Simon Ellingham of Napier and Australian GT Series Champion Klark Quinn took the spoils in Round 3 of the ASKO 3 Hour Endurance Series at Levels Raceway, Timaru on Saturday. It was Ellingham’s second win in the series to date after he won the opening round with John McIntyre who was unavailable for this round. Ellingham and Quinn in their Porsche 997 GT3 led the similar car of defending series champion Paul Kelly, this week paired with Australian V8 Supercar star David Reynolds, over the line with a margin of just 1.625 seconds after 3 hours of racing. The Porsche 997 Cup S of Allan Dippie (Dunedin) and Scott O’Donnell (Invercargill) was third with another Porsche, that of Todd Murphy, paired thiis weekend with local driver John Hepburn fourth. Quinn had the satisfaction of setting a new 3 Hour race lap record in a fast race which covered four laps less than the race record which has stood since 2006.

It was a race of attriition and prominent retirements included Rick Armstrong of Christchurch and Matthew Hamilton who led for a long period in the race before they went off into the tyre wall, Christchurch duo Angus McFarlane and Michael Bushell who also held the lead, a massive one of over two laps, before succumbing to a clutch problem after they had started from pit lane. The V8 Supercar Falcon of Matt and Dwayne Carter of Auckland also went out with electrical problems. The high attrition rate may well have been attributable to the fact the cars have now completed nine hours of endurance racing since the series began last month.

Ellingham/Quinn took the GT Class honours from Kelly/Reynolds and Dippie/O’Donnell. In Class 1 Christchurch pair Paul Rickerby/Graeme Rhodes in their Mazda RX7 V8 made it three class wins in a row
with a sixth place overall ahead of seventh placegetters John Wadsworth/Warren Croft of Blenheim in their Commodore with North Islanders Dave DoveyAndrew Bowler/Shane Wenzlick third. Blenheim pair Pat/Ryan Heagney won Class 2 in their Toyota turbo from fellow Blenheim duo Craig/Scott McDermid (Toyota turbo) with Bryan Rusbatch and Warren Good of Dunedin third. Class3/4 went to the Honda Civic R of Paul Coghill and David Hunter of Dunedin ahead of the Grant Constable/Bill Currie Toyota Corona.

Kelly now holds the overall series lead from Dippie/O’Donnell while the impressive Class 1 combination of Rickerby/Rhodes are third overall in the series. Kelly also leads the GT Class while Rhodes/Rickerby lead Class 1. Two Blenheim crews, Pat & Ryan Heagney and Craig & Scott McDermid will battle for Class 2 series honours at the final round while Paul Coghill and David Hunter are in the lead in Class 3/4.

The Grand Finale of the series will be held at the first ever race meeting at the magnificent Highlands Motorsport Park, Cromwell on Saturday 9th November, where the overall series champion will be awarded the ‘South Canterbury Toyota Cup’. Thanks to Series sponsor ASKO Appliances as well as Mobil 1, Paul Kelly Motor Company, Hagley Aluminium & Southern Finance Ltd, the Series will again have a prizemoney pool of $30,000- that will be paid out for 2013, as well as major spot prizes up for grabs to a competitors in either the One Hour or Three Hour Series.

For information on the South Island Endurance Series, entries, or to be added to the South Island Endurance Racing Drivers Club’s e-mailing list, please contact Chris Dunn via e-mail at sierdc@nullxtra.co.nz Club information and live race updates can also be found on facebook at www.facebook.com/sierdc, and for more information on the series sponsor ASKO, please visit www.asko.co.nz.