which would have got me on on Craig and Jody’s pace. It’s a pity that it took until the third race but at least I will be able to come back next year knowing which way to go.”
Everyone, no matter what the car or class, struggled with some of the bumps on the temporary Hamilton street circuit, but as Baird said; “it is certainly a lot better than what I was expecting and it’s a track you can really race on. There are areas that the organisers are going to have to work on but for a first time I think it is a fantastic effort and it is only going to get better.”
An opinion echoed by 996 race-within-a-race winner Richard Moore (Good Water/Scutum 996 GT3). The 16-year-old kart-turned-rising-car star was as impressive in Sunday’s race as he was in qualifying on Friday and the two races on Sunday, spending most of his time on the track shadowing 997 GT3 driver Darryn Henderson (SamSung/RadioSport 997 GT3).
“I’m stoked with my weekend, ” he said. “The car was great and I absolutely loved the track!”
Results Qualifying
2007/08 Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Trophy round Hamilton 400 Hamilton Fri-Sun April 18-20 2008
1. David Reynolds (Hampsta/Mad Butcher 997 GT3) 1.27.0709
2. Craig Baird (VnC Cocktails/Mad Butcher 997 GT3) 1.27.4301
3. Anthony Pedersen (J A Russell/Volvo Construction Equipment 997 GT3) 1.28.2502
4. Jono Lester (Blackwoods Paykels 997 GT3) 1.28.4133
5. Jonathan Webb (VnC Cocktails/Michelin 997 GT3) 1.28.5691
6. Daniel Gaunt (Mitre 10 Mega 997 GT3) 1.28.6100
7. Rodney Forbes (MPD Dairy Products 997 GT3) 1.28.8980
8. Jody Vincent (Koken Tools 997 GT3) 1.29.5459
9. Shane McKillen (VnC Cocktails 997 GT3) 1.29.6376
10. Darryn Henderson (SamSung/RadioSport 997 GT3) 1.30.0008
11. Nick Gordon (Zintel 996 GT3) 1.31.8646
12. Richard Moore (Good Water/Scutum 996 GT3) 1.32.4815
13. Rob Steele (In Motion Post 996 GT3) 1.32.6240
14. Michael Morton (Mad Butcher/RadioSport 997 GT3) 1.34.1060
15. David Mackrell (Mackrell Murcott 996 GT3) 1.37.2245
Race 1
1. Craig Baird 12 laps
2. Jono Lester
3. Jody Vincent
4. Ant Pedersen
5. Daniel Gaunt
6. Jonathan Webb
7. Darryn Henderson
8. Shane McKillen
9. Richard Moore
10. Nick Gordon
11. Rob Steele
12. David Mackrell
dnf Rodney Forbes, Michael Morton
dns David Reynolds
Race 2
1. Baird 12 laps
2. Vincent
3. Reynolds
4. Pederson
5. Lester
6. Webb
7. Gaunt
8. Forbes
9. McKillen
10.Henderson
11. Moore
12. Gordon
13. Steele
14. Mackrell
Race 3
1. Baird 12 laps
2. Vincent
3. Gaunt
4. Pederson
5. Webb
6. Reynolds
7. Lester
8. Forbes
9. Henderson
10. Moore
11. Steele
12. Gordon
13. Morton
14. Mackrell
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