Bathurst 12 Hour 24-26 Feb

[Grum]

Not long to go now and with the line up of international drivers and awesome GT spec cars, it's shaping up to be an awesome race.

For more info: http://www.bathurst12hour.com.au/

Is anyone planing on making the trip? I will be but unsure of what day(s) and weather it's for work or pleasure.

[Wild Inc.]

The Audi liveries have been released, they look stunning. I'll be barracking again for them this year, I think the R8 LMS is one best all round GT3 race cars. Sounds, looks, balance and speed, they've got it all.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/motor-sp...-1226257102556

[4Vman]

WOW!!! those things are rockets too... Wonder if a COTF Falcon with a S/C Miami would ever comply with the rules??!!

[flappist]

WOW!!! those things are rockets too... Wonder if a COTF Falcon with a S/C Miami would ever comply with the rules??!!

You, of all people, know you should never take a knife to a gun fight.....

[4Vman]

You, of all people, know you should never take a knife to a gun fight.....

Lets see what the lap times are first... if they go sub 2.07 on race day i'll be suitably impressed, till then the Falcon SC would still have all their measure i think...! :-)

[Falc'man]

FERRARI LEADS AUDI AND LAMBORGHINI IN PRACTICE
February 24th, 2012 richard



IT MIGHT NOT BE the fastest ever lap of Mount Panorama, but Allan Simonsen was back to his record-breaking best at Mount Panorama today.

The flying Dane set the fastest time in practice for the Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour, eclipsing Jamie Whincup’s current V8 race lap record and making an early marker for others to chase.

Simonsen smashed a 2m08.24 on his second last lap of the day to bump Audi off the top of the charts, driving his stunning Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 for team Il Bello Rosso Maranello Motorsport.

Impressively, Simonsen’s international team-mate Dominik Farnbacher recorded the fourth fastest individual lap of the day earlier, on his first look at Mount Panorama.

Bathurst legend John Bowe was 10th on individual lap times, showing the consistency across the four-driver line up set to drive the Ferrari this weekend.

But as he has been on many occasions here, Simonsen was today’s star performer.

“It’s just great,” he said.

“Maranello Motorsport has put in a big effort to come here and there has been so much effort from everyone. The team are dialling everything in and getting everyone some laps and so far the team and the drivers are all pretty pleased.

“We’re just making sure it runs nice and smoothly. The car is brand new and has been fully spanner-checked by the boys here in Australia, so it’s looking good.

“But don’t forget that 12 hours is a long race and lots of things can happen. But we’re confident.”

The Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS was second, Warren Luff’s 2m08.64 set early this morning in cooler conditions standing up across the day. David Russell took the JBS Lamborghini Gallardo LP600 to third (2m09.17) – making it three different exotic brands inside the top three.

Fourth overall was the similar bright yellow Lamborghini, V8 ace Cameron McConville setting the teams’ quickest time and placing them just in front of the Clearwater Racing Ferrari.

It was a particularly notable performance from the Asian GT team, Kiwi champion Craig Baird leading the way with Irish Ferrari factory driver Matt Griffin in close company – almost matching Baird’s lap in the 2m10-range after only eight laps of the 6.213km circuit.

It wouldn’t be Bathurst without early drama – and in today’s case it was the much talked-about Erebus Racing / Black Falcon combination who felt the pressure.

American driver Bret Curtis made contact with the wall after a spin at Forrest Elbow in the second practice, moments after team-mate Jeroen Bleekemolen had set the second-quickest time of the session.

Though drivable, the car required substantial bodywork repairs to the left-rear corner and forced the team to miss the final practice of the day and valuable track time to boot – though they are expected to be back on track tomorrow.

In class B (Century Batteries GT3), Steven Johnson and Steven Richards teamed with mining magnate Nathan Tinkler to top the class order, pipping the of two New Zealand Motorsport Services-entered Porsche 997 GT3 entries.

A Lotus was quickest in Elf GT Production Class C, though it wasn’t the fancied entry featuring ex-F1 star Christian Klien. Instead, Adam Gowans’ Lotus Exige S who topped the class order- placing 12th outright in the process.

The Production Car battle was topped by the West Australian Subaru WRX STi of Dean Herridge, John O’Dowd and Angus Kennard, but it was a close run thing. The Subaru was just two-tenths quicker than local entry GWS Motorsport and their BMW 335i turbo.

The Racer Industries HSV Astra VXR driven by rising stars Scott Pye, Elliot Barbour, Chris Pither and car owner Ryan McLeod topped STP Production (Performance) Class E, whilst the Sennheiser / Ric Shaw Racing Mazda RX-7 topped the Invitational class.

Tomorrow will feature qualifying for the Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour, split between a 90-minute session in the morning and a 30-minute session late in the afternoon.

