2011 Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour
| 2011 Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour |
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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 smash the previous distance record by 29 laps. Unfortunately it also saw many of the Class D and E cars 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 team mates 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 was came within 0.6210 of his Team Vodafone team mate 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
Cars competed in the following classes:[1]
- Class A – FIA GT3, Australian GT Championship
- Class B – Australian GT Challenge
- Class C – Australian GT Production
- Class D – Production (High Performance All Wheel Drive)
- Class E – Production (High Performance Rear Wheel Drive)
- Class F – Production (Performance)
For the race thin entries saw Classes D and E merged into Class D and Class F became the new Class E. There were several other classes listed in the regulations that attracted no entries.
Official Results
Those in Bold represent class winners. Fastest Laps in Italics represent the class fastest lap.[2]
| Pos | Class | No | Team / Entrant | Drivers | Car | Laps | Race Time | Fastest Lap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engine | ||||||||
| 1 | A | 8 | Audi Top Service |  Darryl O'Young Marc Basseng Christopher Mies |
Audi R8 LMS GT3 | 292 | 12:01:30.7045 | 2:10.2017 |
| 5.2 L FSI 2×DOHC V10 | ||||||||
| 2 | A | 7 | Audi Australia |  Mark Eddy Craig Lowndes Warren Luff |
Audi R8 LMS GT3 | 292 | 12:01:31.4186 | 2:09.0861 |
| 5.2 L FSI 2×DOHC V10 | ||||||||
| 3 | A | 29 | VIP Pet Foods Racing |  Tony Quinn Klark Quinn Craig Baird |
Porsche 997 GT3 Cup R | 291 | 12:03:07.7427 | 2:11.3079 |
| 4.0 L Porsche H6 | ||||||||
| 4 | A | 38 | Wilson Security - Shannons | David Wall Greg Crick Barton Mawer |
Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S | 289 | 12:01:59.0682 | 2:12.7634 |
| 3.8 L Porsche H6 | ||||||||
| 5 | B | 23 | Falcon Property Group | Roger Lago Matt Kingsley David Russell |
Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | 282 | 12:02:38.5294 | 2:14.4387 |
| 3.8 L Porsche H6 | ||||||||
| 6 | A | 37 | Red Alert Laser Tag | Hector Lester Luke Searle Allan Simonsen |
Ferrari 430 GT3 | 276 | 12:02:50.0944 | 2:12.3556 |
| 4.3 L Ferrari V8 | ||||||||
| 7 | B | 66 | Motorsport Services Limited | Scott O'Donnell Simon McLennan Miroslav Konopka |
Porsche 996 GT3 Cup | 264 | 12:01:46.1710 | 2:22.2708 |
| 3.8 L Porsche H6 | ||||||||
| 8 | B | 67 | Motorsport Services Limited | Allan Dippie Steven Thompson Mark Maddren |
Porsche 996 GT3 Cup | 257 | 12:03:21.1949 | 2:25.4937 |
| 3.8 L Porsche H6 | ||||||||
| 9 | D | 14 | RSH Electrical/DrivingSolution | Peter Conroy Anthony Robson Mark Brame |
Mitsubishi Lancer RS Evo X | 256 | 12:01:45.2597 | 2:32.3415 |
| 2.0 L 4B11T I4 | ||||||||
| 10 | D | 28 | GWS Personnel | Peter O'Donnell Matthew Hansen Christian D'Agostin |
