Motor Sport
Round 2 of the Carter’s Tyre Service South Island Endurance Series at Teretonga Park in Invercargill on Saturday provided three exciting races as
Jonny Reid and Sam Fillmore won the 3 Hour race, Jordan Michels of Invercargill, the Class 2/3 1 Hour race and Rhys Gould, the Class 4/5 1 Hour race. Each race featured a late safety car period which ensured an exciting sprint finish to each one.
Reid of Pukekohe and Fillmore of Auckland repeated last year’s win in the 3 Hour race in their Audi R8 GT3. It was Reid’s fourth 3 Hour win at Teretonga Park and Fillmore’s third. The duo started from pole position but copped an early drive through penalty for a pit crew rule breach which handed the frontrunning to Steve Brooks (Audi) and Hayden Knighton (Mercedes).
Fillmore regained the lead just after the one-hour mark before losing it again soon after when handing over to Reid. Reid was back in front at about the halfway mark and led most of the remainder of the race. Rain arrived at one third distance making conditions tricky, causing a few spins and off-track excursions but all the cars made it to the finish.
A late safety car saw a sprint to the flag with Reid/Fillmore taking the win from the Porsche GT3R 991.2 of Jono Lester (Taupo)/Heremana Malmazec (Queenstown) and the Mercedes AMG GT3 of father and son, Paul and Ant Pedersen. Cantabrians Hayden Knighton/Kane Lawson were fourth in their Mercedes and Steve Brooks and Andrew Waite fifth in an Audi R8 GT3 after losing several laps after a spin.
Reid said the win was a “team effort” while Fillmore said they had “a dream run” before thanking the volunteers who made the event possible.
Reid/Fillmore sealed the New Zealand Endurance title with the win and took out Class 1, while Hugh Gardiner/Matt Spratt took Class 2, Christina Orr-West/Bree Morris Class 3 and Grant & Matt Moore of Christchurch Class 4.
Earlier, local driver Jordan Michels had scored a popular win in the Class 2/3 1 Hour race in his Marc Ford Mustang. He led all the way in a race punctuated by three safety car periods. Adam Julian of Christchurch was second at the flag in his Audi R8 GT3 with Heremana Malmazec of Queenstown third in his Porsche GT3 Cup 991.2MR. Michels said it was really, really special to get his first Endurance Series race win at home. “I am so grateful to car owner Peter Williams and his family.” Steve Scoles of Cromwell in a Ginetta took out Class 3.
In the Class 4/5 1 Hour race Rhys Gould of Christchurch also led all the way in his Hyundai i30N TCR seeing off an early challenge from Pel Arnott of Auckland in a similar car and then withstanding pressure from Oamaru driver, Warren Black, in his Audi RS3 LMS TCR. Gould took the flag 1.399 seconds ahead of Black with Arnott third. Chris Wall of Lower Hutt secured the Class 5 honours.