TOP TIMES – PRACTICE (Combined)

1. A.Simonsen / D.Farnbacher / Bowe / Edwards Ferrari 458 Italia 2:08.2824*

2. C.Lowndes / W.Luff / M.Eddy Audi R8 LMS 2:08.6474

3. R.Lago / D.Russell / W.Park Lamborghini LP 600 2:09.1738

4. T.Huglin / C.McConville / P.Kox / L.Searle Lamborghini Gallardo 2:09.8607

5. M.Sun / C.Baird / M.Griffin Ferrari 458 GT3 2:10.4365

6. C.Mies / D.O’Young / C.Joens Audi R8 LMS 2:10.6742

7. T.Slade / J.Bleekemolen / B.Curtis Mercedes Benz SLS AMG 2:12.2469

8. M.Patterson / A.Li / F.Yu Audi R8 LMS 2:16.4933

9. N.Tinkler / S.Johnson / S.Richards Porsche 997 GT3 Cup 2:17.9934

10. R.Wilson / S.Breslin / V.Mehta / S.Breslin Mercedes Benz SLS AMG 2:19.2253

http://www.bathurst12hour.com.au/fer...i-in-practice/

[Falc'man]

Audi won...

http://www.timing.bathurst12hour.com...ts.php?race=36


Pos Image Car No Drivers Entrant Vehicle CI Laps RaceTime Fastest Lap
1 Phoenix Racing 1 Phoenix Racing C.Mies/D.O'Young/C.Joens Audi R8 LMS A 270 12:03:31.3753 8 2:08.1129
2 Erebus Racing 20 Erebus Racing T.Slade/J.Bleekemolen/P.Hackett/B.Curtis Mercedes Benz SLS AM A 270 12:04:44.6591 26 2:09.3502
3 Clearwater Racing 33 Clearwater Racing M.Sun/C.Baird/M.Griffin Ferrari 458 GT3 A 268 12:04:47.5487 23 2:09.4514
4 Hunter Sports Group 3 Hunter Sports Group N.Tinkler/S.Johnson/S.Richards Porsche 997 GT3 Cup B 254 12:04:58.6511 21 2:17.4303
5 Southern Cross Lubes 65 Southern Cross Lubes S.O'Donnell/B.Niall/S.McLennon Porsche 997 GT3 Cup B 244 12:03:32.2422 29 2:22.0822
6 Donut King 54 Donut King A.Alford/P.Leemhuis/A.Beechey Nissan R35 GTR C 237 12:05:58.7535 30 2:27.6990
7 Racer Industries 50 Racer Industries S.Pye/E.Barbour/C.Pither Holden HSV VX-R E 231 12:04:48.1355 20 2:37.4968
8 Motorsport Services Ltd 66 Motorsport Services Ltd B.Thomlinson/A.Dippie/M.Maddren Porsche 997 GT3 Cup B 228 12:05:16.6468 44 2:29.1315
9 queenslandhouseandland.com 62 queenslandhouseandland.com R.Thomson/C.Klien/S.Harley Lotus Exige S C 227 12:04:11.5915 12 2:29.7394
10 Boss Plaster 53 Boss Plaster R.Newman/D.Lillie/J.Atkinson Holden HSV GTS D 222 12:06:08.4975 27 2:37.2284
11 GWS Personnel / Safe T Stop 26 GWS Personnel / Safe T Stop R.Gartner/T.Prior/A.Chapel BMW 130i E 218 12:04:10.3748 27 2:44.7818
12 Maximum Motorsport 7 Maximum Motorsport D.Herridge/J.O'Dowd/A.Kennard Subaru WRX Sti D 211 12:03:39.4282 74 2:34.3473
13 GWS Personnel 28 GWS Personnel P.O'Donnell/C.D'Agostin/G.Duffy BMW 335i D 205 12:06:18.5432 38 2:32.1639
14 The Shire Conveyancer/Subway B 27 The Shire Conveyancer/Subway B A.Shephard/K.Booker/C.Oberhauser BMW 130i E 200 12:04:10.3329 5 2:47.6631
15 Motorsport Services Ltd 67 Motorsport Services Ltd T.Murphy/T.Head/J.Veth/L.Scott BMW 135i D 198 12:06:03.8602 13 2:39.5568
16 www.24hseries.com 14 www.24hseries.com I.Breukers/H.Thijssen/M.Bailey Seat Leon TDI I 166 12:04:44.3868 27 2:38.1667
17 Motorsport Services Ltd 68 Motorsport Services Ltd D.Glasson/D.Roderick/A.Harris BMW 135i D 162 12:06:28.5141 15 2:37.3870
18 Massel 32 Massel M.Caine/G.Murphy/J.Pollicina Mazda RX-7 I 82 12:04:46.3702 2 2:43.1550
999 United Autosports 22 United Autosports M.Patterson/A.Li/F.Yu Audi R8 LMS A 59 02:30:05.6232 27 2:13.1331
999 Black Falcon 21 Black Falcon S.Breslin/S.Breslin Mercedes Benz SLS AM A 52 02:57:59.8364 35 2:12.8957
999 Sennheiser 35 Sennheiser D.Padayachee/J.Parish/P.Alexander Mazda RX-7 I 53 02:43:15.0571 27 2:31.2192
999 JBS 23 JBS R.Lago/D.Russell/W.Park Lamborghini LP 600 G A 103 04:38:51.2179 3 2:08.4622
999 Simply Sports Cars 10 Simply Sports Cars A.Gowans/R.Meins/C.Lillington-Pri Lotus Exige S C 69 04:20:26.6707 60 2:27.1907
999 Phoenix Racing 2 Phoenix Racing C.Lowndes/W.Luff/M.Eddy Audi R8 LMS A 156 07:13:35.7206 18 2:07.6187
999 II Bello Rosso 17 II Bello Rosso A.Simonsen/D.Farnbacher/J.Bowe Ferrari 458 GT3 A 114 05:07:30.6908 44 2:06.3311