ge5342811518340115126
Adam Davis10 Feb 2014
NEWS

BATHURST 12 HOUR: Ferrari fires Lowndes to victory

Maranello Motorsport pays tribute to Allan Simonsen the best way possible

Despite the clock reading 5:45am – on a Sunday, no less – the bank of cars lined up along Panorama Drive told of something special happening at Mount Panorama, Bathurst. The start of the Bathurst 12 Hour was only half an hour away.

Minute by minute sunlight edged in, revealing a cloudless sky and the promise of another baking hot day. Out on the circuit myriad sounds – from a 1.4-litre turbocharged four-pot to seven litres of V8 – rose and fell as the competitors drove towards the starting grid, lights ablaze.

There’s something that draws you in about this sunrise start, the air thick with anticipation instead of heat as the 40 racers approached the standing start, led by Nico Bastian in the #1 Erebus Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3.

As the green flag dropped, the SLS’s booming V8 exhaust thumped into the lead, chased by fan favourite Craig Lowndes in his Ferrari 458 GT3, its flat-plane crank V8 shrieking. The race was on.

For spectators, endurance racing is a slow-burner, the drivers generally circumspect early on, their thoughts focused on being there at the end of the day. But like a game of test match cricket there are intricacies to the sport, ebbs and flows that keep you intrigued throughout.

Things can change by the second, as Peter Kox found out when his Lamborghini collided with a kangaroo in the first hour. Or when the fancied Nissan GT-R NISMO emerged from a dust cloud across the top to discover the Clearwater Racing Ferrari 458 GT3 in its path. All were eliminated.

The quicker car/driver combinations settled into a record 2:04 pace, making the most of the coolest track conditions they’d experience all day.

The imposing Erebus Mercedes led the vast majority of the opening four hours, Shane van Gisbergen closing reigning champion Bernd Schneider down in his McLaren MP412C GT3 to engage in an epic extended battle as SVG lowered the record to 2:03.8 in his chase.

The Merc – its V8 sounding like a Spitfire – had the edge on punch out of corners, and maintained its advantage on the straights, but the McLaren appeared more agile. As the two combated traffic the gap would expand and contract, as if they were joined by a giant rubber band.

Finally, van Gisbergen eked a way past on lap 107. But it was close on a few occasions; one wag in the media centre quipped: “What’s this, the Bathurst 15-minute?”

It is these contrasts between cars that draw you in: front- versus mid-engine, naturally-aspirated versus turbocharged, relative strengths and weaknesses proving that you don’t need a control chassis formula to have wonderful racing.

Traffic management also plays a key role, arguably more in the 12 Hour than in the more traditional V8 Supercar Bathurst 1000. The multi-class format harks back to the days of Group A racing on The Mountain with a lap-time spread of over half a minute between Class A and the small fries.

Inevitably, incidents happen – the Clearwater Ferrari collided with lapped traffic before its off – but the driving standard from those in the smaller vehicles should largely be applauded.

The middle third of an endurance race is usually a time of consolidation, but after pit stops and driver changes the #1 Mercedes reassumed the race leadership despite a brief off when Nico Bastian was at the wheel. In what turned out to be the save of the day, Bastian ran wide at McPhillamy Park, brushing the outside barrier. Pride and bodywork were both damaged, but the car powered on.

As the final four hours fell due Car 1 retained its lead, only for trouble to strike in pitlane. A rear brake issue caused the SLS to stop in the pits just as Bastian handed over to Schneider, losing the lead (and many laps) to the McLaren.

As the ninth hour passed the race to the finish began to take shape with the Maranello Motorsports Ferrari 458 leading from van Gisbergen, though the Ferrari crew were given a drive-through penalty for an innocuous pitlane infringement -- a pit board apparently left in the pit bay.

In third was the now best placed Mercedes AMG SLS GT3, the ‘Aussie’ car of Will Davison/Jack Le Brocq/Greg Crick. You had to look to seventh place to find reigning champion Schneider, who had managed to get the #1 Erebus car going again, albeit five laps down.

Though lacking the grunt of the front-runners, Audi’s well-proven R8 LMS ultras were coming into their own as the race wore on. What they lacked in straightline speed, the 5.2-litre V10-powered R8s made up for in downforce, the #3 R8 of Rahel Frey/Rene Rast/Laurens Vanthoor in particular able to stick to the back of the Mercedes, Ferraris and McLarens across the top as they continued in fifth place with three hours remaining.

To this point the HTP Motorsport Mercedes AMG SLS had kept a reasonably low profile, but it used a safety car period to return to the lead lap. It would prove a stroke of genius at the end of the day.

Up front the Ferrari-Mercedes-McLaren battle intensified, though a bit of Mercedes SLS gamesmanship ensured that Greg Crick was able to hold Salo off, the SLS proving a demon on the straights.

Salo’s focus on the front allowed the HTP Motorsport SLS with German Max Buhk to close and pass the Ferrari, before comfortably finding a way past Crick – a handy steerer but not a full-time pro who did an admirable job -- shortly thereafter.

The stage was now set for an incredible finale. Salo managed his way passed Crick, who then pitted for Will Davison to finish the race. Salo was swapped for Lowndes and the now third-placed McLaren was handed to new lap record holder van Gisbergen.

In what read like a script from a Hollywood racing movie, a final safety car was deployed with 20 minutes remaining as the #67 Class B Porsche 911 stopped on circuit. This packed the field once more, leaving a final sprint to the chequer between Lowndes, Buhk, Davison and van Gisbergen.

Buhk ducked and dived with Lowndes in much the same way Lowndes did with John Bowe at his Bathurst debut in 1994, but this time Lowndes the veteran emerged victorious by only 0.4 sec from Buhk. Davison was another two seconds back, with the McLaren on is exhaust. The Frey/Rast/Vanthoor Audi R8 completed the top five.

It was a thoroughly deserved victory for the Maranello Motorsport team, which lost its spiritual leader Allan Simonsen last year. They may not have won the pole position trophy dedicated to Simonsen, but victory against such exalted competition is perhaps the ultimate gift to his memory.

Read the latest news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at carsales' mobile site...

Don't forget to register to comment on this article.v

Read the latest news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at carsales' mobile site...

Don't forget to register to comment on this article.

Share this article
Written byAdam Davis
See all articles
Our team of independent expert car reviewers and journalistsMeet the team
Stay up to dateBecome a carsales member and get the latest news, reviews and advice straight to your inbox.
Download the carsales app
    AppStoreDownloadGooglePlayDownload
    App Store and the Apple logo are trademarks of Apple Inc. Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.
    © CAR Group Ltd 1999-2024
    In the spirit of reconciliation we acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.