2011 Bathurst 12 Hour
The 2011 Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour was an endurance race for FIA GT3 cars, Australian GT Championship cars, Group 3E Series Production Cars and other invited vehicles.[1] The event, which was staged at the Mount Panorama Circuit, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia, on 6 February 2011, was the ninth running of the Bathurst 12 Hour, and the fifth since the race was revived in 2007.
The race saw GT cars return to long distance racing at Mount Panorama for the first time since the 2003 Bathurst 24 Hour. The addition of the faster GT3 entries saw the leading cars break the previous distance record by 29 laps. It also saw many potential Class D and E entries not compete due to being reduced from outright contenders in previous races to class contenders for 2011. One of the reason's for including the GT cars was an attempt to not only increase manufacturer involvement in the race but to also raise the international profile of the event and attract the top FIA GT3 teams.
The race was won by Audi's official factory supported team Audi Sport which was run by Audi's Le Mans 24 Hour team, Joest Racing, under the banners of "Audi Australia" for car #7 and "Audi Top Service" for car #8. Running a pair of Audi R8 LMS GT3s, the team of Marc Basseng, Christopher Mies and Darryl O'Young (#8) lead home teammates Mark Eddy, Craig Lowndes and Warren Luff (#7) in a 1-2 finish, the cars crossing the line only 0.7141 seconds apart in a true racing finish. Lowndes fastest race lap of 2:09.0861 also set a new GT lap record for Mt Panorama, cutting a second from the time of 2:10.0277 set 16 months earlier by Tony Quinn driving an Aston Martin DBRS9. Lowndes time came within 0.6210 of his Triple Eight Race Engineering teammate Jamie Whincup's outright lap record of 2:08.4651 set in a Ford BF Falcon V8 Supercar in 2007. The Joest Racing R8's finished one lap in front of the VIP Pet Foods Racing Porsche 997 GT3 Cup R of Craig Baird and father and son pairing Tony and Klark Quinn.
The race was run under international endurance rules meaning that all cars compulsory pit stops were each to be no less than 90 seconds in duration. The Class A cars had to make 12 compulsory stops with no less than 10 laps between each stop while Class B cars only had to make 9 compulsory stops.
Class structure
[edit | edit source]Cars competed in the following classes:[2]
- Class A – GT3 Outright
- Class B – GT3
- Class C – GT4
- Class D – High Performance
- Class E – Production Performance
Official results
[edit | edit source]Those in Bold represent class winners. Fastest Laps in Italics represent the class fastest lap.[3]
| Pos | Class | No | Team / Entrant | Drivers | Car | Laps | Time/Retired |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engine | |||||||
| 1 | A | 8 | Germany Audi Race Experience Team Joest | Hong Kong Darryl O'Young Germany Marc Basseng Germany Christopher Mies |
Audi R8 LMS GT3 | 292 | 12:01:30.7045 |
| 5.2 L FSI 2×DOHC V10 | |||||||
| 2 | A | 7 | Germany Audi Race Experience Team Joest | Australia Mark Eddy Australia Craig Lowndes Australia Warren Luff |
Audi R8 LMS GT3 | 292 | +0.7141 |
| 5.2 L FSI 2×DOHC V10 | |||||||
| 3 | A | 29 | Australia VIP Holdings (Aust) Pty Ltd | United Kingdom Tony Quinn Australia Klark Quinn New Zealand Craig Baird |
Porsche 997 GT3 Cup R | 291 | +1 Lap |
| 4.0 L Porsche H6 | |||||||
| 4 | A | 38 | Australia Wall Racing | Australia David Wall Australia Greg Crick Australia Barton Mawer |
Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S | 289 | +3 laps |
| 3.8 L Porsche H6 | |||||||
| 5 | B | 23 | Australia Lago Racing | Australia Roger Lago Australia Matt Kingsley Australia David Russell |
Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | 282 | +10 laps |
| 3.8 L Porsche H6 | |||||||
| 6 | A | 37 | United Kingdom Rosso Verde Ireland | United Kingdom Hector Lester Australia Luke Searle Denmark Allan Simonsen |
Ferrari 430 GT3 | 276 | +16 laps |
| 4.3 L Ferrari V8 | |||||||
| 7 | B | 66 | New Zealand Motorsport Services | New Zealand Scott O'Donnell New Zealand Simon McLennan Slovakia Miroslav Konôpka |
Porsche 996 GT3 Cup | 264 | +28 laps |
| 3.8 L Porsche H6 | |||||||
| 8 | B | 67 | New Zealand Motorsport Services | New Zealand Allan Dippie New Zealand Steven Thompson New Zealand Mark Maddren |
Porsche 996 GT3 Cup | 257 | +35 laps |
| 3.8 L Porsche H6 | |||||||
| 9 | D | 14 | Australia Peter Conroy Motorsport | Australia Peter Conroy Australia Anthony Robson Australia Mark Brame |
Mitsubishi Lancer RS Evo X | 256 | +36 laps |
| 2.0 L 4B11T I4 | |||||||
| 10 | D | 28 | Australia GWS Personnel Motorsport | Australia Peter O'Donnell Australia Matthew Hansen Australia Christian D'Agostin |
