A winning start
It’s been quite a week.
The opening round of the 2008/09 Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge was just as I’d expected in that the competition was tough; the stakes high and the need for perfection and attention to detail an absolute necessity. Any slip ups and you were out the back door.
For me it was a pretty good ride. To state the obvious, the weekend began on Friday with two pre-qualifying runs to sort out the cars and get back into a groove. On the day I was the only driver to dip under the 58 second barrier and I thought to myself “hey, we might be onto something here.”
Qualifying wasn’t quite as blistering but still a real nail biter, as Craig Baird, David Reynolds and I sat on the same lap time – 57.6 seconds – for much of the session. When we all pitted for new tyres, it was the XXX pairing who were able to slightly better their times, while I held onto third place.
The first of the three races was relatively straightforward with the only real action coming at the first corner where I hung myself on the outside of Reynolds for second place. The marbles and slippery stuff meant I had to retreat and be sensible, and the front two pulled a small gap which, once everything settled down, they held until the flag. A podium start – not bad.
Race two was also largely uneventful for me as I struggled somewhat with a small imbalance in the car setup. I lost out to my team mate Jody Vincent off the start line and he claimed the final podium spot while I took fourth, however my mind was firmly fixed on the grid for the final race, and by virtue of reversing the top six laptimes I lined up on the front row beside my former team mate Daniel Gaunt.
The 16 lap feature race would require a slight setup revision to accommodate for the extra length, and we made a few extra little tweaks anyway to try and tighten the jigger up and make it a bit more responsive.
We had to run single file through the first corner because of the permanent yellow flag hung out there after the NZV8 pile up, so once things settled down I realised how good the car was and began scoping out Daniel ahead of me for any weaknesses.
I seemed to have small advantages everywhere but with Bairdo closing in behind I had to be proactive, so after a good run I made a fairly drastic move around the outside into the hairpin, slotted into line and led the field out of the corner. Even I was surprised as to how instinctively and suddenly it happened, but my next issue was Mr. Baird in behind.
With five laps remaining I found myself in a similar situation to Timaru last year, but I was determined to focus ahead and run my own race. Not getting intimidated by Craig was the biggest obstacle, but even with a lot of pressure in the closing laps I crossed the line yelling with joy and really satisfied with what I’d just achieved.
It was my third Porsche win, but in reality it was my first – I’d beaten the Baird fair and square.
Second for the weekend capped off a great event and special mentions must go to International Motorsport, all my sponsors, Grant Smith, the Giltrap family and my own family for making round one a real cracker. Now we must do it all again.
This weekend I’ll be competing in a 24 Hour Hyper Stimulator Endurance Race at Big Boys Toys at the ASB Showgrounds in Ellerslie, Auckland. My training partner (and TRS racer) Alastair Wootten, Production Series Racer Gene Rollinson and I will make up the drivers team, while a TV3 media car and numerous punter’s cars will join us for the event. A whole day and night of Bathurst in an Audi R8 Le Mans Prototype. Should be a blast!
Also, the Part One video of the Superlap Taupo event, in which I piloted both EVO88U and the Cheapskates Toyota Supra, is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23z32MPsOCk.
Remember to visit the new jonolester.com!
Keep it on the black stuff,
Jono
