As the Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge moves back into the North Island, GT3 Cup rookie Jonny Reid has shown the Manfeild crowds his form by winning the Round, and in the process secured podium placings on all three races over the weekend.
The pace of Reid in the Fisher & Paykel sponsored GT3 was clear from the start where he was quick in practice and then moved on to qualify third for Race One.
Getting a brilliant start in the wet conditions on Saturday’s Race One, Reid quickly moved into 2nd place on turn one where he maintained his position through a well fought race between rivals David Reynolds and defending champion Craig Baird, however Reid kept Baird at bay to hold onto second place.
Race Two on Sunday was held in clear conditions and Reid proved that he still had more up his sleeve. Another good start from P2, Reid muscled his way around turn one to move past pole sitter David Reynolds and take the lead of the race. The 12 laps were in no way a breeze as the pair battled for the win with Reid taking the chequered flag by 0.453 seconds, collecting 75 points for his first race win in the series.
The tight battle continued for Race Three, with Reid’s number one goal to beat Reynolds to claim overall victory for the weekend. Reid got an excellent start from row two however Reynolds managed to push his way through to get in front of Reid off the start, resulting in a three way battle for the lead between Reynolds, Reid, Gaunt and International Motorsport team mate Matt Halliday. Gaunt lead while the others chased with Reynolds pulling away from Reid and Halliday in the first part of the race, however Reid made his charge later in the race to pull in Reynolds.
“I told myself that I have to beat Reynolds, so I just put my head down and got to work in reeling him in.” said Reid after the race. Reid worked hard and slowly gained on Reynolds and after two attempts, made a successful late move on Reynolds to sneak through into second place. All he needed to do to claim the overall win for the weekend was to hold his position ahead of Reynolds, which was made easier three corners later as Halliday also moved in on Reynolds to claim third place and increase the gap between Reynolds and Reid for the three laps to the finish.
“The weekend went well from start to finish for me” said a delighted Reid of his win. “I had a good feeling from the start and the car was just awesome. International Motorsport gave me a great car, I pushed it to its limit and it did the job.”
Reid’s win shoots him up to second overall in the Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Championship with one round to go. The Series moves to Taupo next with three more races on 19 – 21 March 2010.
