NZ: Porsche GT3 Cup final round preview

LAST MINUTE DEAL SEES BAIRD IN BATTERY TOWN PORSCHE GT3 CUP RACES THIS WEEKEND Accomplished Queensland-based New Zealand racing driver Craig Baird will be a busy man this weekend with news that he will in fact compete in the Battery Town Porsche ...

Published: Apr 16, 2005, 4:04 PM

Copy link

Share on Facebook

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

LAST MINUTE DEAL SEES BAIRD IN BATTERY TOWN PORSCHE GT3 CUP RACES THIS WEEKEND

Accomplished Queensland-based New Zealand racing driver Craig Baird will be a busy man this weekend with news that he will in fact compete in the Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup races at the Placemakers V8 Supercar meeting at Pukekohe's Pukekohe Park Raceway.

Having put the inaugural Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Series title beyond anyone else's reach at the penultimate round at the Taupo Motor Racing Circuit a month ago, the 34-year-old former New Zealand Grand Prix and 2 Litre Touring Car champion indicated that he would be focusing all his resources at Pukekohe on his new V8 Supercar drive with the Wright Patton Shakespeare Ford team.

However with only two - rather than the usual three - races for the Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup cars this weekend, the opportunity arose to combine the two campaigns.

Baird was keen, as was Wright Patton Shakespeare, the financial services company which as well as sponsoring the V8 Supercar team Baird drives for, also now sponsors Australia's Carrera Cup championship for Porsche GT3 Cup cars.

So a deal was done in which Baird will get back behind the wheel of the Paul Pedersen-owned Porsche GT3 Cup car he used to such good effect in the Battery Town series this season.

Fellow Aussie-based expat Jim Richards, who was to take his place in that car, will now drive the car run in earlier rounds by Christchurch's Rick Armstrong.

And joining the three expats on the grid will be regular New Zealand visitor Charlie O'Brien, the Queenslander who finished fourth overall in the 2003/04 Trans-Tasman Cup series for GT3 Cup cars.

Looking to keep Baird, Richards and O'Brien honest this weekend will be current Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Series points runner-up Matthew Halliday, who won the first round of the series at Pukekohe Park Raceway in October last year, and Tag Heuer Challenge (for drivers aged 35 and over) pace-setter Ross Rutherford.

Hamiltonian Rutherford won two of the three races at the third round of the Battery Town series at Timaru after Baird and Halliday tangled in controversial circumstances in the second race.

The weekend's races will also benefit from a strong lineup of resident New Zealand drivers led by Dean Fulford and including Graeme Cameron, Scott O'Donnell, Andrew Bagnall, Angus McFarlane, Paul Kelly, Dean Cockerton, Rhys McKay, Mike Morton, yachty Grant Dalton and young gun Tim Martin

And joining the Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Series for the round are three of the Porsche GT3 Cup car drivers from the Bridgestone Porsche Series, Mike Eady, Nick Gordon and David Mackrell.

Ross Rutherford looks set to claim the top spot in the inaugural Tag Heuer Challenge at Pukekohe this weekend but behind him and second place man Dean Fulford a battle royal still exists for third place, with Angus McFarlane on 878 points, Rick Armstrong on 856 and Battery Town series rookie Mike Morton on 807.

Dean Cockerton, who has 756 points, could also improve his place with a couple of good performances on his home track.

Joining the Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup cars on the support roster at the Placemakers V8 Supercar meeting are the Parker ENZED New Zealand V8 Touring Cars, Bridgestone Porsches, Formula Fords and new wings-and-slicks' Toyota Racing Series single-seaters.

-fast company-

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article NZ: Porsche GT3 Cup round 8 pre-race notes

Next article NZ: GT3Cup final round Friday notes

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Marc Marquez puts his chances of retiring within three years at 70%

MotoGP

MGP MotoGP

Australian GP

2 min

Marc Marquez puts his chances of retiring within three years at 70%

Audi hands F3 runner-up Freddie Slater F1 practice debut

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

United States GP

38 min

Audi hands F3 runner-up Freddie Slater F1 practice debut

On this day: Fernando Alonso wins the world title, Michael Schumacher retires from F1

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Brazilian GP

2 h

On this day: Fernando Alonso wins the world title, Michael Schumacher retires from F1

Raul Fernandez still compromised after Indonesia finger injury: “I’m not at 100%”

MotoGP

MGP MotoGP

Australian GP

2 h

Raul Fernandez still compromised after Indonesia finger injury: “I’m not at 100%”

Feature

Discover prime content

Did Audi ‘give up’ on GT3 too soon?

GT

By James Newbold

Did Audi ‘give up’ on GT3 too soon?

How Max Verstappen's Nurburgring adventure marked the next phase of his legacy

GT

How Max Verstappen's Nurburgring adventure marked the next phase of his legacy

What to watch out for at the 2026 Nurburgring 24 Hours

NLS

What to watch out for at the 2026 Nurburgring 24 Hours

Five times F1 drivers starred at the Nurburgring

Formula 1

By Kevin Turner

Five times F1 drivers starred at the Nurburgring

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts