News
Steve Brooks of Christchurch and Willie Exton of Renwick in their Audi R8 won the South Island Endurance Series 3-Hour race at Teretonga Park on Saturday and in doing also became the 2026 New Zealand Endurance Champions.
The duo won the race from Aucklanders Sam Fillmore and Jonny Reid in another Audi with Scott O’Donnell of Invercargill and Chris White of Canterbury third in their Porsche 991.
The first hour of the race saw Fillmore and Brooks battling hard for the lead, Fillmore leading until he made a slight error that allowed Brooks through after twenty minutes. They continued to fight hard until Fillmore had a spin that cost him time. When the driver changes came Exton stepped into Brooks’ car and continued to lead from Reid with Chris White driving a great race to get the O’Donnell Porsche up to third. The race ended under Safety Car when Reid had a late race scare when he and Allan Dippie made contact near the end of the race.
Brooks who had previously won the race in 2024 said co-driver Exton impressed him all weekend while Exton said it was, “eyes forward” with the experienced Reid chasing him during the final stint. “The car was super speedy,” he said.
Invercargill driver Glen Brazier with his co-driver Andrew Waite of Auckland finished fourth in their Lamborghini Huracan.
Jordan Michels of Invercargill won the Class 1,2,3 One-Hour race in his Marc Mustang, only losing his lead during the pit stop sequences. At the race end he said it was the nicest car he had ever driven around Teretonga Park, praising his crew for their work – “the car was a rocket today!” Second was Steve Brooks paired in the race with Hugo Allan of Auckland in a Porsche 992. Wei Zhou and Josh Bethune of Auckland were third and first Class 3 car home with Bethune hustling their McLaren Artura up the order in the second part of the race while Blake Knowles of Prebbleton was fourth in his Porsche 997 and first Class 2 car home.
The race was interrupted by a red flag after Ollie Gibbons of Tasman went off the road about fifteen minutes into the race. Gibbons had originally left the road avoiding traffic which damaged the front splitter on his car, the damage then sending him off the road a few moments later.
Warren Black of Oamaru won the Class 4/5 one-hour race in his Audi RS3 LMS. Black, the winner of the race in 2024, only lost the lead briefly after his pit stop and then held off the Scott O’Donnell/Chris White Hyundai i30N to win after O’Donnell and White dropped to fourth after their driver change. White charged back to second reducing the gap to just 6.333 seconds at the end, Black admitting he didn’t have “too much left” as he was hauled in. Mike Hall of Queenstown was third in his Volkswagen Golf while Warren Walker of Dunedin took Class 5 honours in his Honda Civic. Nieko Scoles of Invercargill was seventh in his Toyota 86.
Motor racing action continues at Teretonga Park tomorrow (Sunday) with a day of racing featuring Noel McIntyre Drainage Club Saloons, Pre 78 Classic Saloons and a Regularity Trial. The action commences at 10am and entry is free.