Williams Makes It Three in Asko 1 Hour Endurance Series

Williams Makes It Three in Asko 1 Hour Endurance Series

Grant Williams of Christchurch made it three from three in the ASKO 1 Hour Endurance Series at Levels Raceway in Timaru on Saturday. It was a close run thing however as co-driver Brent Buist took the lead from pole man and longtime leader Hayden Knighton with less than 2 minutes to go. The Williams/Buist Mazda RX7 V8 crossed the line just .336 of a second ahead of Knighton. Williams has now won all three races in the series to date, two with Buist and the other with Roger Townshend who stepped in when Buist had rally commitments that clashed with Round 2 of the series. Knighton, also of Christchurch, took second in his Porsche 997 GT3 with Dunedin driver Chris Henderson in his V8 powered Toyota Corolla third. Danny Whiting of Christchurch was fourth ahead of Tim O'Connor in a Ferrari 458 and Phil Hood in a Porsche. George McFarlane of Christchurch had qualified well and led early but an exhaust problem sidelined him. However McFarlane did set a new 1 Hour race lap record in a fast race which was just one lap shy of the overall race record for distance covered.

In the class battles Knighton took the GT Class from fellow Cantabrian Danny Whiting in a Porsche and Tim O'Connor of Lower Hutt in the Ferrari. Williams and Buist secured Class 1 from Henderson and Tony Head of Cambridge. Chris White of Christchurch in his BMW M3 E46 took Class 2 from Hamish Ellingham of Napier in an EVO 9 and Adam Glass of Raikaia in another M3. Southlanders Jeremy and Bradley Dawson in a Toyota Starlet and Toyota Trueno respectively took the top two spots in Class 3/4 from Stu Black of Dunedin in a Toyota Starlet.

Williams now has a nineteen poiint lead from Knighton in the overall points with Phil Hood in third with just one round remaining. Many of the class battles are close with Knighton leading the GT Class and Williams Class 1. Ellingham leads Class 2 from Chris White while Bradley Dawson has just a 7 point lead over Stu Black with Jeremy Dawson just 3 points further back in Class 3/4.

The Grand Finale of the series will be held at the first ever race meeting at the magnificent Highlands Motorsport Park, Cromwell on Saturday 9th November, where a new Series Champion will be crowned. Thanks to Series sponsor ASKO Appliances as well as class sponsors Mobil 1, Southern Finance Ltd, Paul Kelly Motor Company & Hagley Aluminium the ASKO Series will again have the richest prize money pool in NZ Motorsport, with One Hour competitors in for a share of $30,000 - that will be paid out as prize money for 2013, as well as major spot prizes up for grabs to a competitors in either the one hour or three hour Series.

For more information, or to be added to the South Island Endurance Racing Drivers Club’s e-mailing list, please contact Chris Dunn via e-mail at sierdc@xtra.co.nz Club information and live race updates can also be found on facebook at www.facebook.com/sierdc, and for more information on the series sponsor ASKO, please visit www.asko.co.nz.

For more information:
• Asko 1 Hour Endurance Race Results Timaru
• Asko 1 Hour Endurance Series Points After Round 3

ENDS

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