Today’s first two Porsche races in the Hamilton 400 V8 Supercar weekend have been dominated by Triple X Motorsport driver Craig Baird in the Barrons RV Taupo-ZM Porsche 997.
Unchallenged at the front of the field, the 38-year-old Queensland based Kiwi has led home the five-car team after two-12-lap races around the 3.4km street course in the Frankton business district.
“There wasn’t a lot of pressure – I just cruised really,” said Baird.
Today’s double victory and fastest lap time of 1min26.6812sec will put Baird back to sixth position for the final race on Sunday – the top-six reverse grid start.
“I was playing with driving lines a lot – as I’m not happy with the exit speeds of the car. So I was seeing how wide and narrow I could brake and stop – as it’s hard to pass round here and it gave me the chance to try things before tomorrow’s race.”
Following a fourth in this morning’s race, Daniel Gaunt in the Placemakers-Hampsta car finished third under perfect skies after a slow-start to his weekend.
“We moved forward and it was catch-up from qualifying where I missed out my best time when the session was red-flagged,” said Gaunt. “So we suffered for the first part of the weekend - hopefully we can get another podium result tomorrow.”
Gaunt will start tomorrow’s final 12-lap race from the second row.
Fourth this afternoon after finishing sixth in his first Porsche race for the Triple X Motorsport team, two-time V8s champion John McIntyre (VnC Cocktails Porsche 997) found switching between his V8 and the Porsche physically demanding.
Dicing with team-mate Courtney Letica (Altherm Porsche 997), the pair had a tit-for-tat battle in the opening lap – joined by Jody Vincent for a three-wide drag down the front chute. McIntyre took the eventual advantage, with Letica later tagging the wall – damaging the rear bumper on his car.
Mad Butcher CEO Mike Morton had a fraught day after consistent lap times in qualifying on Friday. A late race spin in the morning dropped him down the order before running out of clutch in the opening lap of this afternoon’s race.Tomorrow’s final race in the trophy weekend at the V8 Supercar event starts from 11:45am with the weekend results celebrated on the event podium at 2pm.
Hamilton 400 V8 Supercar weekend - Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge trophy racing:
Race one – 12 laps
Pos Car Driver Vehicle Total time
1 1 Craig Baird (AUS) – Triple X Porsche 997 18:53.2951
2 51 Jono Lester (AKL) Porsche 997 18:53.8742
3 96 Anthony Pedersen (ROT) Porsche 997 18:56.8115
4 47 Daniel Gaunt (AKL) – Triple X Porsche 997 18:57.9212
5 10 Jody Vincent (AKL) Porsche 997 18:58.1043
6 40 John McIntyre (AKL) – Triple X Porsche 997 19:00.0714
7 13 Courtney Letica (AKL) – Triple X Porsche 997 19:00.5006
8 35 Rob Steele (AKL) Porsche 19:16.6659
9 2 Mike Morton (AKL) – Triple X Porsche 997 19:32.3348
DNF 98 Mark Russ (AKL) Porsche 997 6:10.4632
DNF 30 Ben Storey (AKL) Porsche 996 2:19.8641
Race two – 12 laps
Pos Car Driver Vehicle Total time
1 1 Craig Baird (AUS) – Triple X Porsche 997 17:29.7504
2 51 Jono Lester (AKL) Porsche 997 17:34.1845
3 47 Daniel Gaunt (AKL) – Triple X Porsche 997 17:38.8281
4 40 John McIntyre (AKL) – Triple X Porsche 997 17:42.9656
5 98 Mark Russ (AKL) Porsche 997 17:49.4239
6 35 Rob Steele (AKL) Porsche 18:32.8200
7 10 Jody Vincent (AKL) Porsche 997 18:56.9552
8 13 Courtney Letica (AKL) – Triple X Porsche 997 18:59.2209
DNF 2 Mike Morton (AKL) – Triple X Porsche 997 1:38.8965
DNF 96 Anthony Pedersen (ROT) Porsche 997
Trophy weekend points – top-six (after two of three races)
1, Craig Baird – Triple X 150
2, Jono Lester - 134
3, Daniel Gaunt – Triple X 114
4, John McIntyre – Triple X 99
5, Jody Vincent – 88
6= Courtney Letica – Triple X 84
6= Rob Steele – 84
Unchallenged at the front of the field, the 38-year-old Queensland based Kiwi has led home the five-car team after two-12-lap races around the 3.4km street course in the Frankton business district.
