Michels and Arnott win One Hour South Island Endurance Series titles

Jordan Michels has claimed the Class 2 & 3 One-Hour Racer Products South Island Endurance Series title while Pel Arnott has won the Class 4 & 5 overall title after the final round at the Timaru International Raceway on Saturday.

In the Class 2&3 separate race, Michels (Marc II Mustang) finished second to race winner Adam Julian (Audi R8 GT3) claiming enough points to win the overall title, 16-points ahead of John Goodacre (Pace Innovations IRC GT) with the Brooks/Riding Porsche third.

It’s awesome to wrap up the series,” commented Michels who also won the Class 2 (GT Type) title. “It’s been an incredible series so happy with that. It was a good race and credit to Adam (Julian) on capitalising on our mistake.”

Michels initially led the 60-minute race, but a hard charging Julian took the opportunity to grab the lead which he held until the chequered flag.

“We had a tough day on Friday with all sorts of problems,” said Julian. “It’s been a good race. Jordan has been great to race with and I’m happy to take the win.”

In the Class 3 stakes, Steve Scoles (Ginetta G56) wrapped up a hat trick of class wins, with James Paterson (Audi R8 Turbo) second and David Rogers (McLaren 570S GT4) third. Scoles also finished fifth overall.

In the Class 4 & 5 One-Hour race, it was a Hyundai podium with NZ Formula Ford champion, Blake Knowles (Hyundai i30N TCR), winning ahead of Dylan Petch (Hyundai i30N) while Pel Arnott’s third place was enough to claim the title, just four-points ahead of Knowles.

“It was a good race so thrilled to win the series,” commented Arnott. “The young guys are tough and very fast so some really good racing.”

“It was a tough race so pretty stoked to get the win,” commented Knowles. “It was pretty busy out there. It is a tight track but an awesome race.”

In the race for Class 5 (0-2000cc) honours, it was an all-Honda affair with Donavan Isted the first car home in front of Rhys Turner and Jarred Morgan. Isted wrapped up the Class title ahead of Turner by 22-points. Heading into the round he was tied on points with Chris Wall (Honda Civic) with one race win and a second apiece. However, contact with another car during the race saw Wall retire taking the pressure off Isted.