Massive field ready for ASKO One Hour Race Series

Massive field ready for ASKO One Hour Race Series action at Levels

There is still plenty to play for as the ASKO One Hour Race Series heads into its third & penultimate round at Levels Raceway, Timaru this Saturday with another capacity field set to take the starters flag. The field is so big that circuit owners, South Canterbury Car Club, have been approved an increase to their maximum car limit to accommodate all the cars, and it will be the most cars ever seen on the track for a Motorsport NZ Sanctioned Series. With such a big field of cars it will be action aplenty and fans can be assured of some outstanding action on the tight & technical Levels circuit.

So far in 2013 it’s been two from two for the wickedly fast Mazda RX7 V8 of Grant Williams who will be back with regular co-driver Brent Buist for Timaru. However the Levels round has been the achilles' heel for this car in the past, so they will be trying to shake the Levels monkey from their backs. However, it is the GT class cars that are likely favourites around the Levels circuit where handling is king over horsepower and its pleasing to see the return of Tim O’Connor is the sleek Red Ferrari 458 and he along with the Porsche 997 GT3’s of Hayden Knighton, Peter Van Eekelen and Danny Whiting will all be vying for their first race win of the ASKO One Hour Series.

As well as the overall Series lead, Williams also leads Class 1 (3501cc+), however with the point score being so close one slip and he could easily be overtaken with only 20 points separating the next 5 in class.  Tony Head (Altezza Turbo) has been enjoying strong showings and, excepting Williams, is the leading non Porsche in the overall One Hour Series standings. Also look out for the Corvette C5 of Brian Scott and similarly V8 powered Toyota AE86 of Chris Henderson to put on a great show in a class that includes everything from a Mustang Cobra to turbo charged Skyline & Mazda RX7’s.

Class 2 is currently lead by Hamish Ellingham (Evo 9) who hasn’t put a foot wrong all season and he is also an outstanding 5th outright, proving that consistency is equally as important as speed over the 4 round of the ASKO Series. Ellingham leads a hoard of BMW E36 M3’s for Michael O’Dea, Adam Glass and convincing Ruapuna class winner, Chris White, who will be rueing an 2nd lap race incident at Teretonga costing him points early in the series.

Class 3&4 (0-2000cc)  is currently dominated by the Toyota brand holding the top 4 positions with Bradley Dawson (Trueno) holding a slender 3 point lead over Stu Black (Starlet) and then a mere 5points back to the stunning new Toyota 86 of Grant Aitken. Jeremy Dawson (Starlet) sits 4th in class with Warren Walker/James Mitchell (Honda Civic) trying to break the Toyota dominance. Although the smallest class in the field these cars can be utter giant killers as demonstrated by Stu blacks 6th outright at Teretonga, and the Levels circuit will suit these smaller cars, so expect to see them near the top of the 42 car field on Saturday.

After the Levels round on Saturday, teams get a brief break before the Series heads to its Grand Finale being held at the new multi-million dollar Highlands Park facility in Cromwell, where a new One Hour series champion will be crowned. But as per major sponsor ASKO Appliances catch phrase, built to last longer, teams are only half way through the series so banking points is still a priority. Thanks to series sponsors ASKO Appliances, Hagley Aluminium, Paul Kelly Motor Company, Southern Finance Ltd and Mobil 1 the ASKO Series will have the richest prize money pool in NZ Motorsport, with $30,000- that will be paid out as prize money for the season. With the majority of the funds paid out based on class points across both the 3 Hour and 1 Hour Series, ensuring that prizemoney is spread right through the field. Michelin tyres and Norm Sinclair artist will also be giving away fabulous spot prizes to competitors in the series and Vortex racewear have supplied two full Vortex Racewear kits for the Series ‘Fair Play Award’.

The series has a great number & variety of entries for the Levels round, but does still have grid space available for the Three Hour races. For more information on the South Island Endurance Series, entries, 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  ph 021-107-9293. Club information can also be found on facebook at www.facebook.com/sierdcnz, for more information on the series sponsor ASKO, please visit www.asko.co.nz

ASKO ONE HOUR RACE SERIES
Points after Ruapuna - Round 2 of 4

Overall
1st Grant Williams (Mazda RX7 V8)                                210 points
2nd Hayden Knighton (Porsche 997 GT3)                        196 points
3rd Phil Hood (Porsche 997 GT3)                                  181 points
4th Tony Head (Toyota Altezza Turbo)                          169 points
5th Hamish Ellingham (Mitsi Evo 9)                                 151 points
6th Barry  Kirk-Burnnand (BMW 135i TT)                        146 points
7th Brian Scott (Corvette C5)                                       140 points
8th Stu Black (Toyota Starlet)                                       139 points
9th Hamish Frew/Darryl Barrett (Mazda RX7 Turbo)          137 points
10th Danny Whiting (Porsche 997 GT3)                          135 points
11th Bradley Dawson (Toyota Trueno)                           134 points
12th George McFarlane (Porsche 997 GT3)                     130 points
13th = Nathan Pilcher/Kieran Roberts (Commodore 6)       128 points
13th = Chris White (BMW E36 M3)                                128 points
15th Chris Henderson (Toyota AE86 V8)                         126 points

GT Class
1st Hayden Knighton (Porsche 997 GT3)                         205 points
2nd Phil Hood (Porsche 997 GT3)                                  192 points
3rd Danny Whiting (Porsche 997 GT3)                           189 points
4th George McFarlane (Porsche 997 GT3)                       135 points
5th Tim O’Connor (Ferrari 458)                                     102 points

Class 1 (3501cc+)
1st Grant Williams/Brent Buist (Mazda RX7 V8)                 210 points
2nd Tony Head (Toyota Altezza Turbo)                         192 points
3rd Barry  Kirk-Burnnand (BMW 135i TT)                        181 points
4th Brian Scott (Corvette C5)                                       180 points
5th Hamish Frew/Darryl Barrett (Mazda RX7 Turbo)          178 points

Class 2 (2001-3500cc)
1st Hamish Ellingham (Mitsi Evo 9)                                 201 points
2nd Michael O’Dea (BMW E36 M3)                                178 points
3rd Chris White (BMW E36 M3)                                    177 points
4th Adam Glass (BMW E36 M3)                                    169 points
5th Chris Fleury (Porsche 911 SC)                                  163 points

Class 3&4 (0-2000cc)
1st Bradley Dawson (Toyota Trueno)                             200 points
2nd Stu Black (Toyota Starlet)                                      197 points
3rd Grant Aitken (Toyota 86)                                       192 points
4th Jeremy Dawson (Toyota Starlet)                              185 points
5th Warren Walker/James Mitchell (Honda Civic)               181 points

ENDS

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