2011 Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour

The race and Class A-winning Audi R8 GT3 LMS of Darryl O'Young, Marc Basseng and Christopher Mies.

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 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 Team Vodafone 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

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 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 RS Evo IX 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

Statistics

* 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. Supplementary Regulations Archived 13 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved from www.bathurst12hour.com.au on 7 February 2011
  2. 2011 Bathurst 12 Hour Official Results Archived 2011-10-12 at the Wayback Machine
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