Porsche titan team-mates to clash at Ruapuna

Porsche Championship leading Triple X Motorsport is expecting the second round at Christchurch’s Powerbuilt Tools Ruapuna Raceway to be an internal quest of dominance this coming weekend (28-29 November).

Currently first, second and third in the 2009/10 Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge standings after the first round, the Auckland based defending title champions and five-car team have an early march on the 16-car field.

Headed by Queensland based Kiwi Craig Baird in the #1 ZM/Mad Butcher Porsche 997 on 285 points, he has a 30 point buffer over Auckland’s Daniel Gaunt, who says the technical nature of the Ruapuna circuit makes it the most challenging of the six-round series.

“It’s a very tough track to piece the perfect lap together. For instance a lot of the corners lead in to other corners, so if you’re too greedy on one you have a bit to make up on the next one. So it’s a very give-and-take circuit you have to think about to get a good lap,” said the 24-year old driver of the #3 Placemakers/Hampsta Porsche 997.

Gaunt highlights the driving style of team-mate and championship leader Craig Baird as perfectly suited to the mid-Canterbury circuit. Run clock-wise and 3.33 kilometres in length, it’s largely flat nature has a variety of left and right corners of varying styles that exercises driver skill.

“Bairdo seems to be extremely quick at Ruapuna, more so than anywhere else. It just suits his driving style and I think he will be the benchmark again this weekend. So to me the best pick is to follow that style and put my neck on the block. He is tough to beat and if there is a year I want to do it more than ever it’s this year, so I’m not content with second at all. I want to win some races and I’d like that to start with Ruapuna – even by taking a few more risks.”

Third, from his best ever race weekend in the series, Auckland 21-year-old Courtney Letica in the #5 Altherm Porsche 997, rose above internationals Jonny Reid and Matt Halliday at the season opener. Making sizable gains in performance from the data shared by team-mates Baird and Gaunt, Letica doesn’t have as much experience at Ruapuna following his first Porsche drive there ending badly.

Team principal and Auckland businessman Shane McKillen (#2 VnC Cocktails/Juice Bar Porsche 997) suffered from a first race bump at Pukekohe that bent his rear suspension. Ever since, he has been on the back-foot to catch-up the deficit from the double-points season-opening race. Trailing team entertainment manager Mike Morton (#8 Hampsta/Indians Bar Porsche 997) overall, the pair are more 170 points behind their younger front-runners.

Additionally, making for six cars, Christchurch’s Paul Kelly will run the #90 Porsche 997 from the Triple X Motorsport pit-side area, sharing in the team’s expertise for the car dealership owner.

Starting with two practise sessions on Friday, the day ends with hot-laps for promotion competition winners before Saturday morning’s qualifying session just prior to the lunch break.

The race action is headlined by the ‘Mad Butcher 100’ on Saturday afternoon. The 100 kilometre race features a compulsory pit-stop where two tyres on the car must be changed. While the Porsche uses a single wheel nut, making the change quick, rules stipulate the wheel nut must be check torqued following its tightening by the gas-powered impact gun. With only two people allowed to do the task, they must also reinstall the wheel-nut safety clip before it is lowered from the in-board air-jacks and allowed to re-join the race. Taking approximately 20 seconds to complete, the race can be won or lost in the process with the finish margin between Baird and Gaunt at the end of the first 100 kilometre race a mere 0.377 seconds.

Sunday returns to the sprint format, with a ten-lap race late morning, followed by the afternoon top-six reverse grid 14-lap finale.

Chasing for a total of 300 points spread across the three races, it also concludes the final event for 2009, before a two-in-two weekend journey between Timaru and Invercargill in mid-January.

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Triple X Motorsport driver line-up:

Car number 1: Craig Baird (Mad Butcher/ ZM Porsche 997) – first overall 2008/2009 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge
Car number 2: Shane McKillen (VnC Cocktails/Juice Bar Porsche 997)
Car number 3: Daniel Gaunt (Placemakers/Hampsta Porsche 997) – third overall 2008/2009 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge
Car number 5: Courtney Letica (Altherm Porsche 997)
Car number 8: Mike Morton (Indians Bar/Hampsta Porsche 997)

Plus:
Car number 90: Paul Kelly (Paul Kelly Motor Company Porsche 997)

2009/10 Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge – points (after round one of six) – top-ten.

Pos Name Hometown Total

1 Craig Baird, Queensland (Triple X) – 285
2 Daniel Gaunt, Auckland (Triple X) – 255
3 Courtney Letica, Auckland (Triple X) – 229
4 Jonny Reid, Auckland – 224
5 Anthony Pedersen, Rotorua – 197
6 Matt Halliday, USA – 195
7 Mitch Cunningham, Auckland – 159
8 Andrew Bagnall, Auckland – 159
9 Hugh Gardiner, Auckland – 133
10 Paul Kelly, Christchurch (Triple X) - 116

Weekend race programme for Porsche GT3 Cup cars – Powerbuilt Tools Raceway at Ruapuna Park, Hasketts Rd.

Friday 27 November

12:00 Porsche GT3 Cup - test session 1
15:45 Porsche GT3 Cup - test session 2

Saturday 28 November

12:05 20mins Porsche GT3 Cup – qualifying
17:30 Porsche GT3 Cup - Race 1 - 29laps

Sunday 29 November

11:40 Porsche GT3 Cup - Race 2 - 10laps
15:55 Porsche GT3 Cup- Race 3 - 14laps - Top 6 reverse