Super GT One-Hour feature race wins for Steele/Southam and Cromie in GT4!

Round Three of the Rodin Cars Super GT Series wrapped up at a blustery Hampton Downs yesterday with competitors surviving the wild wet conditions to get two races completed.

Sunday mornings race, which was held in rainy and squally conditions from the cyclone that lashed the North Island, saw Connor Adam come out on top survive and take the overall race and Porsche Class win, with Nigel Cromie again thriving in the wet conditions and taking his McLaren to the class win in GT4.

The Porsche podium was rounded out with Martin Dippie in second, with Paul Kelly taking third spot. The top five was rounded out by Kris Bostock and Rob Steele.

The GT4 podium saw the Aston Martin of Shane Helms finish in second place, with the Porsche Cayman of Grant Aitken in third. The top five was rounded out with the McLaren of Brent Forman in fourth and the Porsche Cayman of Heremana Malmezac in fifth.

The one our feature race in the afternoon was held in dry conditions, and saw the Porsche’s of Paul Kelly and Kris Bostock start off the front of the field and Kelly quickly establishing a lead from Bostock – the pair exchanging fastest lap times.

Behind there was light contact between the Race Lab teammates of Allan Sargeant in his Ginetta and the Aston Martin of Shane Helms.

When the pit window opened on Lap 19, the Porsche’s of Bostock and Adam pitted, allowing Kelly to stay out on track unchallenged and to further build his lead.

Kelly pitted on lap 24 which handed the lead of the race to Paul Southam, who he himself pitted a lap later to hand over the car to Rob Steele.

With the rest of the field having completed their stops over the following laps, Connor Adam found himself in the lead of the race, and was looking for his third race win of the weekend to claim a clean sweep.

However, it wasn’t meant to be for the young International Motorsport driver, stopping on the track on the exit of the hairpin, the team revealing a half shaft failure aboard his Porsche.

This bought the safety car out, condensing the field.

On the restart, it was Rob Steele leading the pack with Kelly close behind. Kelly saw an opportunity and made a passing move on the restart – in doing so crossed the pit entry blend line, which caught the attention of race officials.

Kelly went on to win the race, with Steele in second, Bostock third.

However, post-race, Kelly was awarded a 10-second penalty, which relegated him to third place, and elevated the Steele/Southam combination to first.

Behind in GT4, Nigel Cromie took a commanding victory in his McLaren, leading home two other McLarens, with Brent Forman coming second, and David Cremer third. The top five was rounded out by the Aston Martin of Stephen Harrison in fourth and the Mercedes AMG of Jono McFarlane in fifth.

After three rounds, Martin Dippie leads the Porsche class from Rob Steele. In GT4, Nigel Cromie leads the points from Stephen Harrison.

The fourth and final round of the Rodin Cars Super GT Series is scheduled for 26/27 March at Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, Taupo.

Porsche Class Points After 3 Rounds

911	991	Martin Dippie	364
911	35	Rob Steele	353
911	90	Paul Kelly	288
911	9	Connor Adam	256
911	35	Paul Southam	253
911	256	Ben Byers	249
911	185	Martin Neill	168
911	20	Kris Bostock	134
911	69	Steve Sullivan	133
911	26	Lochlainn Fitzgerald-Symes	90
911	997	Chris Nicholas	75
911	148	Garry Derrick	67
911	5	Gene Rollinson	42

GT4 Class Points After 3 Rounds

GT4	24	Nigel Cromie	397
GT4	78	Stephen Harrison	385
GT4	77	Shane Helms	333
GT4	10	Grant Aitken	317
GT4	62	Dave Cremer	316
GT4	107	Allan Sargeant	251
GT4	36	Brent Forman	247
GT4	44	Todd Bawden	227
GT4	84	Adam Julian	196
GT4	54	David Cranna	186
GT4	71	Mana Malmezac	178
GT4	61	David Rogers	158
GT4	71	Francois Beziac	141
GT4	61	Brian Green	140
GT4	22	Jono McFarlane	85
GT4	98	Richard Crabb	75
GT4	58	Steve Scoles	75
GT4	7	Wayne Leach	60
GT4	41	Stewart Callaway	58