Drivers excited after first taste of Hampton Downs
The opening day’s running at the inaugural Hampton Downs 101 ended with Roger Lago and David Russell fastest ahead of the third round of the 2016 CAMS Australian Endurance Championship.
Piloting the JBS Australia Lamborghini R-EX, the duo set the best time of the day late in the second session, narrowly pipping Tony D’Alberto and Ash Samadi’s best time from the opening 40-minute session.
The two practice sessions provided teams with ample opportunity to learn and adjust their cars to the tricky Hampton Downs circuit, which boasts a fascinating mix of high speed straights, steep gradients and technical corners.
With aspects of the circuit playing to the respective strengths of every entry leaving drivers universally enthusiastic, the freshly extended circuit testing every aspect of the cars and drivers, presenting a unique and hugely popular challenge.
In the opening session Audi claimed the top three positions, with Greg Taylor and Nathan Antunes second fastest with Theo Koundouris and Marcus Marshall third.
Warmer conditions and improved grip in the second session allowed the Russell/Lago combination to claim top spot, while local ace Dominic Storey and Peter Hackett finished second in the Eggleston Motorsport prepared Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Nissan GT Academy Team Kelly enjoyed a faultless first day as its Australian Endurance Championship programme kicked off with Matt Simmons and Michael Caruso at the wheel.
The Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 ended the opening session inside the top ten, and stopped the watches with the fifth fastest time in the second session to leave the team full of confidence heading into Saturday.
Two consistent sessions from Garth Tander and new co-driver Daniel Bilksi saw the duo end the day in the top ten in both sessions while Round 2 stars Jake Fouracre and Liam Talbot logged more than 30 laps across the day as they fined tuned the Skwirk Online Education Audi R8 Ultra ahead of qualifying.
Making his debut in the CAMS Australian Endurance Championship, Jack Perkins combined with Mark Griffith for the sixth fastest time in the opening 40-minutes though the pair proved unable to improve their time as the day wore on.
Also set to make his Australian Endurance Championship debut this weekend, is drifting star Mike Whiddett, who applied the finesse for which he's famous for into circuit racing for the first time alongside Klark Quinn.
Having never driven a GT3 spec car before, the New Zealander quickly came to grips with both the car and circuit in the Darrell Lea entry.
Teams have just one more practice session tomorrow morning before two qualifying sessions, with each driver tackling their own 25-minute session before the top ten battle it out in a Shootout for pole position.
The Top 10 Shootout will be broadcast on TV3 across New Zealand at 4pm ahead of live coverage of Round 3 of the CAMS Australian Endurance Championship on Sunday.
Live coverage of the event starts at 1pm local time on TV3 in New Zealand, with Fox Sports broadcasting the race live and uninterrupted across Australia on channel 505 (check your local schedule for timings).
Fans can also catch all the action online via a live stream, available to viewers globally via Speedcafe.com.
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