Manson/Penrose continue to lead North Island Endurance Series; Shake-up in One-Hour results

Second place at the latest round of the 2024 North Island Endurance Series sees Luke Manson and James Penrose (Audi R8 LMS Evo II GT3) continue to lead the series after a rain interrupted race held at the Taupo Motorsport Park in Taupo. It was the McLaren 650S GT3 of Glenn Smith, John de Veth and Damon Leitch that took the win with the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 of Glen Brazier and Andrew Waite third.

Manson and Penrose won the opening round and now have an eight-point lead over Smith/de Veth/Leitch with Sam Fillmore/Jonny Reid (Audi R8 LMS Evo II GT3) third overall.

***#26 Paul Southam (Porsche 992) leads the One-Hour Series – photo Richard Opie***

There has been a shake-up in the One-Hour results with provisional winner Seb Manson’s Porsche 991 found to be underweight leading to a disqualification. This handed the win to Steve Brooks/Bill Riding (Porsche 992 GT3 Cup).

Also excluded from the results was first round winner Joel Giddy who crossed the line in third. A wrong engine MAP in his Mercedes AMG GT2 was discovered in the post-race scrutineering.

Paul Southam (Porsche 992) was promoted to second and now leads the One-Hour series.

The final round of the season takes place on the Hampton Downs International Circuit 15 June 2024.

Three-Hour Points table after 2/3 rounds (Top 7)
1/ L. Manson/J Penrose E, Audi R8 LMS Evo II GT3 185
2/ G. Smith/J. de Veth/D. Leitch, E, McLaren 650S GT3 177
3/ S. Fillmore/J. Reid, E , Audi R8 LMS Evo II GT3 172
4/ S. Brooks/B. Riding, Audi R8 LMS Evo II GT3 165
5/ G. Brazier/A. Waite, E, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 165
6/ P. Rickerby/G. Rhodes, MARC II Mustang V8 96
7/ S. Gilbertson/J. McIntyre, E, Porsche 991 GT3 MR 96

One-Hour Points table after 2/3 rounds (Top 15)
1/ Paul Southam, Porsche 992 GT3 Cup, 176
2/ S. Brooks/B. Riding, Porsche 992 GT3 Cup, 174
3/ John Goodacre, IRC GT, 168
4/ John Midgley, Ford Falcon FG V8ST, 155
5/ Glenn Cotterill, Porsche 992 GT3 Cup, 149
6/ Pel Arnott, Hyundai i30 TCR, 140
7/ Brent Forman, McLaren 570S GT4, 131
8/ Grant Baguley, BMW E46 M3, 116
9/ J. Annabell/R. Wagstaff, Dodge Viper, 116
10/ Joel Giddy, Mercedes-Benz AMG GT2, 115
11/ Brett Celliers, Subaru WRX, 115
12/ David Cranna, McLaren 570S GT4, 114
13/ Hunter Robb, Porsche 991.2 GT3 Cup, 110
14/ H. Johnston/P.Johnston, Porsche 997.2 GT3 Cup, 110
15/ Rudy van het Wout, McLaren 570S GT4, 108