Otago pair Allan Dippie and Grant Aitken became the 2010 ASKO Appliances SI Endurance Series Champions when they brought their Porsche GT3 across the line in fourth place at the conclusion of the second and final round of the series at Powerbuilt Tools Raceway in Christchurch last Saturday.
After winning the opening round at Timaru in October the duo knew what was required to seal the series and they drove a calculated race to ensure the title was theirs. “We ran our own pace, our own race,’ said Aitken at the end of the contest. In winning the title the pair won the South Canterbury Toyota Endurance Cup.
Victory in the race went to Andrew Bagnall and Ant Pedersen who had a troublefree run to win by two laps, completing 115 circuits of the 3.33 kilometre Canterbury layout in the 3 hours. The pair had earlier demonstrated their potential by qualifying on pole. Second place went to Craig and Scott McDermid in their turbocharged Toyota Levin, another driver combination that had a largely untroubled run to the flag.
Angus McFarlane and Michael Bushell crossed the line third in their twin turbo Porsche GT3 after a mixed day. The pair battled an electrical issue with the computer mapping in the car during qualifying only managing the thirteenth fastest time. However with some assistance from Dunedin based support they were on the pace once the race began. They led for a time but were hampered by a gearbox problem later in the race while the fuel reserve light was on in the concluding laps of the race requiring a conservative approach. However their efforts bagged them second place in the series.
Behind Dippie/Aitken were Patrick Heagney and Tony Head in a Toyota followed by John De Veth and Phillip Gill in a Mitsubishi EVO 8 rounding out the top six.
Heagney and Head gained third overall in the series, a very good performance and in a poignant touch also won the Matt Heagney Memorial Trophy for the first 4 cylinder car in the series.
George McFarlane won the major prize draw of series competitors for an original Norman Sinclair painting valued at $10,000.
Dippie and Aitken’s series victory also gained them the Allied Lubricants GT Class from McFarlane and Bushell while Craig and Scott McDermid of Blenheim plus Chris Dunn of Timaru took the Allied Lubricants Class 1 (3501cc & over) from John Wadsworth/Warren Croft also of Blenheim in their Holden Commodore.
The Hagley Aluminium 2001-3500cc Class 2 was won by Heagney/Head from Richard and Daniel Bagnall of Auckland in a Mini. The Bagnall’s also won the award for the first rookies home in the series. The Hagley Aluminium 1600cc-2000cc & 0-1600cc Classes 3 & 4 were combined and went to Brent Beatson and Kirk Ransley of Timaru and Wakefield respectively in their Renault Megane.
The early race leader in the final round at Powerbuilt Raceway was the Dwayne & Matt Carter BA Falcon V8 Supercar which burst through from the second row of the grid to lead the field. However within the first half hour the car starting trailing smoke before pitting to attend to a loose right rear hub. Upon rejoining the Falcon circulated quickly although the car went off the circuit due to oil on the rear wheel and they were a non finisher. They did have the consolation of setting the fastest lap of the race.
Apart from the early onslaught from the Carter Falcon and the brief periods that the McFarlane Bushhell Porsche had in the lead the race was very much under control for the Bagnall/Pedersen Porsche.
Scott O’Donnell and Andy Neale were second fastest in qualifying but a hub failure slowed them over the last half hour of the race and they eventually finished fourteenth while Arron Black and Warren Good were sixth fastest in qualifying only to be sidelined with a blown diff very early on. Upon resuming they later ran out of petrol and were not classified in the final results only having completed 63 laps.
The Ferrari 430 Challenge of Tim O’Connor, Terry Robinson and Sam McNeill had a tough day retiring after passing the pits with flames licking the underside of the car after 85 laps.
The race also doubled as the first round of the inaugural NZ Endurance Championship Series.
The series had faced two cancellations, firstly due to the Canterbury earthquake and then southern snow at Teretonga.
OTHER AWARDS
Original Norman Sinclair watercolor painting (spot prize) George McFarlane - Altezza
Wild Turkey Hard luck award – Teretonga no award
Wild Turkey Hard luck award – Levels Craig McDermid - Toyota Levin
Wild Turkey Hard luck award – Powerbuilt Raceway Tim O'Connor - Ferrari F430
Wild Turkey - Biggest Turkey award Michael Bushell - GT3 T
Allied Petroleum Best performance – Teretonga no award
Allied Petroleum Best performance – Levels A McFarlane/M Bushell - GT3 T
Allied Petroleum Best performance – Powerbuilt Raceway M Driver/J Parmenter - Integra
Cobra Car Security Best presented car - 3hr Series Tim O'Connor - Ferrari F430
Cobra Car Security Best presented car - 1hr Series Matt O'Donnell - dch Mini Challenge
Cobra Car Security Best presented team General Tyres/GT Radials team
1st Family pairing R Bagnall/D Bagnall - Mini Challenge
1st Hybrid A McFarlane/M Bushell - GT3 T
1st Rookie team R Bagnall/D Bagnall - Mini Challenge
1st Turbo A McFarlane/M Bushell - GT3 T
1st V8 J Wadsworth/W Croft - Commodore
1st Rotary no award
1st non-turbo, V8 or GT3 W Good/A Black - BMW 320i
1st 4-cyl (Matt Heagney Memorial trophy) P Heagney/T Head - Toyota Sprinter
1st Lady Emma Gilmour - WRX
Pole position award W Good/A Black - BMW 320i
Fastest Lap award T O'Connor/S McNeill - Ferrari F430
Best round Powerbuilt Tools Raceway
ASKO APPLIANCES 1 HOUR SERIES
1st – Mike Baker
2nd – Peter Van Eeekelen
3rd – Dave McLean
Allied Lubricants Class 1
1st – Mike Baker
Hagley Aluminium Class 2
1st – Shane Roughan Subaru WRX
Hagley Aluminium Class 3
1st – Marc Denton
Hagley Aluminium Class 4
1st – Jeremy Dawson
