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REYNOLDS MASTERS CHANGEABLE CONDITIONS FOR BATTERY TOWN PORSCHE GT 3 CLEAN SWEEP IN CHRISTCHURCH

Australian driver David Reynolds celebrated his return to New Zealand's Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge championship in style at Christchurch's Powerbuilt Tools Raceway at Ruapuna Park on Sunday completing an impressive round clean sweep with a runaway victory in the rain-shortened reverse top six grid final.

Wet or dry the 25-year-old from Melbourne took the changeable track and weather conditions in his stride, pipping defending series champion and Triple X Motorsport teammate Baird for pole position in streaming conditions in qualifying before winning a thrilling battle for victory with Baird for on a dry track in the new double-points The Mad Butcher-sponsored 100km mini-endurance race on Saturday afternoon then winning both weekend sprint races on Sunday.

In the first he got the jump on fellow front row starter Baird and made the most of the cool, dry track conditions to punch out then maintain a handy lead to the flag while in the second he proved the master of the increasingly difficult conditions which eventually brought the red flag out on lap 12 of what was supposed to be 14.

It was a deeply impressive performance albeit one which, because he missed the first round of this year's Battery Town series at Pukekohe at the beginning of the month, still leaves defending series champion Craig Baird, who finished runner-up, with a handsome series points lead.

Baird briefly wrested the lead off Reynolds in The Mad Butcher enduro on Saturday only to lose it again at the compulsory pit stop and from that point on it was Reynolds who hogged the lion's share of the Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge limelight over the weekend.

Fastest round one qualifier and race winner Matt Halliday also another to find himself racing in Reynolds' shadow, with a third on Saturday, a fourth behind Reynolds, Baird and a fast-starting Ant Pedersen on Sunday morning and a hard-won second place in the rain-shortened reverse top-six grid final in the afternoon.

Halliday gave as good as he took in that race, matching Reynolds's every move early on only to lose time as he drifted wide at the hairpin as the conditions deteriorated then decide that with Baird and reverse top six grid poleman Daniel Gaunt close behind discretion was the better part of valour.

Round-wise the result was a a perfect 300 points for Reynolds with Baird 39 points back in second and Halliday a further 20 points back in third.

Halliday's teammate, Jonny Reid was fourth, Ant Pedersen fifth and Daniel Gaunt sixth.

In the Mothers 996 Cup category, for drivers of older model 996 GT3 Cup cars, first round winner Hugh Gardiner was again fastest, splitting the 997 model GT3s of Mitch Cunningham and Andrew Bagnall in qualifying and spending the weekend running with Bagnall and fellow 997 driver Shane McKillen in the races.

It was young Wellington driver Simon McLennan who was the category winner at the round however, Gardiner failing to finish the double points Saturday race after running out of petrol with two laps to go. That gave the overall win to McLennan from fellow kart-turned-car racer Simon Evans and Gardiner.

Behind Reynolds, Baird, Halliday et al interest in the races focused on various mid-field battles with series newcomer Mitch Cunningham coming through to claim sixth place in the rain-dampened final, just in front of local man Paul Kelly.

Kelly was an early casualty of a spin then a starter motorproblem in the first race but came back to finish ninth in the first sprint race and seventh - and last car on the lead lap - in the final.

Had that race lasted he would have ended up even further up the order, having made the brave but ultimately correct decision to pit early and swap his cars slick tyres for wets.

Though the red flag ultimately stymied his opportunistic charge, at one stage he was circulating five seconds a lap faster than the cars he was catching.

Meanwhile the prognosis was good for young Auckland driver Courtney Letica who crashed heavily in qualifying. He was admitted to hospital with suspected concussion and a lower leg fracture but is expected to be released on Tuesday.

There is now a break over the Christmas/New Year period before the 2009/10 Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge championship resumes at Invercargill's Teretonga Park over the January 16-17 weekend.  

VINCENT STEPS UP TO CLAIM HIS FIRST BATTERY TOWN PORSCHE RACE VICTORY IN HAMILTON

It all came right for Pukekohe driver Jody Vincent on the second day of competition at the Hamilton 400 V8 Supercar meeting on Sunday, the 26-year-old claiming his debut win with an impressive lights-to-flag victory in the final reverse top six grid race of the Trophy round weekend over Daniel Gaunt and Mark Russ.

Series regular Vincent has always been one of the top locally-based drivers competing in the Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge championship series. And he has definitely been in the position - particularly in the reverse grid third races, most recently at the final championship round at Pukekohe - to claim a win before.

But each time, something has gone wrong.

This time nothing did. And the long-time Porsche GT3 Cup series racer was still trying to come to terms with the fact as he was surrounded by well-wishers in the International Motorsport compound immediately afterwards.

"To win the last race of the season in front of such a large crowd? It's fantastic. Just fantastic. I knew, once I was in front and pulling away, that a win, obviously, was on the cards, but I've been there so many times before that part of me was thinking what's going to happen this time? I tried to forget about it and just drive my own race but it was always in the back of my mind," he admitted.

Though a first corner tangle took out fastest qualifier and first race winner Craig Baird (who started from P6 on the grid) and slowed series guest driver John McIntyre, Vincent put on a copybook display of fast, controlled driving to first establish then maintain a lead he would never lose over former singe-seater ace and reigning New Zealand Grand Prix champion Daniel Gaunt, and the first of the category's young guns, Mark Russ.

With Baird's car squeezed into the wall when John McIntyre and Courtney Letica collided exiting the first corner, the Safety car was deployed for two laps so that the Baird car could be removed, and when the Safety Car returned to the pits Vincent also got the best of the restart leaving Gaunt to fend off Vincent's fellow front row starter Mark Russ.

Like Vincent, Russ was enjoying his strongest run of the season, trying everything he knew to force Gaunt into a mistake.

Gaunt, however, is made of sterner stuff and despite several serious looking lockups held second place to the flag.

"The bumps round here are certainly tricky in one of these cars, particularly when you are under pressure " the 24-year-old said of his often wild ride round the 3.4 km downtown Hamilton circuit. "It didn't help of couse that I'd spent the weekend playing catchup after getting caught out by the red flag in qualifying. All credi to Jody though. If I had been in the position to put my head down and chase him I might have been able to go with him but he certainly had some pace and all year long he's somehow been able to save up and have genuine pace in these third races so the win was well-deserved."

With the victory Vincent became just the fourth Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge race winner this season, joining series champion Craig Baird, Baird's Triple X Motorsport teammate David Reynolds (racing a V8 Supercar this weekend) and Vincent's International Motorsport teammate Jono Lester.

Lester could not quite match the pace in the final that he showed in qualifying and the first two races, where he was second only to Baird, but fourth place behind Vincent, Gaunt and Russ was enough to give him the round win from Gaunt and Vincent.

Vincent qualified fifth then finished the first race of the weekend in fifth position but found himself on the back foot in the second race when his car started overheating and he was forced into the pits.

Ironically it was his seventh place finish in the second race which combined with his fifth in the first which gave him pole for the reverse top six grid final, opening the way for his breakthrough win in the third.

Another driver to enjoy a better run in the final race was Ant Pedersen who broke a driveshaft in the second race but forced his way from P10 on the grid to fifth in the final, setting the fastest race lap in the process as he pulled away from Courteny Letica and closed in on Lester who he harrowed to the flag.

And what did guest driver John McIntyre think of his return to the Battery Town Porsche GT3 ranks?

McIntyre was initially credited with the second quickest time in qualifying but was demoted a spot for bringing out the red flag late in the session as he tried to go even faster.

He then spent the best part of both Saturday races playing catchup only to get caught up with Baird and Letica in the final and have to pit for a new left rear tyre while the Safety Car was on the track.

Not quite the result he wanted. But it certainly had the NZV8s class front-runner thinking.

"They're a real race car, "he said of the 997 GT3 Cup car he drove for the Triple X Motorsport team "You've got to be on it all the time and as the weekend went on I probably got more confused between the V8 and the Porsche. With the V8, if you like, you've got to stroke it along whereas with the Porsche there's a lot more intensity and a lot more equipment which you can use hard so I think that though they are rear engined, grip-wise and brake-wise they've got more in common with a V8 Supercar than my car."

And Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge champion Craig Baird?

The man who has been the dominant figure in the Porsche GT3 Cup class racing on both sides of the Tasman for the past five years has never been a great fan of the reverse top six format for the final race and it certainly didn't do him any favours on Sunday.

"I got a blinder start to get between John McIntyre and Daniel Gaunt and then tried to make up another spot -- went wide -- no problem --but where the kink is in the wall I got squeezed where it is a bit rounded and it broke something in the front, "he explained.

Though he regretted what happened Baird said he was going for position: "It's not a place I would have positioned myself if it were a championship round. I was trying to make up four spots by turn one and put myself in a vulnerable position and paid the price.

BAIRD CONTINUES ON HIS WINNING WAY IN HAMILTON

Recently re-crowned series champion Craig Baird continued on his winning way on the first day of competition at the season-ending Trophy round of the 2008/09 Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge at the Hamilton 400 V8 Supercar meeting in Hamilton today.

Baird won the last six Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge championship races on the trot. And after claiming pole position with the only sub 1.27.000 lap of the high speed 3.4 km street circuit on Friday afternoon, the Hamilton-born but now Queensland, Australia-based professional won today's two non-championship Trophy races very much as he liked.

"It has been pretty easy so far," he admitted after his second lights-to-flag victory of the afternoon. "Without Dave (Reynolds, the young Australian driver who kept him honest in the championship races this season) the pressure's been off really and I've been able to dictate things. Like in that race (the second) I just ran my old set of tyres so that I have a new set for tomorrow."

Guest driver John McIntyre, a two-time NZV8s champion, raised eyebrows with his pace in qualifying, but was forced to play catchup in both of today's races, crossing the line sixth in the first and fourth in the second.

That left series young gun and second quickest qualifier Jono Lester to make the most of the clear air behind Baird, the 18-year-old setting the second quickest lap time in both races, his best lap in the second - a 1.26.9991 - just 0.00.3189 of a second shy of Baird's best and the only other race time under 1.27.000.

After some ups and downs in the championship races over the season the young third-generation racer agreed that things did seem to be going his way, and that he was hoping for more of the same tomorrow.

"It has been a pretty good weekend so far, being second each time we've gone out which with Craig in the field is pretty much the best you can hope for. We've got a little bit of work to do tonight because we made what turned out to be a couple of errors in terms of set up for the second race, but that aside we've got a really strong race car and we're looking for another good result on Sunday."

Long-time sparring partner Ant Pedersen finished fourth in the first race but was an early retirement in the second as a driveshaft cried enough.

A broken driveshaft also stopped one of the other hard charging young drivers in the Battery Town field, Mark Russ in the Giltrap Group team car, in the first race, the result Russ reckoned of a date with one of the chicanes on the fast but unforgiving street circuit.

Perennial hard charger Jody Vincent had a strong first race, battling hard with Courtney Letica and a recovering John McIntyre, but in the second he was slowed and eventually forced to pit when the engine oil and water temperature warning lights came on.

Having seen his car launch then land hard off the chicane on the back straight many race fans thought his trip to the pits was to check the suspension or drivetrain but Vincent said no.

"Definitely not. The warning lights on the dash were already flashing at that stage and to be honest with you it (the launch and subsequent flight across the chicane) didn't even feel that big. Obviously it was because everyone who saw it on TV is talking about it, but no, the lights were the reason I came in (to the pits)."

BAIRD EXTENDS RECORD WITH FIFTH NEW ZEALAND

PORSCHE GT3  CUP TITLE

Is there anyone out there who can beat Craig Baird?  That's the question motorsport fans around the country are asking in the wake of the Queensland-based Kiwi claiming his fifth consecutive New Zealand Porsche GT3 Cup title at the final round of the 2008/09 New Zealand motor racing championship series at Pukekohe on Sunday.

After finishing third to fellow expat Jim Richards and young gun Matt Halliday in the inaugural Trans-Tasman GT3 Cup series over the 2003/04 season, three-time former New Zealand GP winner and four-time former New Zealand Touring Car champion Baird has made the popular now Battery Town-sponsored championship his own, winning it very much as he has liked since 2005.

