Ryan Wood has continued to show that he is unbeatable, taking his third round win of the Carter’s Tyre Service On-Hour South Island Endurance Series – Presented by Allied 24/7 Fuel. The 17-year-old easily won the race for Class C (>3500cc) and D (GT type) cars at the penultimate round of the series held at Teretonga Park in Invercargill. Woods (Porsche 991.1) finished two-laps ahead of Ben Byers (Porsche 991) and Jarrod Owens (Porsche GT3 Cup S) with local Jordon Michels (Ford Focus MARC) in fourth. First home and taking his second consecutive race win, for Class A (0-2000cc) and B (2001-3500cc), was Rhys Gould (Hyundai i30N TCR) ahead of Debbie Chapman (Audi TCR LMS) and local Scott O’Donnell (Hyundai i30N TCR).
“Pretty stoked to win and credit to the team for an awesome pitstop call,” commented Wood. Wet weather played its part in both races although the track started to dry in the race for Class C & D. Woods team mate Ben Byers was first to pit for dry weather tyres prompting Wood to immediately do the same.
“It was a 50/50 call because of the wet around the back (of the circuit) and having to pass slower cars. We played it safe all day and it paid off. The goal was for race wins so pretty pleased with the season so far.
“It would be pretty cool to take the title home. The car has been on rails the whole time, so it is a credit to the team. The wet conditions made it tough right from the start and the team did a really quick tyre change.
At this stage Woods’ main race rival, Sam Collins/Nick Ross (MARC Mustang) also dived into pitlane for their compulsory stop, electing to run dry tyres. While they held second through to the 45-minute mark, a right-front wheel bearing saw them drop out of the race.
With three race wins and one more round remaining, Woods has continued to extend both his Series and Class D lead. Behind him the order hasn’t changed with Marcus Schelp (Porsche 997 Cup S) who finished sixth, second overall ahead of Owens, Michels, and Byers. Bruce Davidson (Chev Corvette C6R) continues to lead Class C, coming home in eighth overall.
In the race for Class A and B, top qualifier Rhys Gould (Hyundai i30N TCR) led from start to finish following up on his win last weekend in Timaru, having missed the opening round of the season.
Wet conditions throughout the race made it particularly difficult for Gould with a failed windscreen wiper impairing his vision.
“The wiper went early in the race, so it was quite difficult as I could hardly see a thing when lapping other cars,” commented Gould. “After the last safety car (period) I got a gap and more of a clear screen.”
Debbie Chapman followed up her front-row qualifying time with a podium finish, showing she is very quick in wet conditions.
“Absolutely brilliant, it’s a good car in the wet and I really enjoyed it,” said Chapman. Third was O’Donnell having made his way through the field after a problem on the first lap that dropped him to last place.
“I didn’t get enough temperature into the rear tyres and unfortunately locked up,” said O’Donnell. “It is a difficult car in the rain so very happy with third. I couldn’t catch Debbie, she is driving beautifully.”
Three podiums in three races has now given O’Donnell the lead in Class B as well as the overall Class A & B One-Hour Series. Second overall is Dennis Chapman, who finished fourth, followed by Debbie Chapman and Mike Hall (VW Golf GTi TCR).
First home in Class A was Tim Dossett (Honda Civic) in seventh ahead of William Taylor (Honda Integra) and Bradley Rule (Honda Civic).
Teams and drivers now prepare for the final fourth round at Mike Pero Motorsport Park in Christchurch Saturday 6 November 2021.
Race Results
One-Hour Class C & D
Place, No, Driver/s, Class, Vehicle
1/ 40, Ryan Wood, D, Porsche 991 Cup Car
2/ 256, Ben Byers, Porsche 991.2 GT3
3/ 13, Jarrod Owens, Porsche GT3 997 Cup S
4/ 23, Jordan Michels, D, Ford Focus MARC
5/ 148, Garry Derrick/Ben Derrick, D, Porsche 991.2
6/ 9, Marco Schelp, D, Porsche GT3 Cup S
7/ 911, Allan Dippie, D, Porsche GT3 Cup S
8/ 35, Bruce Davidson, C, Chev Corvette C6R
9/ 66, Mike Driver, D, Porsche 997.1 GT3
10/ 11, Grant Aitken, D, Porsche 981 GT4
11/ 84, Adam Julian, D, Ginetta G55 GT4
12/ 58, Steve Scoles, D, Ginetta G55 GT4
13/ 185, Martin Neill, D, Porsche 997.2 GT3 Cup
14/ 83, John Buchanan, D, Porsche Cayman GT4
15/ 25, John Wadsworth, C, Chev Cruze
16/ 41, Ethan Hourigan/Mark Hourigan, D, Porsche GT4
17/ 52, Chris Henderson, C, Toyota GT86
DNF 43, Brayden Phillips,
DNF 777, Sam Collins, D, MARC Mustang
DNS 991, Martin Dippie, D, Porsche 991.1
Results
One-Hour Class A & B
Place, No, Driver/s, Class, Vehicle
1/ 5, Rhys Gould, B, Hyundai i30N TCR
2/ 223, Debbie Chapman, B, Audi TCR LMS
3/ 200, Scott O’Donnell, B, Hyundai i30N
4/ 22, Dennis Chapman, B, Audi TCR LMS
5/ 183, Steven Kelly, B, BMW E46 M3 GTR
6/ 17, Robert Gjaja, B, Lotus Exige
7/ 119, Tim Dossett, A, Honda Civic
8/ 99, William Taylor, A, Honda Type R
9/ 193, Warren Black, B, Renault Clio
10/ #114, Kris Mackie, B, Mazda RX8
11/ 10, Brad Rule, A, Honda Civic
12/ 64, Clark Scott, A, Honda Integra Type R
13/ 117, Mike Hall, B, Volkswagon Golf Gti 35
14/ 199, Marcus Barnett, B, Seat Leon
15/ 91, Andrew Gibson/Paul Booth, A, Honda Civic
16/ 32, James Mitchell, A, Honda Civic Type R
17/ 24, James Paterson, A, Toyota 86
18/ 8, Harrison O’Donnell/Blake Knowles, B, Mini Cooper S
19/ 224, Bryce Mitchell/Alan Turner, A, Toyota Starlet
20/ 56, Daniel Cropp, B, Honda Civic SIR
DNF/ 158, Dave McLean, A, Honda Integra
DNF/ 181, Marc Denton, A, BMW 320i
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