Chris van der Drift and Lance Hughes have won the opening Three-Hour Carter’s Tyres Service South Island Endurance Series race at the Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell. The pairing dominated the race in their very quick Nissan GTR GT3, winning Class E (GT3) with Scott O’Donnell/Martin Dippie (Porsche 991 GT3R) second ahead of Glenn Smith/Glen Chappel (McLaren 650S GT3) third.
“We finally got a win,” commented van der Drift. “It’s never straight forward but we were always going to be fast in the race, which went to plan. The strategy went well.”
“Very happy about it,” said Hughes. “There were a couple of moments, but it went well. We knew that Chris would be very quick around here.”
Initially it was the McLaren with Glenn Smith at the wheel that took a commanding lead from the Sam Collins/Nick Ross MARC Mustang followed by the Nissan and the O’Donnell/Dippie Porsche. Always in the top five throughout the race was Hayden Paddon co-driving with Martin Dippie (Porsche 991.1 Cup) until just after the two-hour mark when overheating issues forced them into the pits.
Having moved into second place, Hughes was the first to make a scheduled stop for fuel and tyres with van der Drift taking over the driver’s seat. This was followed soon after by the McLaren which unfortunately punctured on its out-lap necessitating a further stop and effectively costing them second overall.
“That was good,” commented Glen Chappel referring to the podium finish. “Unfortunately, the puncture cost us second place. It is pretty hard to catch Chris (van der Drift) but we know we will be quick later in the series.”
The Collins/Ross MARC Mustang proved to be very quick running in the top three until a gearbox issue hit just before the two-hour mark. Fighting for fifth and sixth through much of the race was Graeme Rhodes/Paul Rickerby (Ford V8 SuperTourer) and Barry Moore/Tim Mackersy (VW Golf GTI TCR) until the latter spent 20 minutes in the pits with a ball-joint issue.
Rhodes and Rickerby were to finish in fourth and first in Class D (GT) with the VW Golf GTI TCR of Grant Askew/Cole Askew fifth and first in Class B (2001-3500cc).
“It went well,” commented Cole Askew. “We had a late night fixing the gearbox but pretty stoked the car held up today. We didn’t get enough fuel in during the pitstop so needed to do a quick splash and dash.”
First in Class C (>3501cc) was Cameron Davies/Flyn Mitchell (Mazda RX8 GT) and ninth overall.
First home in Class A and 11th overall was the father and son pairing of Andrew and Will Kitching (Honda Civic). “That was pretty good to get the win,” commented 15-year-old Will. “We did three pits stops for fuel, and no tyres, as it has a standard fuel system.”
The second of four rounds of the Carter’s Tyre Service Three-Hour South Island Endurance Series will take place Saturday 16 October at Timaru International Raceway, Timaru.
Race Results (Top 15)
Position, Number, Class, Name, Car
1/ #84, E, Lance Hughes/Chris van der Drift, Nissan GTR GT3
2/ #912, E, Scott O’Donnell/Allan Dippie, Porsche 991 GT3R
3/ #90, E, Glenn Smith/Glen Chappel, McLAren 650S GT3
4/ #31, D, Graeme Rhodes/Paul Rickerby, Ford SuperTourer
5/ #65, B, Grant Askew/Cole Askew, VW Golf GTI TCR
6/ #88, D, Bill Riding/Scott Flanagan, Porsche, 991.1 Cup Car
7/ #24, D, Don McIntyre/Rob Williams, Porsche 997 GT3 Cup
8/ #21 B, Pat Heagney/Ryan Heagney, Toyota Sprinter AE86
9/ #47, C, Cameron Davies/Flyn Mitchell, Mazda RX8 GT
10/ #20, B, Jarrod Paramenter/Andrew Brunton, Mazda RX8
11/ #76, A, Andrew Kitching/Will Kitching, Honda Civic
12/ #96, A, Terrence Phillips/Darryl Phillips, Honda Civic
13/ #79, B, Barry Moore/Tim Mackersy, VW Golf GTI TCR
14/ #171, A, Grant Moore/Matt Moore, Toyota Altezza
15/ #275, B, Ron Mackersy/Warren Good, Renault Clio Cup Car
Comments