Matt Halliday might have pipped him for pole position but it was fellow front row starter David Reynolds who won the first Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge race of the weekend at the penultimate round of the 2009/10 championship at Feilding's Manfeild motor racing circuit this afternoon.

With championship points leader Craig Baird back in fifth place after the morning's qualifying session - held in cool, blustery but dry conditions - the afternoon's 12 lap race looked set to be about who would finish second to points runner-up Halliday.

The rain that had threatened all afternoon finally started falling as the Battery Town GT3 Cup cars lined up on the dummy grid however and when Halliday's car bogged off the line Reynolds grabbed a lead he was not to lose.

Halliday recovered his composure to tuck in behind teammate Jonny Reid and circulate in third place where he stayed until Baird eventually caught up and launched an attack on third place at the Higgins corner on the sixth lap.

Halliday returned the favour at the end of the back straight and entered the seventh lap back in third place and when Baird lost momentum out of the hairpin a lap later it looked like Halliday would join David Reynolds and Jonny Reid on the podium.

However Daniel Gaunt also had eyes on the final podium spot and clashed with Halliday exiting the first corner on lap eight. The contact spun Halliday, who was able to continue, but saw Gaunt summoned to the pits to observe a drive through penalty, then complete the last lap at much reduced pace due to a flat right fear tyre.

The result was the sixth race win of the season for Australian driver Reynolds, the best finish so far for Matt Halliday's fellow former A1 Team.NZL teammate Jonny Reid in second and Baird's record sixth consecutive title aspirations safe with third, three seconds up on Courtney Letica who in turn had an eight second buffer on the luckless Halliday.

TRS graduate Mitch Cunningham enjoyed one of his most competitive outings so far this season in sixth, after an early battle with fellow young gun Courtney Letica and Wellington driver Simon McLennan was again the best of the Mothers 996 Cup trophy category drivers home in ninth after running as high as seventh.

Also enjoying a good race in the Mothers 996 Cup categorcategory was young Aucklander Gene Rollinson who spent the last four laps of the race on McLennan's tail to cross the finish line in 10th place.

Media: The Fast Company  Photo: SportProMedia