Each season he has had strong competition, initially from young Kiwis Matt Halliday and Fabian Coulthard and latterly top Australian drivers Alex Davison and David Reynolds, but each season he has come out on top.

Reynolds, who like Baird has also won Australia's Porsche GT3 Cup-based Carrera Cup Australia championship, was able to match Baird's qualifying performance (this season (the score three-all) but when it came to race wins Baird had no peer, winning 12 of the 18 races and five of the six rounds.

Five of the other six race wins went to Reynolds (a tally which included three from three for the only round win not to go to Baird at Timaru in early January) and the sixth to the best of the category's young guns, Jono Lester, who won the final reverse top six grid final race at the first round of this season's Battery Town series at Pukekohe in November.

Impressive statistics though Baird was at pains to stress after the final series race at Pukekohe on Sunday that as in any top level motor racing series here or anywhere else race wins do not come easily.

"It's been tough this year but, you know, it's always been tough. There's always been a Jim (Richards) or a Matty (Matt Halliday) or Fabian (Coulthard) and this year it's been David Reynolds. He's had a little bit more speed than me in some places this year and he's very, very good at qualifying so I've had to be on the top of my game every time I've gone out on the track.

Though David Reynolds was again on pole at this weekend's championship final meeting Baird got a better start to lead both 12 lap sprint races from start to finish. Reynolds set the fastest race lap in his pursuit of Baird in the first race and went even quicker in the second to set a new category lap record - 57.279 - but as has happened so often this season no matter how close he got he couldn't find a way past Baird.

Jono Lester was a quick and competitive third in the first race but was an early casualty of contact with Daniel Gaunt in the second, Gaunt going on to claim third place in that race then second in the final to finish second for the round behind Baird.

Having won the first two races, second in the reverse top six grid final was going to be enough to give Baird that round win but in a cruel stroke of fate front row starter and long-time race leader Jody Vincent was lucky to cross the line in second place after his car's left rear tyre blew within sight of the chequered flag.

That left a closely following but surprised Baird to claim his third win from third starts from Vincent who admitted that while it would have been nice to win the race ('I was lucky to keep it off the wall so I'm just glad I still have a car in one piece') and Gaunt.

Fourth and claiming the final step on the round podium was Ant Pedersen with Jono Lester fifth and Mark Russ in the Giltrap Group team car sixth.

Overall that gave last season's Battery Town Rookie of The Year Daniel Gaunt third place in the championship behind Baird and Reynolds with Lester fourth, Australian Rodney Forbes fifth and Vincent sixth.

And Auckland's Hugh Gardiner was the winner of the 996 title contested by drivers using older 996 GT3 Cup cars, finishing his season 12th overall with 408 points.

The weekend's Battery Town round was the final points one but the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge cars will be back on track for a second 'Trophy' round (the first was at the A1GP meeting at Taupo in January) at the Hamilton 400 V9 Supercar meeting in Hamilton over the April 19-20 weekend.

BAIRD BEATS MANFEILD'S 'BIG WET' FOR ANOTHER PORSCHE GT3 CUP ROUND WIN

Defending champion and 2008/09 championship points leader Craig Baird beat the weekend's 'big wet' to win the latest round of the 2008/09 Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge championship at Feilding's Manfeild motor racing circuit on Sunday.

Though Triple X teammate David Reynolds again pipped him for pole position in qualifying on Saturday morning, 38-year-old Queensland-based expat Baird ended up claiming three wins from three starts - despite what at times were atrocious weather and track conditions.

In the first race - which he started from the second row of the grid after having a front row time disallowed because it was set late in the session when there was a yellow flag out - Baird was quickly up to second behind a fast-starting Daniel Gaunt when pole-man David Reynolds was slow away.

Then after dispatching Gaunt with a daring side-by-side move through the Dunlop sweeper and down the start-finish straight he settled into a lead he was not to lose on lap three.

Reynolds tried - very hard - to make up for a less than perfect start, catching then swapping places with a hard-charging Ant Pedersen before eventually getting past and setting off after Gaunt then Baird.

