12 Hour Run and Done, Maranello Ferrari wins
Posted: 05.02.2017 / Source: Event website
The #88 Maranello Motorsport Ferrari 488 GT3 of Toni Vilander, Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes has secured victory in the 2017 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.
The final hour was nothing short of intense for the front-runners of the field, full of drama, crashes and more for a number of the top four. See below for more details.
Taking victory in the classes were the #88 (Liqui-Moly GT3 Pro-Pro), the #12 Competition Motorsports powered by Ice Break Porsche (BRM Watches GT3 Pro-AM), the #912 Walkinshaw GT3 Porsche (Rydges Bathurst GT3 AM), the #21 Steve Richards Motorsport Porsche (myPlates Class B GT3), the #91 MARC Cars Australia Focus V8 (Racer Industries Class I) and the #19 PROsport Performance Porsche Cayman PRO (Avis Class C).
FULL DAY WRAP TO COME, FOR DETAILS ON HOW THE LAST HOUR UNFOLDED, PLEASE READ ON:
As the twelfth and final hour kicked off, the #12 Competition Motorsports powered by Ice Break Porsche was handed a drive through penalty for the contact with the #32 JBS Australia Lago Racing Lamborghini at the close of the eleventh hour. Serving the penalty from third on the road, the #12 was thought to now be out of contention.
Meanwhile, things were getting hot on and off the track, with the #29 Trofeo Motorsport Lamborghini catching fire in its pit stop. The fire crew acted quickly to put it out and send the car on its way.
It was about this time, that the battle for the win really got down to brass tacks. With 59 minutes to go, Jamie Whincup pitted the #88 Maranello Motorsport Ferrari from the lead for fuel and tyres.
This saw the #22 take the lead with Shane van Gisbergen at the wheel, with a 53.76second gap over the now second-placed Whincup.
With 55 minutes to go, it was the #17 Bentley’s turn to pit, taking on fuel and tyres, and he would need no further stops. Meanwhile, the #22 was driving hard as van Gisbergen looked to establish the best gap he could before his pit stop, which came with 45 minutes left on the clock. The #22 team elected to not change tyres to save time, with van Gisbergen re-joining the track some 350m ahead of Whincup.
It was well and truly ‘on’ at this point, with Whincup getting the tow through Conrod Straight to make a move on his Red Bull Racing Virgin Australia Supercars team-mate, and after some argy bargy between the two it was Whincup that would emerge at the front, quickly establishing a gap.
Moments later, gasps were elicited around the track when van Gisbergen came into contact with the rear of the #51 IMAK Kwikmit Porsche, putting it into the wall hard at turn 22. This called out the 15th safety car for the Bathurst 12 Hour race and turned the attention of race control to the #22.
On the restart with 20 minutes left to run, the #22 was given a drive through penalty for driver conduct, but it wouldn’t matter – just moments later van Gisbergen would make a mistake and spin himself hard into the wall to put himself and the #22 out of the race.
The 16th and record-breaking safety car was called to retrieve the #22, with the restart coming with just five minutes and one lap left to run.
Whincup controlled the field ahead of Matt Campbell in the #12 Porsche – once again in with a shot. However, there was nothing he could do with Whincup driving a faultless race to control the final laps and take victory.
Aside from the #22, the only other entry penalised in the last hour was the #1 Tekno Autosports McLaren, for driving over a wheel nut during a pit stop.
Bathurst 12 Hours – Ferrari and Vilander take pole position
Posted: 04.02.2017 / Source: Ferrari
Bathurst, 4 February 2017 – Maranello Motorsport’s Ferrari 488 GT3 has taken pole position for this weekend’s Bathurst 12 Hour. In Saturday’s qualifying session, international Ferrari factory driver Toni Vilander set the fastest lap of the Shootout with his Ferrari 488 GT3 recording the only ‘two’ of the outing – 2m 2.0861s – around Mount Panorama Circuit.
“Overall the lap was pretty good. I thought I had it under control but, overall it was a good lap. It’s not an easy form of qualifying, the shoot-out. There is some extra pressure. You wait those three long hours to get there and you don’t really know what to expect,” said Vilander. “The track itself is one of the best in the world. It’s cool to be back here, in the past with the Ferrari 458 this year with the 488.”
Drivers. Toni Vilander will share his car this weekend with acclaimed Australian drivers, Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup. The only Ferrari in the field, the Maranello Motorsport Ferrari 488 GT3 dominated the qualifying session, with Toni Vilander shooting to the pole position early in the session.
Schedule. The Bathurst 12Hour will go green on Sunday, February 5 at 05:00 AM AEDT with coverage beginning at 5:45:00 AM AEDT on 7TWO.
Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour 2017
Posted: 03.02.2017 / Source: Ferrari
Bathurst, 3 February 2017 – Just one week after the 24 Hours of Daytona, official Ferrari driver Toni Vilander is in Bathurst, Australia, to compete in one of the most prestigious 12 Hours of the season. Indeed there will be a Ferrari present on Sunday at the Mount Panorama circuit.
The team. The 488 GT3 of Mark Coffey’s Maranello Motorsport will be there. In 2014 this team gave the Prancing Horse its first and only victory in the Australian classic founded in 1991. The team based in Richmond, Virginia, triumphed three years ago with a 458 Italia driven by former Formula 1 driver Mika Salo with Australians John Bowe, Peter Edwards and Craig Lowndes.
Drivers. This is Toni Vilander’s debut in the Bathurst 12 Hour. The Finn will team up with two greats of Australian motorsport both from Melbourne. One is Craig Lowndes, 42, a winner with Ferrari in 2014, whose first victory was 1994 when he was the new Australian Formula Ford champion. He has also won one V8 Supercars and two Australian Touring Car Championships. Jamie Whincup will complete the trio making his debut at Bathurst and with Ferrari. The 33 year old has six wins to his name in the V8 Supercars championship and the 2002 Australian Formula Ford.
The track. The 6.2-kilometre long Mount Panorama track, considered one of the most difficult in the world, has been dubbed “Blue Hell”, just like the “Green Hell” of the old Nürburgring. Ferrari won the Bathurst 12 Hour in 2014, but has two other victories to its credit on this circuit. The first was in 1968 with Australia’s Bill Brown at the wheel of a 350 P4 of Scuderia Veloce. The most recent was in 2015 in the Prodsport championship with the 458 Italia of DeFelice Homes crewed by Tony DeFelice and the Dane Benny Simonsen.
Programme. The Bathurst 12 Hour will begin with free practices on Friday, which will be followed by qualifying on Saturday. The race will start at 5:45 am on Sunday morning, Australian time (7:45 pm CET on Saturday) and will end at the stroke of the twelfth hour. It will be livestreamed at www.Bathurst12Hours.com.au.