Sam Collins has won the Class 2&3 2022 One-Hour Carter’s Tyre Service South Island Endurnace Series title while Scott O’Donnell has won the Class 4&5 title in Timaru on Saturday. The annual three-round series concluded at the Timaru International Raceway with plenty of action and on track drama.
For Sam Collins (MARC Mustang), his third consecutive race win in the Series wasn’t straight forward after a coming together with his rival and fastest qualifier, Heremana Malmezac (Porsche 991.2 GT3 Cup), in the opening laps of the 60-minute race. While Collins went on to lead until the chequered flag, the results were never confirmed until late in the day after race stewards had worked through a number of enquiries.
“It’s racing and unfortunately things happen,” commented Collins. “Thanks to the South Island Endurance Drivers Club as this has been a great event again.”
With Malmezac pitted for hasty repairs, it looked like his title tilt was over. However, his crew got him back on track where he was able to finish (in 20th) in the points and salvage a fourth overall.
Collins other title rival, Ronan Murphy (Porsche 991 Cup), was still in contention until a third of the way through the race when a tyre issue sent him into the pits, dropping him down the field. He eventually crawled back to 12th and finished third overall in the Series.
The race was brought to an abrupt halt with minutes left to run after the coming together of the Steve Brooks/Bill Riding Porsche 992 Cup and Steve Scoles’ Ginetta G55 on the Start/Finish straight.
While both drivers walked away unscathed, both cars were severely damaged resulting in a red flag and officials calling an end to the race. This meant that the race order of the proceeding lap would determine the race results, subject to any protests.
Second home behind Collins was Christchurch’s Ben Byers (Porsche 991 Cup). Leading up to the finale, Byers was sixth overall. However, with the demise of several rivals, his result on Saturday propelled him to second overall.
“It was a good race, pretty tight,” said Byers. “I was able to settle into a rhythm with little trouble so pleased with that.”
While Collins also won the Class 2 title (GT Type) from Byers and Murphy, the Grant Williams/Ben Williams (Toyota GT86 V8) combination won the Class 3 (>3500cc) title from Grant Aitken (Porsche GT4) and Oliver Saxton (Porsche Cayman GT4).
In the race for the Class 4&5 title, Scott O’Donnell (Hyundai i20N TCR) did what was needed, stayed out of trouble and finished in second place behind Grant and Cole Askew (VW GTi TCR).
Andre Simon (Toyota 86 Turbo) was quickest in qualifying, 1.197 seconds ahead of O’Donnell and held the lead from the start of the race. This came undone before the 15-minute mark when a gearbox issue saw him heading to the pits and retirement. The Askew pairing took over the lead and held this until the very end.
Mike Hall (VW Golf GTi TCR) was just 13-points behind O’Donnell heading into the finale and held second to Askew for most of the race and one place ahead of O’Donnell. However, a drive through penalty put paid to his title bid and dropped him down the order, eventually finishing in fourth.
Third overall heading to Timaru, Warren Black (Audi) ended up finishing in 27th after a frustrating race. A driver through penalty didn’t help in the dying moments of the race after running as high as fourth in the first 20-laps.
While O’Donnell also won the Class 4 (2000-3500cc) title, first home in Class 5 (0-2000cc) and sixth overall was Mark Meadows (Lotus Exige) but it was the ever-consistent Brad Rule (Honda Civic) who took the title having dominated the Class all season and finished third overall.
The South Island Endurance Racing Drivers Club host the New Zealand Endurance Championships at Highlands Motorsport Park, Cromwell 29 October with many of their Series competitors qualifying for the nationals.