But the closer he got to the race leader the harder it rained to the point where both drivers were relieved when the chequered flag eventually came out.

Last season's series runner-up and Rookie of The Year, Daniel Gaunt, looked strong early on only to be slowed and eventually stopped by a puncture.

That gave Pedersen third place from Jody Vincent and a closely following Jono Lester and Mark Russ, however Pedersen was called into the pits for a stop-go penalty and ended up eighth, gifting Vincent the final step on the podium with Lester fourth, Mark Russ fifth and Rodney Forbes sixth.

With the skies clearing and the sun coming out the second race of the weekend on Sunday morning turned into another Baird/Reynolds battle but this time Baird led from start to finish from pole.

Vincent was again third after getting the better of fellow second row starter Jono Lester on the first lap with Ant Pedersen fourth and Gaunt fifth.

Rodney Forbes held fourth early on before being hunted down by Pedersen, Gaunt and Lester.

Then, heading into the reverse top six grid final race early on Sunday afternoon the GT3 Cup cars lined up on the dummy grid on slicks under a dull grey sky. But as they sat there the clouds thickened and drizzle started falling.

That brought the crews out with wet tyres though as the cars went out on their warm up lap there was little sign of the heavy rain which would lash the circuit less than 15 minutes later.

That meant most of the drivers elected to leave their cars on slick tyres - or at least they did until the drizzle morphed into light rain, prompting pole man Jono Lester and fellow front row starter Jody Vincent to relinquish their positions on the grid and instead start the race from pit lane on hastily fitted wet weather tyres.

As they worked their way back up through the field second row starters Daniel Gaunt and Ant Pedersen led the pack away with David Reynolds and Craig Baird third and fourth respectively.

Reynolds was quickly past Pedersen however with Gaunt third and Baird fourth. Gaunt then got past Pedersen for second before being called into the pits to serve a drive through penalty.

That left Reynolds in the lead from Baird and Pedersen and - on the road at least - one of the other drivers who had elected to change tyres in the pits - Mark Russ. By this stage, however, the heavens had well and truly opened and the meeting officials decided to put out the red flag and halt the race at that point.

Though that decision was later questioned by drivers and teams alike, the result as at lap 8 stood with Baird credited with his third win from as many starts from Reynolds, Pedersen, Forbes, Gaunt and Courtney Letica.

Points-wise the result could hardly have been better for Baird who heads to the final round of this season's Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge championship at Pukekohe in a fortnight's time with 1070 points, 99 more than Reynolds who retains second place and 314 more than third placed Daniel Gaunt.

Despite the weather the penultimate round was also a good one for young gun Ant Pedersen.

As the 20-year-old second-generation driver (son of former New Zealand TraNZam and NZV8s championship winner Paul Pedersen) said afterwards.

"Pace-wise we've always been there this year but luck just hasn't been on our side. We didn't quite get off scot-free this weekend but at least we were able to show that we can qualify and run competitively at the pointy end of the field."

Fellow International Motorsport runner Jody Vincent was also upbeat despite the decision by the officials to shorten the race effectively nullifying any advantage he might have gained by pitting early to change from slick to wet weather tyres.

"Overall, yes, it's been a good weekend. The conditions were testing being wet and dry and everything in between, but to be honest, I relished them. Every time I go out I get more comfortable with the car, wet or dry, and I think I showed that this weekend. Craig and David are good, there's no disputing that, but we're now at the point where they're not pulling away from guys like myself and Ant like they might have before."

Happy just to be on the grid, meanwhile, was Hugh Gardiner, the former Formula Ford front runner back behind the wheel after a major off at the Teretonga round in January.

With less than a month between the fourth and fifth rounds of the series Gardiner decided to buy a second 996 rather than try to rush the repair of the car he damaged at Teretonga. Not a decision to be made lightly but one he felt was the best in the circumstances.

"It was a big hit and one, I have to say, which wasn't helped by the proximity of the earth-filled tyres to the circuit. Once the dust had settled though we looked at the car and though we decided it was relatively easily fixed we were running short of time and it just so happened that another one - Connel McLaren's - was available. I'll tell you what, I'm glad now we did too because I know from going to Taupo for the A1 meeting racing drivers don't like watching races!"

