The fastest 42 cars – from Aston Martins and Audis, to Porsches, Toyotas and Mitsubishi Evos – will contest the inaugural Highlands 101 endurance race at Highlands Motorsport Park today.

With drivers pairing up to tackle 101 laps of the 4.1 kilometre Highlands circuit, they face a modern take on the Le Mans running start, compulsory pit stops, driver changes and refuelling before the victors win a magnificent claymore sword trophy.

The Highlands 101 race is part of a three-day event of the same name, the first national and international race meeting at the seven-month-old motorsport complex outside Cromwell.
The field has been decided by the best lap time set in each car during Saturday’s races. As expected the Australian GT Championship cars dominate with 16 of the 20 exotic cars in the line-up. The Australian GT field are racing in New Zealand for the first time during the 8 to 10 November event to finish their 2013 championship season. The remaining 26 cars come from the diverse 1-Hour and 3-Hour South Island Endurance Series fields.

Quickest to date is Kiwi V8 Supercar driver Fabian Coulthard, co-driver to Highlands’ owner Tony Quinn in the Darrell Lea Aston Martin with a time of one minute, 34.575 seconds. Fellow Kiwi star Craig Baird, co-driver to Klark Quinn, who won his second consecutive Australian GT Championship on Saturday in the VIP Petfoods Porsche GT3R, is second fastest and Australian Ferrari pairing Peter Edwards and racing legend John Bowe set the third-quickest race time.

Winners of the South Island Endurance 3-Hour Race, Shane Van Gisbergen and Dwayne Carter, would have been in the Highlands 101 field. However a cracked diff housing in their Carters Tyres-backed V8 Falcon relegates the pair to the spectator seating.

With Carter and Van Gisbergen’s withdrawal, the top ten are:
1, Tony Quinn/Fabian Coulhard, Aston Martin Vantage GT3, 1:34.575 (AGT)
2, Klark Quinn/Craig Baird, Porsche GT3R, 1:34.852 (AGT)
3, Peter Edwards/John Bowe, Ferrari 438 GT3, 1:35.486 (AGT)
4, Greg Murphy/Neil Crompton, McLaren MP4-12C, 1:35.689 (AGT)
5, Rod Salmon/Liam Talbot/Jason Bright, Audi R8, 1:37.331 (AGT)
6, Andrew Waite/Simon Evans, Aston Martin Vantage GT3, 1:37.612 (AGT)
7, Jim Manolios/Ivan Capelli, Chevrolet Corvette 206, 1:38.497 (AGT)
8, Andrew Taplin/Dean Canto, Ferrari 438 GT3, 1:38.794 (AGT)
9, Simon Ellingham/John McIntyre, Porsche GT3 997, 1:39.152 (SIERDC 3-Hour)
10, Andrew Bagnell/Anthony Pederson, Porsche GT3, 1:39.684 (SIERDC 3-Hour)

The Highlands 101 competitors have two 20 minute qualifying sessions, one for each driver, on Sunday morning.

The modern take on the Le Mans start sees each team put their starting driver into the car to form up in the starting order on the track, then spectators can enjoy a 20 minute grid walk among the cars. Once the track is cleared, drivers complete two warm-up laps before angle-parking in their designated place in pit lane. The co-drivers, in their race suit but not helmet, stand in a corresponding position along pit lane ready to run to their car at the signal. They must remove a velcroed ribbon from the back of their car, hold it clear for team manager to see and then signal the driver that he may start. Pit lane speed is restricted so cars will reach race speed only as they go on to the track.

Sunday tickets for the inaugural Highlands 101 event are available at the gate. Children aged 10 and under are free when accompanied by a paying adult.

More information is available on the website, www.highlands.co.nz, where fans can sign up for free e-newsletters and find links to the event timetable, Facebook page and more.