New Taupo winners means One, Two and Three Hour title showdowns for Hampton Downs

Andrew Fawcett and Daniel Gaunt held on to win a great race at the Taupo Motorsport Park over the weekend, and now lead the Golden Homes Endurance Championship Three Hour standings with their McLaren 720S with one round to go.

Two second places in their debut season in the new current specification Mercedes Benz AMG GT3 see father and son combo Paul and Ant Pedersen second overall and they will be heading to Hampton Downs looking for a debut victory in the car, a spectacular addition to the Golden Homes North Island Endurance Championship this season.

Another car new to this season’s championship, the Penny Homes Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 of John Penny and Ronan Murphy/Greg Murphy sits third overall with a fifth and sixth place finish to their credit and they too will be hoping to take the top step of the podium at the final round.

***Steve Brooks and Bill Riding took the One Hour spoils in their 992 Porsche***

It will be all to play for in both the One and Two Hour categories at Hampton Downs as well following a weekend where each race produced different winners to the first round at Pukekohe.

Steve Brooks and Bill Riding improved from their fourth place finish at Pukekohe to take victory at Taupo and they now sit at the head of the One Hour points table. Consistency is definitely the key in the One Hour class with Marco Schelp sitting second in the points and leading Class 1 after a third and a second place in the first two rounds while Marco Giltrap and Simon Evans lead Class 3 and are third overall in the One Hour standings.

Round 1 winner Sam Collins could only take 14th at Taupo and is fourth in the title chase, though all are in with a shout of title honours at Hampton Downs over the weekend of 17-18 June.

There was a popular win for Steff Chambers and Cameron McCormack in a hotly-contested and very diverse Two Hour field in Saturday’s Two Hour race. David Whitburn and Graham Ball finished fourth in their BMW E92 and combined with their win in Round One, they now head the points heading into the final weekend.

Golden Homes Three Hour Championship points (Top 10)

Driver	Co-driver	Car	R1	R2	Total
Andrew Fawcett	Daniel Gaunt	McLaren 720 S GT3	86	95	181
Paul Pedersen	Ant Pedersen	Mercedes-Benz AMG GT3	90	90	180
John Penny	R.Murphy	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	79	76	155
David Cremer	Jason Liefting	McLaren 570 S GT4	76	67	143
Sam Fillmore	A.Waite/D.Stutterd	Audi R8 LMS GT3	95	20	115
Lance Hughes	Chris van der Drift	Lamborghini Gallardo GT3	20	82	102
Steve Brooks	Bill Riding	Porsche 991 Gen2	20	73	93
Shane Helms	Greg Murphy	Renault R.S.01	82	10	92
Francois Beziac	Mana Malmezac	Porsche 991 MR	20	70	90
Neil Foster	Jonny Reid	Audi R8 LMS GT3	0	86	86

Golden Homes One Hour Championship points (Top 10)

Driver	Car	R1	R2	Total
S Brooks/B Riding	Porsche 992	82	95	177
Marco Schelp	BMW Z4 GT3	86	90	176
Marco Giltrap/S Evans	Porsche Cayman GT4	73	79	152
Sam Collins	Marc Gen 2 Mustang	95	56	151
Nick Ross	Nissan Altima L33 TLX	79	67	146
Geoff Short	Porsche 997 Gen2	76	60	136
Steve Sullivan	Porsche 991 Gen1	67	62	129
Grant Aitken	Porsche 718 Cayman GT4	70	58	128
Todd Murphy	Hyundai i45 V8ST	64	52	116
Robert Wallace	Holden Commodore V8ST	20	86	106

Golden Homes Two Hour points (Top 10)

Driver	Co-driver	Car	R1	R2	Total
David Whitburn	Graham Ball	BMW E92	95	86	181
Brendan Murphy	Brock Cooley	Seat Leon Supercopa	90	90	180
William Morton	Tom Alexander	Toyota 86	82	82	164
Chris Wall	Simon/Hammond	Honda Civic	79	76	155
Philip Ross	S Dias	Holden Commodore Ute	70	70	140
Greg Kroef	P.Manuell/B.Kroef	Ford Falcon FG V8 Ute	86	52	138
Simon Ussher	Jake Stoneman	Ford Falcon FG V8 Ute	73	62	135
Codie Banks	Russell Brock	BMW E36 323	67	50	117
Donovan O’Neil	Bruce Simmonds	Toyota Celica	64	48	112
Paul Fougere	Alex Fougere	Holden Commodore Ute	54	58	112