"It was like going to war." That is how GT1 category race winner Grant Brennan of Tauranga described the opening GT1/GT2 race of the GTRNZ Series at Manfeild Park in Feilding today.
Driving conditions were very challenging at Manfeild as weather conditions deteriorated during the day. Brennan had put his Brennan SB2 Corvette on pole with New Plymouth driver John Rae alongside in his C5 Chev Corvette. Initially Rae was adjudged to have jumped the start but the penalty was later rescinded. Rae and Brennan battled early but Rae eventually pulled out of the race with visibilty problems due to the conditions. Brennan went on to win while Nick Chester of Auckland followed him across the line in his superb Commodore V8 Supercar with Cameron Jones of Palmerston North third in his Mazda RX666, a 13B Mazda turbo in a Chev Camaro bodyshell.
In the GT2 category Tauranga driver Brian Gray won in his heavily modified Mazda RX7 from Craig Corliss of Auckland in a Falcon V8 Supercar and Wellington's Malcolm Glen in a Nissan SR20 powered Anglia.
The separate NZGT race saw Tony Satherly of Whakaronga in Palmerston North dominant from the beginning, pulling out to win by a margin of 7 seconds. Glen Clark did an excellent job in his Falcon to hold his own in the conditions amongst the 4-wheel-drive machinery. The beautifully prepared Subaru of Stephen Brown Thomas was next followed by the first of the EVO's, that of his fellow New Plymouth driver Brent Lander.
GTRNZ consists of the GT1, GT2 and NZGT categories which race alongside the IRC Summer Of Thunder Tour.
