Gaunt stretches Porsche title lead for Triple X

Winning three from three races at this weekend’s second round of the New Zealand Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge near Christchurch has extended the title points lead held by the Triple X Motorsport driver Daniel Gaunt.

Now with a 52-point advantage, Gaunt, driving the MPD – VnC Cocktails Porsche 997, has won five of the six races contested so far of the six-round season.  Setting fastest in qualifying, the 25-year-old Auckland based driver was never matched around the 3.33 kilometre Ruapuna circuit despite the searing conditions.

“Dealing with the heat, and breathing, they were some of my biggest challenges during the races,” said Gaunt.  “It seems stupid, but they are crucial to that top couple percent of performance.  With the Porsche car it’s a sealed unit – there is no air coming in, none going out – you sweat from areas of your body you didn’t know could sweat.”

“The first round I was very lucky.  Lucky Michael Morton let me use his car, and that Craig Baird got the puncture and I inherited the first race win of the season.”

“This weekend I certainly ramped it up.  I came in to it wanting to stamp my authority on the championship – to be a serious contender – that was my goal.  It certainly puts me in good stead for the rest of it.  Although I can never count out Craig or Jonny (Reid), they’ve had bad rounds and I’ve got to keep making sure I have only good rounds.”

With a ten lap race this morning, Gaunt again stormed to an unmatched lead, while defending series champion Craig Baird languished even further when he punctured during a passing move.  The Gold Coast based Kiwi again suffered when he punctured the radiator of the Mad Butcher ZM Porsche 997 at the third turn in the final race.  Baird now drops to sixth in the standings.

Series debutant and saloon car rookie Earl Bamber had a further rise in performance by finishing third successively in the morning and afternoon races.

“It’s a fantastic achievement and to even be racing this weekend after arriving not expecting to be driving a car.  A big thanks to Michael Morton, Shane McKillen and the Triple X Motorsport team to give me the opportunity and support me,” said the 20-year-old.

“There are a lot of very very quick guys up front so to be near them so early has been a real thrill – I can’t believe it really.  Certainly the experience from driving single seaters and a test in a DTM car gave me a good feel for the Porsche – which is a real race car.”

“Now it’s a case of laps, learning how to get the last little bit from the car and improve even more.”

Fourth for the final race and the weekend, Hugh Gardiner mixed up the field with fierce duel with his Triple X Motorsport team-mates that dominated the opening laps of the final race.  Driving the Gardiner Motorsport Porsche 997, the 28-year-old Aucklander never made it three from three after having to sit-out the first race round earlier in the month.

Whangarei’s Scott Harrison moved up the championship standings to fourth overall, despite not finishing the opening race on Saturday afternoon.  Starting down the order for the first Sunday race, Harrison in the Mad Butcher Carpet One Porsche 997 ended his weekend with a pair of fifths.

Team principal Shane McKillen again battled for track position, especially when awarded pole position for the top-six reverse grid final.  Finishing seventh he has climbed the championship ladder to now place fifth after the second round.

Dropping the team to six cars for the day, Christchurch businessman Paul Kelly was forced to retire from the meeting following Saturday’s race.  In preparation for the Sunday’s racing a mechanical fault was discovered that necessitated an engine change in the Paul Kelly Motor Company Porsche 997.

Re-grouping before the half-way mark of the season, the team will take all seven cars back to Auckland to prepare for the series third round in mid January 2011.  To be raced at Teretonga, south west of Invercargill, the southern journey is the first of two in two weekends, with the fourth round contested at Levels near Timaru a week later.

Triple X takes Porsche title battle South

 With Triple X Motorsport driver Daniel Gaunt taking an early lead in the 2010/2011 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge, his fiercest competition will come from team-mate and defending champion Craig Baird for this weekend’s second round at the Powerbuilt Raceway near Christchurch (26-28 November 2010).

The first of three South Island events, in the six round series, will be one of the hardest for the new championship leader.  Gaunt’s early 25-point lead has him in the coveted position the rest of the field would like to claim – including six-time champion Baird.

“It’s elbows out,” says the Melbourne now Auckland based Gaunt.  “It’s only the beginning of the championship and way too early to think about the size of the lead.  You’ve got to think about the big picture and try to win races.  While it’s a nice buffer it’s by no means enough.”

