A record-breaking Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour endurance race ends with Mercedes-AMG team Erebus Motorsport finally triumphing at Mount Panorama.
The team’s ‘international’ entry, driven by Germans Alex Rollof, Thomas Jaeger and German touring car legend Bernd Schneider completed 268 laps (1665km) of the iconic Bathurst circut in a day that started off with record temperatures and ended in a torrential downpour.
The race was a traditionally dramatic affair, and the margin of victory – just over one lap – belied just how competitive the race was.
The result caps off a remarkable 18-month climb to the top of endurance racing for the Erebus outfit – the team having finished second in the same race twelve months ago.
The No.36 Erebus entry led much of the last race and, despite not being the fastest car across the weekend, outlasted, outplayed and outwitted their rivals in a commanding performance that gave Schneider his second consecutive major endurance victory of the year, having won the recent Dubai 24hr.
“We have achieved something really special, especially since it’s the first time and such a difficult race,” Schneider said. “When I jumped in the car for my first stint today I was really happy because the balance was very good and very consistent, I could push hard in the last three or four laps I did my quickest lap times. This is the key I guess.
“Once we had heavy rain I was not driving, it was more like surfing down the hill and I was really happy that I could get back in the pits.”
The second Erebus Mercedes was a contender for much of the race, before a miscue by driver Lee Holdsworth saw him make contact with another car on a late-race restart, dropping the No.63 SLS from second to an eventual sixth place finish with co-drivers Tim Slade and Peter Hackett.
A heroic performance from Clearwater Racing saw the Singapore-based Ferrari team go one position better than last year, their Ferrari 458 GT3 ending the day second after contending for much of the first half of the race.
Lead drivers Craig Baird and Irish ace Matt Griffin were superb, but contact by team owner Mok Weng Sung with another car mid-race saw the team drop off the lead lap – a lap they would never get back.
Early in the race Griffin made up more than two minutes after an early safety car saw them ‘misplaced’ in the running order – costing them nearly a full lap that was skilfully recovered by the flying Irishman.
Baird replicated his teammate’s efforts later in the race, a Bathurst stint of the ages dragging the car back into the hunt, and eventually in contention for a podium position.
“The team were telling me that it was for third, not second, so I was going for it,” Baird said. “Weng insures the car so I figured it was either going to be in the wall or on the podium and if I had a shunt it wouldn’t matter!”
Third were the quiet achievers of the weekend, the No.5 VIP Porsche of Klark Quinn, Shane van Gisbergen and ring-in driver Matt Kingsley.
With original third-driver Tony Quinn ruled out of competing after a heavy crash in the early laps in his Australian GT-only entry, the team was forced to draft noted Porsche racer Kingsley – at the Mountain assisting clients with their own racing – into drive.
The pair held second within the last hour of the race but were hunted down and passed by the inspired Baird within the last half hour.
Defending event champions Phoenix Racing finished fourth, while reigning 12-hour winning driver Christopher Mies helped the Australian Network Clothing / Hallmarc Audi R8 LMS Ultra to a strong fifth position overall.
V8 Supercars star Craig Lowndes again fell short of victory in the 12 Hour, a suspension failure on the Audi R8 putting he and co-drivers Warren Luff and Rod Salmon out of the race just after the seven-hour mark.
The leading Ferrari 458 of John Bowe, Mika Salo, Allan Simonsen and Peter Edwards took victory in the Australian GT championship-component of the race, before dropping back after a spin from Edwards.
A suspension failure with Simonsen at the wheel saw the car plummet down the timesheets, before their race ended in the barriers at Brock’s Skyline in the sixth hour after Bowe made contact with a slower car.
Defending Pedigree Class B (GT3) class champions Hunter Motor Sport defended their crown, Johnny Reid, Steven Johnson and Drew Russell finishing an outstanding 9th outright in their Porsche GT3 Cup Car.
Dealing with the passing of his father on the Thursday of race week, Queensland driver Rob Thompson won his first 12-hour class in six attempts today, taking out Class C (Ryges GT4) with Liam Talbot and Romano Satori in his Lotus Exige.
Parkes, NSW team GWS Motorsport triumphed in a war of attrition in the V8 Race Production (High Performance) class, taking the glory after many of their rivals fell by the wayside.
The result for Peter O’Donnell, Andre Heimgartner and Anthony Gilbertson came despite their car not officially qualifying for the race – the team having to apply for stewards dispensation to start after failing to qualify due to mechanical issues.
18th outright and first in Race Fuels class E (Production Performance) was the HSV Astra of Ivo Breukers, Morgan Haber and Damien Ward, while the factory entered Peugeot of Andrew Jones, David Wall and Bruce Jouanny finished first in the Meguiar’s Invitational class.
The Seat Leon Supacopa of NZ team Motorsport Services won class I2, whilst Mal Rose achieved a dream today by winning I3 in his ex-V8 Supercar Holden.
Rose, Aaron Tebb and Adam Wallis finished an amazing 12th outright in the first car that Jamie Whincup raced at Bathurst.
