Sport + Motorsport
Sixteen-year-old Matt Day of Auckland and current Lamborghini Pro-Am Super Trofeo World Champion, Southlander Brendon Leitch, won the 3 Hour race in their Lamborghini Huracan GT3 during the second round of the South Island Endurance Series at Teretonga Park in Invercargill on Saturday.
Another local driver, Glen Brazier, and his co-driver Andrew Waite of Auckland, in a similar car, were second, with Aucklanders Sam Fillmore and Jonny Reid third in an Audi R8 after a dramatic race that saw two red flag stoppages and two safety car periods.
After the race Day said, “I didn’t have pace in the dry but the car hooked up after it poured.” Leitch said the 16-year-old had done an amazing job.
Leitch and Day won the GT Class while Paul Kelly and Kaleb Ngatoa took out Class 1 in fourth overall, and Barry Moore and Andy Giles won Class 3.
The race was held in a mixture of conditions, with periods of rain that made the track very difficult. Fillmore had qualified on pole and led early in dry conditions before rain started falling after about 45 minutes. That brought a flurry of pit stops and several off-course excursions. Fillmore spun off just after the one-hour mark, which brought out the safety car. At the restart, 16-year-old Day led from Luke Manson of Auckland (Audi R8) and Hayden Knighton of Christchurch in another Lamborghini, only for Knighton to go off at the first corner after the restart, causing the race to be stopped.
Day led again at the restart from Manson, Brazier, and Kaleb Ngatoa (Porsche 992), with Ngatoa passing Brazier for third before half distance prior to pitting to allow Paul Kelly to take the wheel.
Manson took the lead from Day at the 1-hour 37-minute mark but went off at the hairpin about 12 minutes later, bringing the race to another halt. At the restart, many teams took their pit stops and driver changes, and once the order settled, Bill Riding (Audi R8) led from Leitch, who had replaced Day. However, Riding was the next casualty, leading to another safety car. At the restart, Leitch showed his class to lead all the way to the flag, chased hard by Waite in Brazier’s car. Jonny Reid brought the Fillmore car through to third after an eventful race.
The 1 Hour race for Class 1, 2, and 3 competitors got the best of the conditions as local driver Jordan Michels had pole and led most of the way before suffering a gearbox problem. Eventually, his Marc Mustang stopped and he pulled off the track and restarted it. In the slippery conditions, his re-entry onto the track earned him a drive-through penalty, dropping him to fifth. Gardiner of Auckland, who had been chasing Michels in his Porsche 991.2, went on to take the win from Steve Brooks and Bill Riding of Christchurch (Porsche 992), and Jaden Ransley of Christchurch in a Falcon. It was another incident-packed race with a red flag period plus a safety car intervention. Gardiner took the Class 1 spoils, Ransley Class 2, and Australian Caleb Paterson won Class 3 in tenth place.
Earlier, the Class 4/5 1-Hour race went to Dan Kelly of Prebbleton in his BMW M3. The race started on a wet track that dried, but there were plenty of incidents and the race finished under a safety car, with Conley Webley of Richmond second in his BMW Z4 and Duncan Cundall-Curry of Gisborne third in a BMW M1. Chris Wall of Lower Hutt took Class 5 honours in fourth place.
Tomorrow (Sunday), the circuit will host a day of Noel McIntyre Drainage Club Saloon racing with free admission for the public. On-track action begins at 10.30am. Races include a marble draw grid start contest and a team’s race.