Despite the Auckland level 3 lock down affecting several top teams heading south for the Carter’s Tyre Service Three-Hour South Island Endurance Series, the competition will be intense this Saturday afternoon in the opening round at the Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell. With no clear favourites heading into the event, there is more than a handful of quick contenders ready to step up to the top of the podium.
One-Hour class title holder Sam Collins will pair up with Nick Ross in a brand-new MARC Mustang, built by MARC Cars in Australia. While they may not have the pace of the GT3 field, the car is built for endurance racing and should prove very reliable.
Having competed in the North Island series, Lance Hughes will pair with Chris van der Drift in a Nissan GTR GT3 which is expected to be quick with more development work having recently taken place. Two other recently imported Nissan GTR Nismo GT3s (Anthony Leighs/Tom Alexander and Rhys Gould/Gene Rollinson) unfortunately will not make the start line due to the Auckland lockdown along with the brand new Carter’s Brabham BT62.
Scott O’Donnell and Martin Dippie’s Porsche 991 GT3R made a very brief appearance at the opening round of the 2019 South Island Endurance Series, only to be involved in a massive crash. Since then the car has been re-shelled and will again be seen on the grid this Saturday.
Ex WRC driver Hayden Paddon makes a return to the series and will co-drive with 2020 One-Hour series title holder Martin Dippie (Porsche 991.1 Cup). Glen Smith teams up with Glen Chappel in the McLaren 650S GT3 which has proven to be very quick at Highlands.
Five Class titles will also be on the line. Class A (0-2000cc) will be fought out between Andrew and Will Kitching (Honda Civic), Grant and Matt Moore (Toyota Altezza) and Terence and Darryl Phillips (Honda Civic). Class B (2001-3500cc) will be tight with last season’s runner up pairing, Barry Moore/Tim Mackersy (VW Golf GTi TCR), up against Ron Mackersy/Warren Good in the recently imported Renault Clio Cup car, Grant Askew/Cole Askew (Seat Supacopa Leon) and Patrick Heagney/Ryan Heagney (Toyota Sprinter AE86).
Class C (>3500cc) will see last season’s runner up pairing of Cameron Davies/Flyn Mitchell (Mazda RX8) up against Darryl Barret/Hamish Frew (Ford Falcon V8ST), the and the Ford V8ST of Graeme Rhodes/Paul Rickerby.
Class D (GT) honours will be a battle between the Collins/Ross MARC Mustang and four Porsche with Dippie/Paddon in contention with Steve Brooks/Jack Milligan (Porsche 991.2 Cup), Don McIntyre/Rob Williams (Porsche 997 GT3 Cup) and Bill Riding/Scott Flanagan (Porsche 991.1 Cup).
The McLaren of Smith/Chappel and the Nissan GT3 of Hughes/van der Drift will square off for the Class E (GT3) honours, however the very fast Dippie/O’Donnell Porsche 991 GT3R may upset this rivalry. Missing because of the Auckland lock down are the two Nismo GT3s, the Brabham BT62, the Shane Helms/Greg Murphy Renault RS01 and The Heart of Racing Aston Martin which has left NZ to contest the IMSA series in the US.
Level 2 restrictions will be in place for the event with appropriate social distancing, segregated bubbles and a limited number of spectators allowed. The four-round series will see an epic battle for both overall and class trophies.
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