Foster and Reid out smart Heart of Racing to take round 2 at Hampton Downs

Clever Strategy has rewarded Neil Foster and Jonny Reid a win in the 3Hour at Hampton Downs while Alex Riberas and Darren Kelly were just able to hang on to second position while Pole Sitters Glenn Smith and John de Veth were able to snatch third place of Andrew Fawcett/Sam Fillmore.

Darren Kelly wrestled the lead of Glenn Smith on the race start and the field settled into a rhythm.

The Toyota 86 of Marco Giltrap/Simon Evans were an early retirement while Geoff and Martin Short elected not to take the start of the race in their newly acquired Audi R8 LMS Ultra GT3 which has been previously campaigned by Jon and Dan Udy.

Lance Hughes made good progress in the first hour after a disappointing qualifying session however mechanical issues halted both Hughes’s and Van der Drift’s stints which eventually led to a DNF.

Glenn Smith was the first car to pit 1hour 5minutes in to hand over to John de Veth for his 70minute stint while once Darren Kelly and Neil Foster had completed their mandantary time behind the wheel handed over to Alex Riberas and Jonny Reid respectively.

A safety car would be called shortly after that where the Don McIntyre/Rob Williams Porsche 997 found itself in the inside fence on the exit of turn one just after Don McIntyre had handed the car over to Rob Williams.

Sam Fillmore had found himself leading the race at this point and handed the MyLand Partner Audi R8 over to car owner Andrew Fawcett.

Alex Riberas led on the restart however he would soon find himself in a dual for first position with Jonny Reid and after two attempts Jonny Reid was the new leader of the race.

John de Veth handed the McLaren back over to Glenn Smith after the 2hr 15minute mark. Alex Riberas pitted for Tyres and Fuel while Jonny Reid would pit for fuel only.

With 24minuts remaining their was 24second gap between first and second meaning Riberas had to go at over 1second faster than Reid per lap then pass him to take the win.

Riberas lap times started to slow and the engine started to sound sick the only option was to admit defeat and pit for fuel only to get a Pit Lane Drive Through Penalty for a Pit Lane infringement to add salt to the wound.

Meanwhile Andrew Fawcett was in third position in the dying stages of the race until the Fawcett was forced to make a second fuel stop. He did come out in third until Glenn Smith was able to snatch third positions of him.

The Points are tied at the Top on 185 between Alex Riberas/Darren Kelly and Neil Foster and Jonny Reid where Glenn Smith and John de Veth sit third on 172 points while Andrew Fawcett and Sam Fillmore are fourth on 164 points.

Overall and GT-A

1^st 22 Neil Foster/Jonny Reid Audi R8 LMS GT3 International Motorsport

2^nd 52 Alex Riberas/Darren Kelly Aston Martin AMR GT3 The Heart of Racing

3^rd 1 Glenn Smith/John de Veth McLaren 650 S GT3 SBT Motorsport

GT-B

1^st 111 Stephan Harrison/Shane Murland Aston Martin AMR Vantage GT4 GT8R Aston Martin Auckland, Race Lab

Class 1

1^st 80 Matt Dovey/Jono Lester Audi A5 V8 AA Insurance, DFM Racing

2^nd 20 Tony Head/Seton Head Toyota Altezza Kea Trailers