Gaunt on pole for Porsche endurance race

Media release: Triple X Motorsport
For immediate release: Saturday 15 January 2011.

Round three: 2010/2011 NZ Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge – The Zoagn 500 – Teretonga Park, Invercargill 14 – 16 January 2011.

Gaunt on pole for Porsche endurance race

Triple X Motorsport driver Daniel Gaunt is to start the MPD VnC Cocktails Porsche 997 from pole position for today’s 38-lap race around Invercargill’s Teretonga circuit.

The current series leader in the 2010/2011 New Zealand Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge, Gaunt set fastest time just prior to a few rain spots falling during the 20-minute session around the 2.61 kilometre circuit.

Trailing by 0.088 second, defending series champion and fellow Triple X Motorsport driver, Craig Baird, will start the ZM Mad Butcher Porsche 997 alongside for the afternoon race that includes a compulsory pit-stop.

“We were lucky we could get a good time in before the rain sprinkles as it took the edge off the track conditions. Now the big one is the endurance race; we’ve had good pit-stops this year and that’s been the winning/losing margin. That’s the bottom line for Craig and I, you see it all round the world, having the best team is even more important during a pit-stop,” said Gaunt.

Series rookie Scott Harrison in the Mad Butcher Carpet One Porsche managed fifth fastest during the cooler conditions with team principal Shane McKillen sixth in the VnC Cocktails Porsche 997.

Christchurch car dealer Paul Kelly will start from eighth position with Mad Butcher CEO Michael Morton starting from 11th in the Outlaws Bar Porsche 997.

The third round of six in the championship series, the weekend starts with a 38-lap race this afternoon, a 12-lap race Sunday morning and the 16-lap top-six reverse grid 16-lap race starting at 3:15pm.

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