International Motorsport team driver Jonny Reid is ready to rumble in the GT3 Cup Challenge this weekend at Ruapuna, after missing out on the round win at Pukekohe by just one placing.
Reid was second quickest in qualifying by less than half a second to main rival and current champion Craig Baird, but managed to finish ahead of Baird in two of the three races, just one place behind Daniel Gaunt who won the first round. Sitting just 28 points behind Gaunt, Reid has sole focus of moving into the lead in the championship, even though there are still 15 races to go. “You have to strike early” said Reid of his plan. “There’s no point sitting back waiting for it to come to you, everybody is out there for the win.”
Team mate and fellow Porsche driver Mitchell Cunningham also plans to build on his championship points following a strong performance at Pukekohe. The weekend was a mixed bag for Cunningham, setting the pace early by qualifying third quickest in the first five minutes of the 20 minute qualifying session before putting the car into the wall, prompting an urgent rebuild of his car before Race 1. Although the car underwent a speedy repair, this didn’t bother Cunningham as he went on to finish on the podium for Round 1, even though he didn’t have absolute confidence in his car. “I’m looking forward to Ruapuna and building on my points from Round 1.” said Cunningham. “I’ve done well at Ruapuna in the past in other classes, it’s not my favourite track, but I’ve had good pace here and excellent results including a Round win in the Toyota’s”.
Seasoned campaigner Andrew Bagnall rounds out the GT3 997 line-up for International Motorsport as he makes his season start at Ruapuna this weekend. Leading the 996 Cup title fight is young Auckland driver Simon Evans. After winning the round at Pukekohe, Evans, like his team mates just wants to continue to grow his points tally as he continues with his learning phase in the older model Porsche series.
The weekends racing includes three sprint races, Saturday’s 12 lap race, Sunday morning’s 10 lap race and the final race on Sunday afternoon featuring a reverse top six format over 14 laps.