That’s despite badly damaging his original car in the first practice at the series opener early in November.  Having won two of the three Pukekohe weekend races in the loaned Michael Morton Outlaws Bar Porsche 997, Gaunt will be back in his original MPD Porsche 997. 

“You have to give 100% and not think about anything else or get distracted for the slightest moment.  And that’s where I have to thank Michael Morton for loaning me his car at the first round and the Triple X Motorsport team for getting my car ready.  Repairing a damaged car is never a quick job – and given the time pressures the team have had to put some long days in to getting my car, along with all the others, ready.”

Tyre failure and a controversial drive through penalty has left Baird languishing in fifth place after the opening round.  The six-time New Zealand Porsche champion says the 48 point gap to the lead is just the sort of stimulus the series needs.

“Winning races is very important and that’s what I have to do – so there will be a lot of passing – particularly in the final top-six reverse grid race of the weekend.  That will make it very exciting for the spectators and have heart’s pumping for the drivers – there’s a lot at stake,” said the Gold Coast based Kiwi.

“If Daniel Gaunt is going to have his elbows out then we’re going to see pressure poured on.  With the cars so evenly matched it’s a battle of driver skill, ability to conserve and manage tyres, along with prowess.”
Gaunt agrees, citing Baird as the ‘master’ at rattling drivers to make a mistake that relinquishes their position.

“Pukekohe showed guys like Jonny Reid and Mitch Cunningham are right there, but Bairdo is still the one to beat – so no-one will be consolidating their position.”
Notoriety earned by Whangarei’s Scott Harrison saw him finish on the podium twice in the first three races of the season driving the #5 Mad Butcher Carpet One Porsche 997.  Having only raced the South Island tracks once before in a Suzuki Swift, Harrison’s progress marks him as a reliable finisher for the six-car Porsche team.

Followed in the overall standings by team principal Shane McKillen, the businessman and VnC Cocktails mogul similarly had a sterling start to his fourth season with the team he founded late in 2007.  Racing wheel-to-wheel with the championship superior Mitch Cunningham, McKillen comfortably kept the #4 VnC Cocktails Porsche 997 ahead of the junior at the Pukekohe final race for his best result of fifth.

Christchurch businessman Paul Kelly, with four car dealerships bearing his name, will have the benefit of a home weekend.  Continuing the consistency theme in the #90 Paul Kelly Motor Company Porsche 997 by finishing every race, he is placed seventh equal out of 12 competitors in the series.  While still dealing with earthquake related damage, of his extensive vehicle inventory only his race car suffered damage.  Housed in his service workshop, a gas cylinder toppled to lightly dent the front-right fender of his Porsche in the 4 September incident.

Team director and Mad Butcher CEO Michael Morton will return to his original #8 Outlaws Bar Porsche 997 after loaning it to Daniel Gaunt for the Pukekohe series opener.  Originating from the earthquake devastated Canterbury region, Morton has not raced his previous home circuit since 2008.

Upping the Auckland based operation to seven cars; Auckland’s Hugh Gardiner will join the team for his first race meeting in the 997 model Porsche after several years in the earlier 996 version.  Gardiner, last season’s 996 class champion, missed the opening round, with the team having to repair accident damage from pre-season testing.  The 28-year-old will start the Ruapuna weekend with a clean tally as he plays catch-up.

At 3.33 kilometres, Powerbuilt Raceway at Ruapuna Park, 13 kilometres west of Christchurch, is known as a technical circuit that drivers either love or hate.  Flat in nature with great views for spectators, the variety of corners rewards drivers who set the car a corner ahead of where they are aiming. 

While the magnitude 7.1 earthquake, centred 24 kilometres away, has not left any significant damage to the circuit, Gaunt, Baird, McKillen, Harrison, Morton, Kelly, Gardiner and the rest of the field will still have to learn the state of the track and any unique changes compared to previous visits.  With two test sessions on the Friday, the drivers get a chance to relax and entertain hospitality guests and prize winners with hot-laps late in the afternoon.  Saturday morning returns to business with qualifying in the early afternoon setting the grid for the 29-lap race that starts at 3:05pm.

Sunday starts with a 10-lap race in the morning with the top-six reverse-grid race of 14 laps set to start at 3:10pm.  Each race is worth 75 points for the win

Third time lucky for Baird in China

For the third time in as many months Kiwi Craig Baird heads to China for another learning weekend as the under-dog in the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia race series against a German defending champion.

