The sleek Mercedes AMG SLS GT3 driven by Dwayne Carter and Shane Hodgson has won the second round of the Carter’s Tyres South Island Endurance Three Hour Series held over the weekend at the Mike Pero Motorsport Park at Ruapuna, Christchurch. In a very competitive field it turned out to be a three-hour dice for the lead between just two cars, the Carter’s Mercedes and the second placed Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 driven by Sam Filmore and Danny Stutterd.
“We’re pretty happy with the win,” commented Hodgson. “I knew the Ferrari was always there but it was a matter of driving as fast as I could.”
After a five lap safety car intervention at the start, it was the Ferrari that led from the Mercedes with the Simon McLennan/Aaron Harris Holden Commodore V8ST third, followed by Paul Kelly/Craig Baird(Porsche 997 GT3 Cup), John McIntyre/Simon Gilbertson (Chev Camaro GT3), Scott O’Donnell/Allan Dippie (Porsche 991 GT3 Cup), Paul Rickerby/Graeme Rhodes (Ford Falcon V8ST) Darry Barrett/Hamish Frew (Mazda RX7 V8) with Lindsay O’Donnell/Phil Mauger (Porsche 997 GT3 Cup) rounding out the top ten.
For the first 60 minutes there was no change in the order until Gilbertson brought the Tulloch Motorsport Camaro in for a driver change. With hot conditions for drivers, the team was facing a dilemma with a drivers water bottle failing from the beginning of the race. McIntyre took over the driving and set about catching the leaders, setting a new lap record for the event of 1:22.552.
The Trass Family Motorsport Ferrari pitted soon after and the Carter’s Tyres Mercedes took the race lead for the first time. With more pitstops occurring, the Ferrari took over the lead just after the halfway mark as the Mercedes pitted. McIntyre had already unlapped himself and moved into second overall only to pit again after the two-hour mark. With no water available for the driver, an utterly exhausted McIntyre was to pit yet again with just over 30 minutes remaining and hand over the reins to Gilbertson, dashing any hope of victory.
Meanwhile Hodgson was leading from a fast catching Stutterd with Craig Baird heading for third place. It all nearly came undone when a slower car dropped oil just before the ‘Esses’. The Carter Mercedes speared off the track, the Ferrari took the lead while officials brought out the safety car until the track was cleared of oil.
Stutterd looked assured of the win until he was passed by Hodgson in the Mercedes with three minutes to go. The Mercedes winning the three-hour duel by 1.208 seconds. The Kelly/Baird Porsche came in third ahead of the McIntyre/Gilbertson Camaro with the O’Donnell/Dippie Porsche fifth.
“We’ve had a few ups and downs during the day,” commented Stutterd. “Second is a good result and we head to the final round leading the series.”
While the Carter/Hogson Mercedes won the GT Class, first home in Class One (>3501cc) was the Craig McDermid /Scott McDermid Toyota 86 Enduro in seventh place overall. The Arron Black/Stuart Black BMW E46 WTC was the first Class Three (0-2000cc) car home in 10th overall, one place ahead of the first Class Two (2001-3500cc) car of Mike Driver/Phil Hood (Seat Leon Super Copa).
The Carters Tyres Three Hour Race Series now heads to Timaru International Raceway, Timaru on October 15th for the final deciding round.
