Drivers breathed a sigh of relief as the heavy drizzle stopped and the track dried out for a afternoon of racing at the Hampsta 200 at Timaru International Raceway. While the BNT V8s complete their three races of the weekend on Sunday all other classes (Porsche, Toyota, Suzuki, NZ Production and Formula Ford) have race one on Saturday afternoon.
Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge
The starting grid at Timaru could easily be described as quirky. A driver who sets the fastest time has the grid position on the outside of the track, but nearest to the apex of the first corner. The only problem is that it is considered the dirty side of the track, hence it can be difficult to get good grip or traction off the line.
Invariably it is not uncommon for the car in the second grid position to be first to the corner. Craig Baird was back to his best in the first GT3 race, being extremely quick off the line from pole position(grid 1). Not only was he successful at starting but he quickly eked out a lead within the first two laps which he held to the end from David Reynolds and Daniel Gaunt.
MINI Challenge and NZ Production
Although Matthew Hamilton had pole position for starting race one of the weekend it was his team-mate that won the race to the corner to take the lead. Unhappy with this Hamilton soon caught and passed Bailey as they crossed the start/finish line.
The pass was not quite complete when Hamilton’s right rear caught the left front of Baileys and he pirouetted out of the race after initially hitting the pit wall. Bailey went onto win the MINI Challenge class.
In the NZ Production the race was won by Simon Sceats (Subaru) from Scott McKelvie (Evo)
Zoagn Formula Ford
After an initial break on the field Matt Williams tried holding out Martin Short who eventually reeled the leader in, passed and took the chequed flag.
Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge
1 1 Craig Baird
2 8 David Reynolds
3 3 Daniel Gaunt
4 9 Jonny Reid
5 5 Courtney Letica
6 21 Matt Halliday
7 32 Mitch Cunningham
8 90 Paul Kelly
9 2 Shane McKillen
10 15 Hugh Gardiner
11 82 Andrew Bagnall
12 26 Simon McLennan
13 11 Simon Evans
14 77 Alan Dippie
15 99 Colin Caldwell
Toyota Racing Series, Race 1 results
1 4 Mitchell Evans
2 20 Sten Pentus
3 9 Daniel Jilesen
4 28 Lucas Foresti
5 69 Alistair Wootten
6 7 Earl Bamber
7 48 Andrew Waite
8 47 Nathan Morcom
9 41 Stefan Webling
NZ Production and MINI Challenge, Race 1 results
1 17 Simon Sceats
2 27 Scott McKelvie
3 10 Grant Aitken
4 33 Steve Taylor
5 4 Ryan Bailey MINI
6 1 Gavin Yortt MINI
7 15 Mark Maddren MINI
8 30 Wayne Timms MINI
9 11 Kevin Varney
10 64 David Grigor MINI
11 28 Mark Joblin
12 3 Craig Innes
Not classified (75% = 8 Laps)
DNF 2 Matthew Hamilton
Suzuki Swift Sport Cup, Race 1 results
1 6 Craig Innes
2 21 Alan Dunkley
3 5 Scott Harrison
4 98 Ben Dallas
5 87 AJ Lauder
6 81 Bramwell King
7 89 Marc Spring
8 23 Mike Turley
9 22 Daniel Liemburg
10 7 Sam Robinson
11 88 Matt Gibson
12 14 Shaun Lawrence
13 95 Kathrine Collins
14 2 William Bamber
Zoagn Formula Ford, Race 1 results
1 5 Martin Short
2 29 Matt Williams
3 7 Nick Cassidy
4 64 Tim Vickers
5 60 Andre Heimgartner
6 91 Mathew Penrose
7 87 Damon Leitch
8 10 Henry Thomas-Kircher
9 69 Brett Sullivan
10 84 Scott Manson
11 65 Richard Vickers
