Round wins for Manson and Sargeant in GT New Zealand Championship at Highlands

Luke Manson has dominated the fourth round of the Summerset GT New Zealand Championship at Highlands Motorsport Park, Cromwell, this weekend, winning all three races. In GT4, Allan Sargeant has taken the round win having picked up a win, a third place, and fourth across the three races.

With Manson taking the round win in the Open Class, the podium places were filled by the AMG GT2 of Joel Giddy second, and the Porsche of Sam Filmore third.

With Sargeant winning the GT4 round, the pairing of Tony Quinn and Kynan Yu second in a Porsche Cayman, with Steve Scoles in a Ginetta third.

Race two of the weekend held this morning proved to be drama filled, with an early incident on the opening lap seeing a safety car deployed after a collision between the Porsche of John Buchanan, the McLaren of Brock Gilchrist and the AMG of James Sax.

The Porsche of Buchanan was towed back to the pits, with the AMG of Sax limping back to make repairs to a damaged front right corner.

The collision caused the front bonnet on the Gilchrist McLaren to fly up, smashing the windscreen. Gilchrist returned to the pits where his team secured the bonnet, and he returned to the circuit. However, officials black flagged him due the broken windscreen.

With the race restarted, Joel Giddy lead away the field, followed by Luke Manson.

Tony Quinn lead the other GT4 runners before the pitstop window opened and the majority of the field completed their stops.

There was trouble for the AMG Mercedes GT2 of Paul Pedersen who returned to the pits with engine troubles and eventual retirement from the race.

There was a wild moment for Raana Horan on the final lap who had contact with Paul Southam while the pair were battling for third place. Horan’s race ending on the back of a tow truck.

With the chequered flag falling, it was Manson taking the race win in Open Class, with Mana Malmezac in second, and Paul Southam third. Though a post-race penalty saw Giddy elevated to third place.

In GT4, Allan Sargeant took the win, follow by Tony Quinn and Steve Scoles third.

Race three of the weekend was an interesting one for GT4 Championship leader Brock Gilchrist. The Giltrap Motorsport team unable to replace the damaged windscreen, electing to remove it entirely, and Gilchrist to start from pitlane, and circulate to gather valuable points.

The Porsche of Raana Horan was unable to start, due to damage sustained in the previous race, as to the Porsche of John Buchannan. The AMG GT2 of Paul Pedersen also not starting due to an engine issue from race two.

The race was relatively uneventful and largely incident free, and after the race distance of 30 minutes had passed, the chequered flag fell.

The race win in Open Class went to Manson, Joel Giddy second, with Sam Filmore third. GT4 saw James Sax take the win, Sam Cotterill second in another AMG, and Allan Sargeant in the Ginetta third.

Manson’s dominant performance across the weekend saw him take the Championship lead from Rick Armstrong. Manson now on 873.5 points, Armstrong 860, with Sam Filmore on 832.

In GT4, and despite a troubled weekend, Gilchrist holds the lead on 994, with James Sax second on 856, with Garth Piesse third on 795.

The fifth and final round of the Summerset GT New Zealand Championship will be at Hampton Downs, March 15-17.