Nothing could deny Heart of Racing 3Hour Crown in 2021 series decider

Alex Riberas and Darren Kelly have won the 2021 North Island Endurance Series for the 3Hour Race with a light to flag victory only given up the lead of the race during pit the pitstop cycles.

It was decided earlier in the week that Round 4 could be used as a drop score meaning for the Heart of Racing to Win the series they would have to get pole position and the race win so they could be declare the series winner due to more pole positions gained.

Darren Kelly would start the number 52 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 and would lead the race for his entire stint behind the wheel.

A safety car would be called 10minutes in when the Andrew Fawcett and Sam Fillmore Audi R8 LMS GT3 had spun at the hairpin and beached itself into the kitty litter.

Not long after that Stephan Harrison had brought the Race Lab prepared Aston Martin AMR Vantage GT4 GT8R into the pits then their GT-B series rivals Todd Murphy and Andy Greenslade Hyundai i45 V8ST was forced to pit as they suffered a tyre puncture after having a coming together with the Fawcett/Fillmore Audi R8.

This was a disaster for the Murphy/Greenslade crew as they spent the majority of the first hour coming in and out of the pits to fix fogging issue appearing in their Hyundai.

Martin Day was the first car to make his pitstop driving the Dayle ITM Toyota 86 after he had completed his mandatory 1hour and 10minute behind the wheel at the 1hr 13minute mark he would hand the car over to Christina Orr-West.

Shane Helms was the next car to pit to hand over the Audi TT VLN over to Greg Murphy 3minutes later

Matt Dovey would be next to pit where Jono Lester took over the AA Insurance DFM Audi A5 GT V8 at the 1hr 23mark then Glen Smith would pit to hand over the SBT Motorsport McLaren 650 S over to John de Veth then Seton Head was shown the mechanical Issue flag for a loose rear defuser he would take the opportunity to hand the Kea Trailers Toyota Altezza over to his father Tony Head.

Darren Kelly would hand the Heart of Racing Aston over to Alex Riberas at the 1hour 35minute mark before Chris van der Drift handed the Hamilton Asphalts Nissan R35 GTR GT3 over to car owner Lance Hughes then the Fawcett/Fillmore Audi would make it’s pitstop.

Shane Murland had taken over the Race Lab Aston after the issues had been sorted before Greg Murphy was forced to retire the Audi TT VLN after an engine failure at turn 5 causing a second safety card.

The only action in the last hour of the race with the Fawcett/Fillmore Audi having another spin this time at turn 5.

Alex Riberas won the race with a whopping 4laps lead over John de Veth who would finish second and Lance Hughes getting a podium to finish a frustrating season.

Jono Lester would finish fourth overall and first in Class 1 while the Dayle ITM Toyota 86 o Martin Day and Christina Orr-West was able to finish sixth overall and first in Class3.

Race Results Overall and GT-A

1^st 52 Alex Riberas/Darren Kelly Aston Martin AMR Vantage GT3 Heart of Racing

2^nd 1 Glenn Smith/John de Veth McLaren 650 S GT3 SBT Motorsport

3^rd 84 Lance Hughes/Chris van der Drift Nissan R35 GTR GT3 Hamilton Asphalts

GT-B

No cars completed 75% of the race to be classified 

Class 1

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

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

Class 3

1^st 55 Martin Day/Christina Orr-West Toyota 86 Dayle ITM

Series Results

Overall and GT-A

1^st 52 Alex Riberas/Darren Kelly Aston Martin AMR Vantage GT3 Heart of Racing 280

(place first due to more pole positions gained)

2^nd 22 Neil Foster/Jonny Reid Audi R8 LMS GT3 International Motorsport 280

3^rd 1 Glenn Smith/John de Veth McLaren 650 S GT3 SBT Motorsport 262

GT-B

1^st 111 Stephan Harrison/Shane Murland Aston Martin AMR Vantage GT4 GT8R Aston Martin Auckland/Race Lab 280

2^nd 17 Todd Murphy/Andy Greenslade Hyundai i45 V8ST Murphy Busses 196

3^rd 24 Rob Williams/Don McIntyre Porsche 997 Apple Tree Motor Inc 115

Class 1

1^st 20 Tony and Seton Head Toyota Altezza Kea Trailers 270

2^nd 80 Matt Dovey/Jono Lester Audi A5 GT V8 AA Insurance DFM Racing 210

3^rd 77 Shane Helms/Greg Murphy Audi TT VLN /Race Lab 115

Class 3

1^st 55 Martin Day/Christina Orr-West Toyota 86 Dayle ITM 95

2^nd 4 Marco Giltrap/Simon Evans Toyota 86 Giltrap Group 20