BMW 335i | 252 | 12:03:38.8181 | 2:31.4950 |
| 3.0 L twin-turbo I6 N54 | ||||||||
| 11 | C | 80 | Bruce Lynton BMW | Beric Lynton Matt Mackelden John Modystach |
BMW M3 | 245 | 12:03:34.1061 | 2:31.4314 |
| 3.2 L BMW S54 I6 | ||||||||
| 12 | E | 26 | GWS Personnel | Bruce Tomlinson Geoff Fontaine Richard Gartner |
BMW 130i | 244 | 12:03:32.3214 | 2:40.8912 |
| 3.0 L BMW N55 I6 | ||||||||
| 13 | D | 5 | Tinkler Motor Sports | Nathan Tinkler Jeremy Gray Steven Johnson |
FPV FG GT | 238 | 12:02:37.1787 | 2:40.6970 |
| 5.4 L Boss 315 V8 | ||||||||
| 14 | E | 68 | Motorsport Services Limited | David Glasson Dennis Roderick Aaron Harris |
BMW 130i | 235 | 12:02:53.3888 | 2:41.8986 |
| 3.0 L BMW N55 I6 | ||||||||
| 15 | B | 39 | Bakehouse Quarter-McGrath-Middleton | Paul Tressider Shane Smollen Simon Middleton |
Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | 230 | 12:03:40.8699 | 2:18.6995 |
| 3.8 L Porsche H6 | ||||||||
| 16 | E | 50 | Racer Industries | Chaz Mostert Ashley Walsh Gerard McLeod |
HSV VXR Turbo | 227 | 12:03:55.8888 | 2:37.0462 |
| 2.2 L Ecotec I4 | ||||||||
| 17 | C | 25 | Paul Freestone | Paul Freestone Hayden Pullen David Sieders |
Chevrolet Corvette Z06 | 192 | 12:02:24.0342 | 2:19.6556 |
| 7.0 L LS7 V8 | ||||||||
| 18 | C | 62 | Eagle 1 | Adam Gowans Richard Meins Chris Lillingston-Price |
Lotus Exige S | 192 | 12:02:32.2864 | 2:24.9244 |
| 1.8 L supercharged Toyota I4 | ||||||||
| 19 | D | 3 | Maximum Motorsport | Dean Herridge John O'Dowd Angus Kennard |
Subaru Impreza WRX STi | 129 | 12:01:41.2740 | 2:31.3951 |
| 2.5 L Subaru H4 | ||||||||
| DNF | A | 69 | Supabarn Supermarkets | James Koundouris Theo Koundouris Steve Owen |
Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S | 261 | 11:27:28.9388 | 2:10.6884 |
| 3.8 L Porsche H6 | ||||||||
| DNF | A | 12 | Hallmarc | Marc Cini David Reynolds Dean Fiore |
Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S | 196 | 08:53:25.0075 | 2:10.9530 |
| 3.8 L Porsche H6 | ||||||||
| DNF | D | 43 | Alan East Motorsport | Leigh Burges Damien Flack Neil McFadyen |
Mitsubishi Lancer RS Evo IX | 165 | 07:45:42.9671 | 2:32.2315 |
| 2.0 L 4B11T I4 | ||||||||
| DNF | A | 17 | Maranello Motorsport | Peter Edwards John Bowe Tim Leahey |
Ferrari 430 GT3 | 161 | 07:14:57.9304 | 2:13.9841 |
| 4.3 L Ferrari V8 | ||||||||
| DNF | E | 27 | GWS Personnel | Garth Duffy Alan Shepherd Paul Stubber |
BMW 130i | 106 | 05:45:20.2294 | 2:39.8422 |
| 3.0 L BMW N55 I6 | ||||||||
| DNF | C | 44 | Donut King Racing | Tony Alford Peter Leemhuis Mal Rose |
Nissan R35 GT-R | 102 | 06:48:41.1208 | 2:26.1198 |
| 3.8 L Twin-turbo VR38DETT V6 | ||||||||
| DNF | A | 2 | Procon Developments | Geoff Emery Dean Grant Max Twigg |
Mosler MT900 GT3 | 11 | 00:30:26.5023 | 2:16.1376 |
| 7.0 L LS7 V8 |
Statistics
- 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 the Owen's qualifying record by 0.0154 seconds.
References
- 1 2 Supplementary Regulations Retrieved from www.bathurst12hour.com.au on 7 February 2011
- ↑ 2011 Bathurst 12 Hour Official Results