“There wasn’t a lot of pressure – I just cruised really,” said Baird.Today’s double victory and fastest lap time of 1min26.6812sec will put Baird back to sixth position for the final race on Sunday – the top-six reverse grid start.
“I was playing with driving lines a lot – as I’m not happy with the exit speeds of the car. So I was seeing how wide and narrow I could brake and stop – as it’s hard to pass round here and it gave me the chance to try things before tomorrow’s race.”
Following a fourth in this morning’s race, Daniel Gaunt in the Placemakers-Hampsta car finished third under perfect skies after a slow-start to his weekend.
“We moved forward and it was catch-up from qualifying where I missed out my best time when the session was red-flagged,” said Gaunt. “So we suffered for the first part of the weekend - hopefully we can get another podium result tomorrow.”
Gaunt will start tomorrow’s final 12-lap race from the second row.
Fourth this afternoon after finishing sixth in his first Porsche race for the Triple X Motorsport team, two-time V8s champion John McIntyre (VnC Cocktails Porsche 997) found switching between his V8 and the Porsche physically demanding.
Dicing with team-mate Courtney Letica (Altherm Porsche 997), the pair had a tit-for-tat battle in the opening lap – joined by Jody Vincent for a three-wide drag down the front chute. McIntyre took the eventual advantage, with Letica later tagging the wall – damaging the rear bumper on his car.Mad Butcher CEO Mike Morton had a fraught day after consistent lap times in qualifying on Friday. A late race spin in the morning dropped him down the order before running out of clutch in the opening lap of this afternoon’s race.Tomorrow’s final race in the trophy weekend at the V8 Supercar event starts from 11:45am with the weekend results celebrated on the event podium at 2pm.
Hamilton 400 V8 Supercar weekend - Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge trophy racing:
Race one – 12 laps
Pos Car Driver Vehicle Total time
1 1 Craig Baird (AUS) – Triple X Porsche 997 18:53.2951
2 51 Jono Lester (AKL) Porsche 997 18:53.8742
3 96 Anthony Pedersen (ROT) Porsche 997 18:56.8115
4 47 Daniel Gaunt (AKL) – Triple X Porsche 997 18:57.9212
5 10 Jody Vincent (AKL) Porsche 997 18:58.1043
6 40 John McIntyre (AKL) – Triple X Porsche 997 19:00.0714
7 13 Courtney Letica (AKL) – Triple X Porsche 997 19:00.5006
8 35 Rob Steele (AKL) Porsche 19:16.6659
9 2 Mike Morton (AKL) – Triple X Porsche 997 19:32.3348
DNF 98 Mark Russ (AKL) Porsche 997 6:10.4632
DNF 30 Ben Storey (AKL) Porsche 996 2:19.8641
Race two – 12 laps
Pos Car Driver Vehicle Total time
1 1 Craig Baird (AUS) – Triple X Porsche 997 17:29.7504
2 51 Jono Lester (AKL) Porsche 997 17:34.1845
3 47 Daniel Gaunt (AKL) – Triple X Porsche 997 17:38.8281
4 40 John McIntyre (AKL) – Triple X Porsche 997 17:42.9656
5 98 Mark Russ (AKL) Porsche 997 17:49.4239
6 35 Rob Steele (AKL) Porsche 18:32.8200
7 10 Jody Vincent (AKL) Porsche 997 18:56.9552
8 13 Courtney Letica (AKL) – Triple X Porsche 997 18:59.2209
DNF 2 Mike Morton (AKL) – Triple X Porsche 997 1:38.8965
DNF 96 Anthony Pedersen (ROT) Porsche 997
Trophy weekend points – top-six (after two of three races)
1, Craig Baird – Triple X 150
2, Jono Lester - 134
3, Daniel Gaunt – Triple X 114
4, John McIntyre – Triple X 99
5, Jody Vincent – 88
6= Courtney Letica – Triple X 84
6= Rob Steele – 84