BMW 335i | 252 | +40 laps |
| 3.0 L twin-turbo I6 N54 | |||||||
| 11 | E | 26 | Australia GWS Personnel Motorsport | Australia Bruce Tomlinson Australia Geoff Fontaine Australia Richard Gartner |
BMW 130i | 244 | +48 laps |
| 3.0 L BMW N55 I6 | |||||||
| 12 | C | 80 | Australia Bruce Lynton BMW | Australia Beric Lynton Australia Matt Mackelden Australia John Modystach |
BMW M3 | 242 * | +50 laps |
| 3.2 L BMW S54 I6 | |||||||
| 13 | D | 5 | Australia Tinkler Motor Sports | Australia Nathan Tinkler Australia Jeremy Gray Australia Steven Johnson |
FPV FG GT | 238 | +54 laps |
| 5.4 L Boss 315 V8 | |||||||
| 14 | E | 68 | New Zealand Motorsport Services | New Zealand David Glasson New Zealand Dennis Roderick New Zealand Aaron Harris |
BMW 130i | 235 | +57 laps |
| 3.0 L BMW N55 I6 | |||||||
| 15 | B | 39 | Australia Wall Racing | Australia Paul Tresidder Australia Shane Smollen Australia Simon Middleton |
Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | 230 | +62 laps |
| 3.8 L Porsche H6 | |||||||
| 16 | E | 50 | Australia Racer Industries | Australia Chaz Mostert Australia Ashley Walsh Australia Gerard McLeod |
HSV VXR Turbo | 227 | +65 laps |
| 2.2 L Ecotec I4 | |||||||
| 17 | C | 25 | Australia Paul Freestone Racing | Australia Paul Freestone Australia Hayden Pullen Australia David Sieders |
Chevrolet Corvette Z06 | 192 | +100 laps |
| 7.0 L LS7 V8 | |||||||
| 18 | C | 62 | Australia Lee Knappett Racing | Australia Adam Gowans United Kingdom Richard Meins United Kingdom Chris Lillingston-Price |
Lotus Exige S | 192 | +100 laps |
| 1.8 L supercharged Toyota I4 | |||||||
| 19 | D | 3 | Australia Maximum Motorsport | Australia Dean Herridge Australia John O'Dowd Australia Angus Kennard |
Subaru Impreza WRX STi | 129 | +163 laps |
| 2.5 L Subaru H4 | |||||||
| DNF | A | 69 | Australia Supabarn Supermarkets Racing | Australia James Koundouris Australia Theo Koundouris Australia Steve Owen |
Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S | 261 | Driveline |
| 3.8 L Porsche H6 | |||||||
| DNF | A | 12 | Australia Hallmarc Racing | Australia Marc Cini Australia David Reynolds Australia Dean Fiore |
Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S | 196 | Accident |
| 3.8 L Porsche H6 | |||||||
| DNF | D | 43 | Australia Alan East Motorsport | Australia Leigh Burges Australia Damien Flack Australia Neil McFadyen |
Mitsubishi Lancer GSR Evo IX[2] | 165 | Turbo |
| 2.0 L 4G63T I4 | |||||||
| DNF | A | 17 | Australia Maranello Motorsport | Australia Peter Edwards Australia John Bowe Australia Tim Leahey |
Ferrari 430 GT3 | 161 | Engine |
| 4.3 L Ferrari V8 | |||||||
| DNF | E | 27 | Australia GWS Personnel Motorsport | Australia Garth Duffy Australia Alan Shepherd Australia Paul Stubber |
BMW 130i | 106 | Spun off |
| 3.0 L BMW N55 I6 | |||||||
| DNF | C | 44 | Australia Donut King Racing | Australia Tony Alford Australia Peter Leemhuis Australia Mal Rose |
Nissan R35 GT-R | 102 | Gearbox/Accident |
| 3.8 L Twin-turbo VR38DETT V6 | |||||||
| DNF | A | 2 | Australia Procon Developments | Australia Geoff Emery Australia Dean Grant Australia Max Twigg |
Mosler MT900 GT3 | 11 | Accident |
| 7.0 L LS7 V8 |
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* The 242 laps for 12th placed Car No. 80 includes a 3-lap penalty[4]
Statistics
[edit | edit source]- Pole Position – #7 Mark Eddy, Craig Lowndes, Warren Luff
- Fastest Lap – #7 Craig Lowndes – 2:09.0861 (GT lap record) on lap 267
* Grid positions were taken on the lap average of the fastest times set by all drivers in a car, e.g Steve Owen set the fastest time of all cars with a GT qualifying record of 2:09.1015 in his Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S but the times of co-drivers James and Theo Koundouris averaged out to start the car 3rd behind the two Joest Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3's. Warren Luff had the overall 2nd fastest qualifying time in his Audi R8 (2:09.6360) but the times of co-drivers Mark Eddy and Craig Lowndes saw the #7 car start from pole position.
* Craig Lowndes fastest race lap in the #7 Audi, set on lap 267 of 292 when the car had already covered 1,652km, was not only a new GT lap record for the Mt Panorama Circuit but undercut Owen's qualifying record by 0.0154 seconds.
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Supplementary Regulations Archived 13 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved from www.bathurst12hour.com.au on 7 February 2011
- ^ a b 2011 Entry List – 12 Hr, www.bathurst12hour.com.au, as archived at web.archive.org
- ^ 2011 Bathurst 12 Hour Official Results Archived 2011-10-12 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Steve Normoyle, Planting the seed, The History of the Bathurst 12 Hour, pages 70 - 75