Currently second after two race events totalling four rounds, the 39-year-old Baird and his VnC Cocktails Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car again head to a venue new to the New Zealand based team.  Rounds five and six (of 11) are being contested at the 4.3 kilometre Zhuhai International Circuit in China’s Pearl River Delta region this weekend (18 – 20 June).

“It’ll be about hitting the setup from the get go,” says Baird of the plan to win races and close in on the 16-point championship lead.  “We need to be ahead of the pace and Christian Menzel (the series leader).  Getting pole position is goal number one.  Once we’ve done that the racing becomes a lot simpler and it’s really the start and tyre strategy that become variables.”

“We’ve got a good handle on the setup and are now just fine-tuning our plan on how the Michelin tyre works in these hotter climates.”

“At Beijing we had the car working better early in the race, but didn’t have enough toward the end when Menzel was making mistakes from the pressure I was applying once I’d made up the start-grid gap difference.”

With the additional reward of a championship point for setting fastest time in qualifying, Baird says the start grid illustrates the difference between first and the rest.

“The starting position between the cars is a diagonal and car length behind, so starting anywhere but on pole is a huge backward step.  Even with a mega start you’re not going to make up that gap by the first turn – you need to start from the front if you’re going to do anything but win.”

“Qualifying at Beijing showed how we could influence the opposition.  With three sets of new tyres available for the weekend we had Menzel’s team sitting in the pits having used two sets already in setting fastest time.  They were ready to run their last set just to keep us from starting ahead of them.  So we know we’re all but caught up to a defending champion who’s prepared to try anything.

The weekend’s Pan Delta Super Racing Festival will feature a 12-lap Porsche Carrera Cup Asia race on Saturday and Sunday, following an intense 30-minute qualifying shootout on the Friday.  Part of the record 23-strong field, Baird says the identical Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars have made his job a lot more rewarding.

“We’re right out of our comfort zone.  With different cultures, new venues and the extremes of temperature and humidity it’s a whole lot tougher than anything else you could do.”

The Queensland based Kiwi is joined by Triple X Motorsport’s Todd Bickerton and Ian McNabb who prepare and run the New Zealand funded VnC Cocktails Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.

VnC Porsche takes on Beijing

Kiwi Craig Baird MNZM has moved to second overall in the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia standings, following a pair of second placings in the VnC Cocktails Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car at Bejing’s Goldenport International Circuit on Sunday.

Climbing another step toward the top of the series podium, Baird’s result was again at a circuit he’d never previously driven.  The two races counted toward rounds three and four (of 11) in the 2010 series, with Baird pleased at their forward progress compared the series opener at Shanghai in April.

“In some ways it’s been a great weekend – we went back to basics here, and the car is good in terms of setup, now we can concentrate on beating (Christian) Menzel,” said Baird.

On 66 points – 14 behind series leader Christian Menzel (GER), Baird’s best result was in qualifying when he was 0.128 second off the fastest time around the 2.4 kilometre circuit.  Unable to capitalise on the front-row position alongside the defending series champion at the start, Baird instead had to follow Menzel’s bumper for the accident shortened 14 lap race (of 25).

In a repeat result for the afternoon 25 lap race, Baird could but follow the German, finishing 1.717 seconds behind at the chequered flag.

 “I had a better start than in the first race, but still not good enough to get the advantage over Menzel.  My car was probably better than his at the start of the race but you could see his team’s strategy of it coming on late-race is what kept him out of reach.”

Adding to his weekend, Baird was notified he’d been awarded the prestigious Jim Clark Trophy at the MotorSport New Zealand’s premier awards on Saturday evening.

“That was great news and is a very special award for any driver to have hold.  So to me, to win it for the second successive year, makes it a very rewarding weekend – it’s just a shame I could be in New Zealand to uplift it.  But it’s also a tribute to my team – the Triple X Motorsport guys, here with me, and the rest back home for our Porsche title.  Plus the United Video PSR Racing team, including my father-in-law Gary Pedersen – who helped me to that V8 title.”

Returning to his Queensland home for a few weeks, Baird will reunite with his Triple X Motorsport team in China mid-June for round’s five and six, being raced at the Zhuhai International Circuit (18 – 20 June).