New Zealand racing driver Matt Halliday has enjoyed a successful weekend in the third round of the Battery Town Porsche GT3 Challenge held at Teretonga Park near Invercargill over the weekend. Halliday powered his Fisher & Paykel / Giltrap Group sponsored car to 1st, 2nd and 4th placings in the three races to gain 2nd place overall for the round but it could so easily have been the top step of the podium.
Qualifying was an unbelievably close affair with the first three cars separated by a few hundredths of a second with Matt lining up 3rd on the grid for the opening 38 lap “mini-enduro” race. Having used a good tyre strategy, he stalked the leaders until the compulsory pit stop and wheel change which saw slick work from the International Motorsports Team. On rejoining the race in the lead he then made use of his good tyres to open a lead he was to hold to the finish.
Race Two (10 laps) saw Matt off pole position but his car bogged slightly at the start leaving him in 2nd and fighting off the chasing pack. After a short safety car period he pounced at the restart to regain 2nd place which he held until the chequered flag.
The final top six reverse grid race (16 laps) was almost a disaster as Matt’s car was hit by another car warming up its tyres on the formation lap necessitating a pit stop to replace a wheel. Having driven into the pit lane meant he then had to start from there behind all other cars resulting in a furious chase from behind. Halliday wowed the crowd with some spirited driving and overtaking which earned him 4th place in the race and 2nd overall for Round 3:
“I was disappointed with what happened in Race 3 but the young guy came over and apologised afterwards so its all forgotten and we now move on. The car was really good this weekend so we are now back on track and looking forward to chasing the points leader down next weekend” said a satisfied Halliday afterwards.
The weekend’s results now move Halliday into 2nd place in the points standings and within striking distance of the top spot. The next round of the Series will be held at the Timaru International Motor Raceway this coming weekend.
