Teamed with Suzuki NZ Teammates Sloan Frost and Scott Moir, AMCC’s Daniel Mettam scored his second Motul 6 Hour victory in three years on Sunday at Hampton Downs.
With all three riders aboard Suzuki GSX-R1000’s to cover 314 laps (847 Km), the trio also smashed the record for the distance covered in the 360 minutes of racing available.
Having won the inaugural event in 2015, and then taking a third placing in 2016, Mettam took the start and led his entire first stint.
Fastest laps on the day dipped into the 65 second bracket, these being set early in the race when tyres were at their best. But the pace at the front was frenetic.
Second on the day was the very experienced M1 Motorsport trio of Toby Summers, Avalon Biddle and Alastair Hoogenboezem. Just two laps down at the finish, their performance would have been good enough for an easy victory just a year earlier.
Notably, AMCC’s Toby Summers now has a win and two second-placing in the Motul 6 Hour.
With Damon Rees out with injury, Team Rees Honda DNA had drafted in Jeremy Holmes to partner Tony and Mitch Rees. The victorious 2016 team had a tough run in 2017 with a fall by Holmes costing some time. After a courageous fight-back, the team eventually came up to finish on the podium, albeit eight laps down.
Twenty-eight teams took the start, with only two of these being classified as non-finishers.
Organised and promoted by Playday On Track Ltd, with operational support coming from AMCC, the 2017 edition of the Motul 6 Hour has seen the race mature further, and move from being an enduro, to be closer to an all-out sprint.
Roll on 2018 …
2017 Results: (Top 5)
314 Laps – Daniel Mettam/Sloan Frost/Scott Moir
312 Laps – Toby Summers/Avalon Biddle/Alastair Hoogenboezem
306 Laps – Mitch Rees/Tony Rees/Jeremy Holmes
303 Laps – Ed Dekker/Ash Hare/Steff Redman
302 Laps – Jamie Maindonald/Hayden Fitzgerald/Rogan Chandler
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