YOUTH AND EXPERIENCE COMBINE TO TOP PORSCHE PODIUM AT TAUPO

Youth and experience proved the winning combination in both Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge endurance races at the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport meeting at Taupo over the weekend, former series front-runner Matt Halliday flying in from the United States to share the winning 26000 Vodka-backed car with young gun Jono Lester.

The Halliday/Lester combination won both 50 minute endurance races at the meeting to top the overall round podium from Jody Vincent and Jonny Reid in the Koken Tools car and Darryn Henderson and former motorcycle ace Aaron Slight in the RadioSport/Samsung entry.

The Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup cars contested four races at the A1GP meeting, with a sprint race and a 50 minute enduro each day.

Victory in the sprint races was shared between Jody Vincent (Saturday's race) and V8 Supercar star Shane van Gisbergen (Sunday's) but both enduros belonged to Halliday and Lester.

Despite stiff early competition from both Vincent and fellow series young gun Mark Russ, Halliday and Lester were only headed during the compulsory driver change during Saturday's race, a lightning quick change only serving to underline their advantage.

Both Vincent and van Gisbergen forced their way past Halliday and dictated the early pace in Sunday's enduro only to clash as the pit window opened, van Gisbergen retiring a couple of corners later with a flat tyre and Vincent's co-driver Jonny Reid slowed when he took over the Koken car with the wheel alignment awry.

With the pressure off, Halliday was the able to hand over to usual car driver Lester confident in the knowledge that all other things being equal a second race win and with it the round trophy would be his and Lester's to share.

Afterwards Lester was full of praise not just for his co-driver but also for the slick pit work from his International Motorsport team.

"What can I say?" he said. "We put all our efforts into the two races that counted and we came away with the result. Our pit stops were fantastic - 16 seconds in that second race - and Matt's been good, really good, particularly in terms of set up and his know-how with the car. So really it made it easy for me to do my job, keeping my times within a couple of tenths and consolidating our position."

With a win in the first sprint race - his first in the Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge championship, perennial hard charger Jody Vincent had reason to celebrate, despite not quite getting the win he and Reid were seeking in one of the endurance races.

He could also be proud of his confident performance at the front of the pack early in Sunday's enduro, withstanding huge and prolonged pressure from V8 Supercar star Shane van Gisbergen before eventually succumbing under brakes at the end of the Taupo circuit's long back straight.

That was enough for van Gisbergen though having been forced out of Saturday's enduro when he collected a track side marker and ended up in a gravel trap, then out of Sunday's by the flat tyre he had to be content with a win and fastest race lap in the sprint race earlier in the day.

It was quite some performance too, the 19-year-old former New Zealand Formula Ford champion and now works driver for Stone Brothers Racing in Australia, catching and passing a fast starting Darren Henderson before setting off and quickly catching and dispatching early race leader Halliday.

Once past Halliday he put his head down and pulled away, the margin at the line almost one-and-a-half seconds with Wellington businessman Henderson enjoying one of his most competitive outings to hold out Vincent and Christchurch's Kevin Bell.

Henderson and co-driver Aaron Slight produced arguably the biggest surprise of the weekend, Slight finishing an excellent fourth - after only minimal wheeltime - in Saturday's sprint race then proving the perfect lieutenant to a confident and quick Henderson in both enduros. Series veterans Andrew Bagnall and Kevin Bell were another pair to impress over a greater number of laps, finishing fourth in both enduros.

There was also recognition at the meeting for drivers of older 996 model GT3 Cup cars with the overall win in that category going to Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge regular Rob Steele and rookie co-driver Logan Sears.

There's was the third 996 home in Saturday's race behind the Tim Martin/James Kirkpatrick and Simon Evans/Matt Williams cars, and the second one home - behind the Williams/Evans car - in the second but a more consistent run in the two sprint races gave them the top step on the 996 podium for the round.

The Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge championship now reverts to its usual format for the penultimate 2008/09 series round at Manfeild at the end of February, the final at Pukekohe Park Raceway in March and a second non-championship Trophy round at the Hamilton V8 Supercar meeting in April.