It was not without a fight and certainly not plain sailing but Matt and Dwayne Carter have won the 2017 Carter’s Tyres South Island 3 Hour Endurance Series title. The series sponsors driving a Mercedes-AMG SLS GT3, won the third and final round at Timaru International Raceway adding to their win at the opening round at Invercargill in September and a sixth place at Christchurch a fortnight ago.
“It went pretty well,” commented Dwayne Carter. “I had very little fuel at the end and the radio had packed up so very pleased to cross the finish line”
“We were racing for the title and not necessarily the round,” said Matt Carter. “Eventually the race came to us so very pleased with the result.”
Second home was the new Manthey spec Porsche 991 MR of Johnny McIntyre/Simon Gilbertson that was the quickest car on race day and could have, and should have won the race albeit for a costly pit stop mistake.
McIntyre immediately took the lead at the beginning of the race and managed to lap the entire field before the one-hour mark, then pitted under a safety car period. In handing over to Gilbertson, the car had to return to the pits once more due to a cool-suit issue. In re-joining the race, Gilbertson inadvertently did not stop at the pit lane exit under a red light and hence copped a drive-through penalty. The result was the car had now dropped down to third overall and a lap down.
“Second was a victory for us today,” commented McIntyre. “We’ve had a number of issues all weekend and if it wasn’t for the team we wouldn’t be on the podium.”
A crash with a resulting fire in practice on Friday morning due to a brake issue put the team on the back-foot for the weekend.
“We qualified on used tyres just to be on the grid,” said McIntyre. “Then half an hour before the race we had a front upright problem, again as a result of the crash. We put together a make-shift repair just to get it on the grid.”
Third home were the 2015 champions, father and son pairing of Angus and George McFarlane who took over the lead once the Carter Mercedes pitted at the halfway mark. In turn they pitted for a driver change relinquishing the lead back to the Carter Mercedes who stayed in front until the checkered flag.
“George put us in a good position overall for the race,” said Angus McFarlane. “It’s a tight track to pass so happy with the result.”
The three top cars had three different strategies that eventually played out in the results. The McIntyre/Gilbertson Porsche planned on a two-stop strategy due to fuel issues at the previous two rounds. The Carters Mercedes pitted exactly halfway through the race while the George McFarlane completed just under two hours before handing over to his father.
Behind the leading three was a ‘convoy’ lead by Scott O’Donnell/Allan Dippie (Porsche GT3 Cup S), Paul Rickerby/Graeme Rhodes (Ford V8 SuperTourer), Scott McDermid/Craig McDermid (Toyota 86TT) and Christina Orr-West/Chelsea Herbert (Aston Martin Vantage V8).
A broken axle two laps from the end saw the Rickerby/Rhodes SuperTourer limp home crossing the line in sixth, elevating the McDermid Toyota up to fifth.
Four Classes were competing within the category for title honours. Overall, after three completed rounds Arron Black/Stuart Black (BMW E46 WTC) won Class A (0-2000cc), while Tim Mackersy/Barry Moore (Volkswagen Golf Cup) took the in Class B (2001-3500cc). Scott McDermid (Toyota 86 TT) won Class C (3501
Three-hour results (top 10, provisional)
1. Matt Carter/Dwayne Carter (Mercedes-AMG SLS) 3:00.28.955
2. John McIntyre/Simon Gilbertson (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup MR) +36.393
3. Angus MacFarlane/George MacFarlane (Porsche 911) +57.040
4. Scott O’Donnell/Allan Dippe (Porsche 991 GT3Cup) +3 laps
5. Scott McDermid/Craig McDermid (Toyota 86) +7 laps
6. Paul Rickerby/Graeme Rhodes (Ford FG Falcon) +9 laps
7. Christina Orr-West/Chelsea Herbert (Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT4) +10 laps
8. Darryl Barrett/Hamish Frew (Mazda RX-7) +11 laps
9. Arron Black/Stuart Black (BMW 3 Series WTCC) +14 laps
10. Eddie Bell/Jordan Michels (BMW M3) +15 laps
Overall Classification
1/ Matt Carter/Dwayne Carter (Mercedes-AMG SLS GT3)
2/ Angus McFarlane/George McFarlane (Porsche GT3R
3/ Allan Dippie/Scott O’Donnell (Porsche GT3 Cup S)
4/ Graeme Rhodes/Paul Rickerby (Ford V8 SuperTourer)
5/ Arron Black/ Stuart Black (BMW E46 WTC)
Class A
1/ Arron Black/Stuart Black
2/ Mark Taylor/Vaughan Malony
3/Grant Moore/Matt Moore
Class B
1/ Tim Mackersy/Barry Moore
2/ Mike Driver/Phil Hood
3/ Jarrod Parmenter
Class C
1/ Scott McDermid
2/ Hamish Frew/Darryl Barrett
3/ Eddie Bell/Jordan Michels
Class D & E
1/ Matt Carter/Dwayne Carter
2/ Angus McFarlane/George McFarlane
3/ Allan Dippie/Scott O’Donnell
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