Home advantage expected for Small Brothers in One-Hour South Island Endurance race at Timaru

Competition at the second round of the Carter’s Tyre Service One-Hour South Island Endurance Series – Presented by Michelin is expected to be tight as a large field of drivers head to the Timaru International Raceway this Saturday. Such is the size of this season’s entry list that organisers are running two separate races across four different classes of race cars.

Porsche is the favoured weapon of choice making up over half the field of the very competitive Class C (>3501cc) & D (GT) race. Ryan Wood (Porsche 991 Cup) was head and shoulders ahead of the pack in qualifying at the opening round at the Highlands Motorsport Park, Cromwell, and went on to easily win and lead the series.

However, local Timaru favourites, Chris and Johnny Small (Porsche 991.2), are likely to fight for the win on home turf and proved very quick at Highlands, only to run into mechanical problems.

***#40, Ryan Wood Class C&D race winner, Euan Cameron Photography***

Also, in the hunt will be last year’s champion, Martin Dippie (Porsche 991.1), national One-Hour champion Marco Schelp (Porsche GT3 Cup S) who finished second to Wood, Chris Henderson (Toyota 86 V8) and Jarod Owens (Porsche GT3 997 Cup). Two other quick V8s in the action will be Jordan Michels (Ford Focus MARC) and Angus McFarlane/ Michael Bushell (Porsche V8).

Rivalry in the separate One-Hour race for Class A (0-2000cc) and Class B (2001-3500cc) is also expected to be tight. Fastest in qualifying at the opening Highlands round was Southland’s Scott O’Donnell, in the ex-Hayden Paddon Hyundai i30N TCR. O’Donnell led much of the race only to be undone by a faulty radio, therefore failing to pit early under a safety car period and as a consequence, lost considerable time while almost all the field dived into pitlane for their compulsory pitstop.

***#486, Andre Simon Toyota 86, Class A&B race winner, ahead of Scott O’Donnell, Photo Euan Cameron***

It was Queenstown’s Andre Simon’s (Toyota 86) who took the chequered from Christchurch’s Daniel Cropp (Honda Civic 2400) with O’Donnell third. Also expected to be in the fight for a podium are Brad Rule (Honda Civic) Dennis Chapman (Audi TCR), Debbie Chapman (Audi TCR), Mike Hall (VW Golf GTI 35) Robert Gjaja (Lotus Exige) and Steven Kelly (BMW E46 M3 GTR).

Practice takes place on Friday with qualifying from 9:00am Saturday morning followed by the Class A & B race at 10:20am and Class C&D race at 11:40am.

One-Hour Class A & B Entries
No, Driver/s, Vehicle
5, Rhys Gould, Hyundai i30N TCR
8, Harrison O’Donnell/Blake Knowles, Mini Cooper S
TBA, James Paterson, Toyota 86
10, Brad Rule, Honda Civic
17, Robert Gjaja, Lotus Exige
20, Jarrod Parmenter/Andrew Brunton, Mazda RX8
21, Pat Heagney/Ryan Heagney, Toyota Sprinter AE86
22, Dennis Chapman, Audi TCR LMS
32, James Mitchell, Honda Civic Type R
43, Brayden Phillips, Mazda MX5
56, Daniel Cropp, Honda Civic SIR
61, Jordan Rae, Honda Civic
64, Clark Scott, Honda Integra Type R
71, Noel Simons, Honda Integra
88, Sam Wallace, Mazda RX8
91, Andrew Gibson/Paul Booth, Honda Civic
94, Tim Stanton/Adam Jones/Leyton Tremain, Peugeot 106 Clubsport
95, Dean Cook, Honda Integra
99, William Taylor, Honda Type R
114, Kris Mackie, Mazda RX8
117, Mike Hall, Volkswagon Golf Gti 35
119, Tim Dossett, Honda Civic
122, Mark Neville/Jonathan Prince, Subaru Impreza WRX
123, Peter Bennetts, VW Golf
158, Dave McLean, Honda Integra
181, Marc Denton, BMW 320i
193, Warren Black, Renault Clio
199, Marcus Barnett, Seat Leon
200, Scott O’Donnell, Hyundai i30N
223, Debbie Chapman, Audi TCR LMS
224, Bryce Mitchell/Alan Turner, Toyota Starlet
331, Ben Barlow, Honda Civic
486, Andre Simon/Ben Silcock, Toyota 86

One-Hour Class C & D Entries
No, Driver/s, Vehicle
6, Ben Williams/Grant Williams, Toyota GT86
7, Angus McFarlane/Michael Bushell, Porsche GT3
9, Marco Schelp, Porsche GT3 Cup S
11, Grant Aitken, Porsche 981 GT4
12, Milne Horne/Tim Horne, V8 Super Tourer
13, Jarrod Owens, Porsche GT3 997 Cup S
16, Chris Small/Johnny Small, Porsche 991.2
23, Jordan Michels, Ford Focus MARC
25, John Wadsworth, Chev Cruze
30, Mana Malmezac, Porsche Cayman GT4
35, Bruce Davidson, Chev Corvette C6R
40, Ryan Wood, Porsche 991 Cup Car
52, Chris Henderson, Toyota GT86
58, Steve Scoles, Ginetta G55 GT4
66, Mike Driver, Porsche 997.1 GT3
74, Rick Matheson/Liam Matheson, Mazda RX7
83, John Buchanan, Porsche Cayman GT4
84, Adam Julian, Ginetta G55 GT4
148, Garry Derrick/Ben Derrick, Porsche 991.2
185, Martin Neill, Porsche 997.2 GT3 Cup
256, Ben Byers, Porsche 991.2 GT3
451, Marcus Mulcay, Mazda RX8
811, Roger Nees, Ford Falcon XR8 Ute
911, Allan Dippie, Porsche GT3 Cup S
991, Martin Dippie, Porsche 991.1
997, Chris Nicholas, Porsche 997.1 GT3