Overall Points Class 2&3 (Top 15)
1/ Sam Collins Ford Marc Mustang, 285
2/ Ben Byers Porsche 991 Cup 239
3/ Ronan Murphy Porsche 991 Cup 236
4/ Heremana Malmezac Porsche 991.2 GT3 Cup MR 221
5/ Adam Julian Porsche 997 Cup 219
6/ B Riding/S Brooks Porsche 992 Cup 211
7/ Glenn Brazier Porsche 991 Cup 210
8/ G Willimas/B Williams, Toyota GT86 V8 198
9/ Francois Beziac Porsche 991.2 GT3 Cup MR 197
10/ Steve Sullivan Porsche 991 Cup Car 180
11/ Grant Aitken Porsche Cayman GT4 166
12/ Jordan Michels Marc Ford Focus V8 161
13/ Martin Neill Porsche 997 Cup 160
14/ M Schelp Porsche 997 Cup S 158
15/ O Saxton Porsche Cayman GT4 146
Race Results Class 2&3 (Place, Driver/s, Class, Car)
1/ Sam Collins 2 Marc II Mustang
2/ Ben Byers 2 Porsche 991.2 Cup
3/ Steve Brooks/Bill Riding 2 Porsche 992 Cup
4/ Jordan Michels 2 Ford Focus V8
5/ Glen Brazier 2 Porsche 991 Cup
6/ Garry Derrick/Ben Derrick 2 Porsche 991 Cup S
7/ Grant Williams/Ben Williams 3 Toyota GT86 V8
8/ Adam Julian 2 Porsche 997 Cup
9/ Francois Beziac 2 Porsche 991.2 Cup MR
10/ Hamish Wilton 2 Ford Falcon FG V8ST
11/ Steve Sullivan 2 Porsche 991 Cup
12/ Ronan Murphy 2 Porsche 991.1 Cup
13/ Grant Aitken 2 Porsche Cayman GT4
14/ Oliver Saxton/M Mallard 3 Porsche Cayman GT4
15/ John Buchanan 3 Porsche Cayman GT4
16/ Martin Neill 2 Porsche 991 Cup
17/ Steve Scoles 3 Ginetta G55
18/ Mike Driver 2 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 MR
19/ Grant Silvester 3 Ford Mustang
20/ Heremana Malmezac 2 Porsche 991.2 Cup MR
DNF Angus McFarlane/Michael Bushell 3 Porchevy 996 V8
DNF Allan Dippie 2 Porsche 997 Cup S
Overall Results Class 4&5 (Top 15)
1/ S O’Donnell Hyundai TCR 275
2/ Mike Hall VW Golf TCR 254
3/ Brad Rule Honda Civic 231
4/ Denzil Travers Audi RS3 LMS TCR 225
5/ Warren Black Audi RS3 LMS TCR 203
6/ Kris Mackie Mazda RX8 170
7= James Mitchell Honda Civic 166
7= Daniel Cropp Honda Civic 2.4 166
9/ Russell McKenzie BMW E46 Coupe 165
10/ Shane Roughan Mazda RX8 163
11/ Donovan Istead Honda Civic 157
12/ Flynn Mitchell Mazda RX8 151
13/ Mark Meadows Lotus Exige 148
14= Bradley Dawson Mazda RX8 142
14= Chris Wall Honda Civic 142
Race Results Class 4&5 (Place, Driver/s, Class, Car)
1/ Grant Askew/Cole Askew 4 VW Golf Gti TCR
2/ Scott O’Donnell 4 Hyundai i30N TCR
3/ Russell McKenzie 4 BMW E46 M3 Coupe
4/ Mike Hall 4 VW Golf GTi TCR
5/ Denzil Travers 4 Audi RS3 LMS TCR
6/ Mark Meadows 5 Lotus Exige
7/ Bradley Rule 5 Honda Civic SIR
8/ Kris Mackie 4 Mazda RX8
9/ Shane Roughan 4 Mazda RX8
10/ Chris Wall 5 Honda Civic
11/ Andrew Brunton/Jarrod Paramenter 4 Mazda RX8
12/ Tim Mackersy 4 Renault Clio
13/ S Bushell/Ben McConochie 4 Mazda RX8
14/ Flyn Mitchell 4 Mazda RX8
15/ Mal Walers 4 Mazda RX8
16/ Steve Parker 5 Toyota TR86
17/ Tom Young/Nick Young 4 Mazda RX8
18/ Dean Cook 5 Honda Intergra
19/ Ash McConchie 4 Mazda RX8
20/ Donovan Isted 5 Honda Civic
21/ Saxon Sheehan 5 Toyota TR86
22/ Jarred Morgan 5 Renault Clio Cup
23/ Marc Denton 5 BMW E30 320
24/ Rianna O’Meara-Hunt 5 Toyota TR86
25/ James Mitchell 5 Honda Civic Type R
26/ Dan Barlow 5 Suzuki Baleno
27/ Warren Black 4 Audi RS3 LMS TCR
28/ Ben Silcock 5 Honda CRX
29/ Bradley Dawson 4 Mazda RX8
DNF Brayden Phillips 5 Mazda MX5
DNF Daniel Cropp 4 Honda Civic 2.4 SiR
DNF Kynan Yu/S Gray 5 Toyota 86
DNF Mark Neville/Jonathan Prince 4 Subaru Impreza WRX
DNF Andre Simon 4 Toyota 86 turbo
DNF Robert Gjaja/Jacob Gjaja 5 Lotus Exige
DNS Paul Booth/David Booth 5 BMW 318 Ti
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