Brooks/Riding win Three-Hour South Island Endurance Series title

A near-perfect season has seen Steve Brooks and Bill Riding (Audi R8 GT3) win the 2024 Racer Products South Island Endurance Series. The pairing won the third and final round on Saturday at the Timaru International Raceway in Timaru, adding to their round wins in Invercargill and Christchurch.

“It’s been a great result,” commented Brooks. “We’ve really enjoyed it. Really pleased with Bill’s start as he was very quick today.”

Second home and first in Class 2 was the pairing of Paul Rickerby and Graeme Rhodes (Marc II Mustang).

***Graeme Rhodes & Paul Rickerby, Marc II Mustang finished 2nd overall – photo Richard Opie***

“The car went well today,” said Rhodes. “Once again, Paul had a brilliant start. It’s been a great team effort.”

The closest title threat was potentially going to come from the Lamborghini GT3 Evo of Glen Brazier and Andrew Waite. Heading into the final round they were equal on points with Rhodes/Rickerby and just 18 behind Brooks/Riding. However, soon after the one hour mark the Lamborghini slowed and entered pit lane retiring with a gearbox issue.

**G Brazier/A Waite, Lamborghini GT3 Evo dropped out of contention with gearbox issues- photo Richard Opie**

“Unfortunately, that’s the way motorsport goes sometimes,” commented Brazier. “We were in the hunt for the title but to be fair to say, you need to finish and that’s the way it goes.”

For the rest of the race Brooks and Riding were never threatened, completing 180 laps, eight ahead of second place. The team also won the Class 1 (GT3) title plus the Michelin AM Cup.

***M Moore/G Moore, Toyota Altezza, Class 4 winners – photo Richard Opie***

James Sax/Todd Bawden (Mercedes AMG GT4) won the Series Class 3 (>3501cc) title finishing fifth overall while Matt Moore/Grant Moore (Toyota Altezza) claimed the Class 4 (2001-3500cc) title and third overall.

Much focus was on the battle for Class 5 (0-2000cc) honours which saw Chris Wall/D Thomsen/L Hammond (Honda Civic) win the title as well as the Rookie Cup, ahead of Cormac Murphy/Thomas Mallard (Toyota 86).

**Class 5 winners – C Wall/D Thomsen/L Hammond, Honda Civic – photo Richard Opie**

Three-Hour Overall Points
Pos, Driver/s, Car, Class, Points
1/ S Brooks/B Riding, Audi R8 GT3, 1, 285
2/ G Rhodes/P Rickerby, Marc II Mustang, 2, 262
3/ M Moore/G Moore, Toyota Altezza, 4, 225
4/ G Brazier/A Waite, Lamborghini GT3 Evo, 1, 192
5/ J Sax/T Bawden, Mercedes AMG GT4, 3, 155
6/ D Chapman/B Knowles, Audi RS3 LMS, 4, 143
7= M Dippie/A Dippie, Porsche GT3 Cup 992, 2, 86
7= L Manson/S Manson, Audi R8 GT3, 1, 86
7= C Wall/D Thomsen/L Hammond, Honda Civic, 5, 86
10/ D Lamb/N Bartley, Suzuki Swift, 5, 79
11= S O’Donnell/S Kelly, Audi RS3 LMS, 4, 76
11= T Stanton/J Michels, Peugeot 106, 5, 76
13= M O’Donnell/L O’Donnell, Audi RS3 LMS, 4, 73
13= M Hamilton/J Carnegie, Toyota Levin , 5, 73
15/ T Mallard/C Murphy, Toyota 86, 5, 67
16= A Giddy/T Alexander, Toyota 86, 5, 20
16= T Phillips/D Cropp, Honda Civic, 5, 20