REID WINS TWO MORE RACES AND SECURES WEEKEND HONOURS

Porsche GT3 driver Jonny Reid continued with his winning form over the weekend to secure his spot on the podium of the Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Championship, in what was his first season driving in the series.

Following on from his first race win and overall weekend honours in the series at the previous round at Manfeild last month, Reid had one goal in his sights, to repeat his performance at Taupo. His mission was obvious from the outset as he set the fastest lap time in testing on Friday afternoon, followed by an impressive front row qualifying result to start race 1 in P2.

In typical Jonny Reid fashion, the Auckland driver kept his racing clean in Race 1 where he got off to a good fast start and held off early attacks from championship leader Craig Baird. Reid slowly moved in on front runner Australian David Reynolds and kept the pressure on for first position for the first 15 laps of the 30 lap endurance race. With a pit window set for between laps 14 and 22, Reid made the decision to come in on lap 16, two seconds behind race leader Reynolds. The International Motorsport team performed an impressively fast pit stop, rewarding Reid with the opportunity to rejoin the race in the lead, eight seconds ahead of Reynolds. Over the following 14 laps, Reid kept his pace strong and racing tidy to secure the race win and double points to add to his series fight.

Race 2 on Sunday morning was held in similar fine conditions to that of Race 1 with Reid starting on pole. The race to turn 1 was not without drama as Reid fought to keep the lead while team mate Matt Halliday moved in on Daniel Gaunt. Reid held his position and drove a faultless race, fighting off attacks from Gaunt until a late move by Halliday forced Gaunt to break concentration and exit off the track allowing Halliday to move into second behind his team mate. Reid and Halliday continued to dominate the 10 lap race and bring the two International Motorsport Fisher and Paykel GT3’s home in first and second.

Grid positions for Race 3 were determined by the top six cars in Race 2 reversed, placing Reid in sixth alongside Halliday in fifth. Reid got off to an excellent start and moved immediately into 5th place behind Halliday where he stayed for the first four laps, before Halliday ran wide on Taupo’s fast turn 9 allowing Reid to slip through into fourth where he stayed to the finish.

Securing two race wins and a fourth place reward Reid with the Round win and sufficient points to take 2nd overall in the 2009/10 Porsche GT3 Cup Championship, behind Championship winner Baird and ahead of Gaunt.