It was a day of records as defending champion Paul Kelly of Christchurch and Australian based kiwi Daniel Gaunt won the opening round of the ASKO Appliances South Island 3 Hour Endurance Series from Ant Pedersen of Hamilton and Andrew Bagnall of Auckland at Teretonga on Saturday.

Gaunt featured in an enthralling battle with Pedersen over the last part of the race as the lead changed several times. For a long period the gap between the two cars rarely exceeded half a second before Gaunt prevailed. The winning pair broke the 3 Hour race record at the circuit by four laps, completing 171 circuits of the 2.64 kilometre track. Meanwhile Jono Lester broke the lap record for the 3 Hour race with a best lap of 59.953 seconds.

Kelly took the first stint for the winners before Gaunt took over for the finish. “Our fuel tank isn’t as big as some of the others,” said Gaunt after the race. “Paul did a good job and we waited until the pit stops to see what the lay of the land was. We saved enough early to make it. It was a busy, full on, race due to the difference in speed between the cars. You have to respect that others are having their own battle. It was tough and at times frustrating and quite unique.” Asked about his dice with Pedersen, Gaunt said, “Ant drove well and took some risks.”

Meanwhile Pedersen, who was at the wheel of the second placed car through the exciting final stages said, “it was very close. Sometimes Daniel would deal with the traffic better and sometimes I would. We had to make some dodgy passes at times to get through. Andrew (Bagnall) drove well and the team were great on the pit stops.”

The defining moment of the race came when, Lester on a charge after early delays, grabbed a lap back off the leading pair splitting them on the road for a time. “He had a faster car than us,” said Pedersen, “but it upset my rhythm when he got in there.”

Third place went to Christchurch pair Rick Armstrong and Matthew Hamilton, one lap behind the leaders in yet another Porsche 997 GT3, while pole sitters Simon Ellingham (Napier) and Lester (Auckland) crossed the line fourth in their Porsche. After the car dropped down the order early in the race and then went off the track briefly to bring about the only safety car period, Lester took the final stint. He charged home, setting the new lap record in the process.

Scott and Lindsay O’Donnell were fifth in their GT3 with the Ferrari of Sam MacNeill (Palmerston North) and Craig Innes (Wellington) sixth. Scott O’Donnell of Invercargill led for some time before dropping to second just before the team’s pit stop. The Ferrari required time in the pits during the race but recovered well to come back through the order.

Others to suffer problems during the race were Scott & Craig McDermid of Blenheim in a turbocharged Toyota Levin who were still running at the finish, albeit 32 laps down while non finishers included Angus McFarlane/Michael Bushell of Christchurch who had to pit to remove some loose bodywork and also suffered a split radiator hose and a damaged gearbox selector. The Porsche was one of the fastest cars in the event, even leading briefly early in the race.

Arron and Stuart Black of Dunedin took Class 2 honours in their BMW 320i in eighth place overall while Canterbury pairing Paul Rickerby/Graham Rhodes were the Class 1 victors with eleventh place in their V8 Mazda RX7.

More records were set earlier in the day when Grant Williams/Brent Buist of Christchurch in a Mazda RX7 V8 used a slick pit stop to grab the lead from Paul Kelly in the 997 GT3 and take victory in Round 2 of the ASKO Appliances 1 Hour Series race.

In doing so Williams and Buist broke the 1 Hour race record at Teretonga and Kelly set a 1 Hour race lap record.

Kelly had led from the start but Buist brought the Mazda home in the lead, 6.3 seconds ahead of Kelly. Afterwards Buist said, “the pit stop was our saviour. The car felt good all race. It just doesn’t change. We couldn’t be happier.”

George McFarlane/Grant Silvester of Christchurch were third in another Porsche 997 followed by Inky Tulloch of Gore, giving his new generation NZV8 Holden Commodore a shakedown. Peter Van Eekelen of Christchurch in yet another Porsche was fifth with Tim O’Connor of Lower Hutt in the Ferrari 430 Challenge sixth.

Williams and Buist took Class 1 honours for cars 3501cc & over while Kelly took his second victory in the GT Class in the series which started two weeks ago at Powerbuilt Tools Raceway in Christchurch. Chris White of Christchurch secured Class 2 (2001-3500cc) in his BMW M3 E36, Dougal MacGibbon of Nelson took Class 3 (1601-2000cc) in his Toyota Starlet and Stu Black of Dunedin Class 4 (0-1600cc) in another Starlet.

The ASKO Appliances SI Endurance Series now moves to Levels Raceway in Timaru on 13 October, for Round 2 of the 3 Hour Series plus the 1 Hour Series final. The 3 Hour Grand Finale is back at Powerbuilt Raceway at the V8SuperTourer enduro meeting on Saturday 24 November where the overall 3 Hour Series champion will be awarded the ‘South Canterbury Toyota Cup’ and the series winners cheque for $10,000. The Club has been donated an original watercolor painting by High Country artist Norman Sinclair (value $10,000-00) plus a free set of Michelin race tyres which will both be given away as a spot prizes to a competitor in the series, plus they also give away prizes and prizemoney throughout the five classes of both the 3 Hour & 1 Hour Series with a total of $30,000 in cash up for grabs thanks to series sponsors ASKO Appliances, Southern Finance, Hagley Aluminium, Paul Kelly Motor Company and Allied Lubricants.