Saturday @ B12Hr
AUDI RETURS DOWN UNDER WITH ARMOR ALL POLE POSITION
Check out our Facebook Page Follow us on Twitter Photo: The Audi R8 LMS GT3 has returned to Mount Panorama with pole position this year. Image: (click for Hi-res) Dirk Klynsmith / Graphic DAK Photos.
Photo: Clearwater Racing will make their debut at Mount Panorama from thrid in the Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour grid. Image: (click for Hi-res) Dirk Klynsmith / Graphic DAK Photos.
Photo: The local team GWS Motorsport will start from the pole in production car ranks. Image: (click for Hi-res) Dirk Klynsmith / Graphic DAK Photos.
DEFENDING ARMOR ALL Bathurst 12 Hour winners Audi have returned to Australia on top after scoring the Armor All Pole Award, following a competitive qualifying day on the Mountain.
The Audi R8LMS driven by 2011 winners Christopher Mies, Daryl O’Young and newcomer Christer Jens set the best three-driver aggregate time today to take pole position, their 6 minutes 28.65 seconds enough to edge out a pair of Ferrari’s for the top spot.
The trio bank $5,000 from Armor All for their efforts today – but the big challenge sits ahead of them.
Audi edged out a pair of Ferrari’s and a Lamborghini and in all, an incredible 1.1 seconds covered the four cars from three different brands – even with drivers combining their respective lap times.
Maranello Motorsport (Allan Simonsen, Dominik Farnbacher, John Bowe and Peter Edwards) will start the race second (6:29.61), just edging out the identical Clearwater Racing entry driven by Craig Baird, Mok Weng Sung and Matt Griffin by 0.02 seconds.
The Asian GT title-winning team may face some challenges tomorrow after Craig Baird eclipsed the 2m08 second performance benchmark in the first qualifying session. The resultant penalty will see the Ferrari carry an extra 50kg of ballast tomorrow.
The JBS Lamborghini Gallardo of Roger Lago, David Russell and Wayne Park will go from a strong fourth, though just a further 0.1 seconds behind the Ferrari’s, in a strong performance.
2011 polesitters Craig Lowndes, Mark Eddy and Warren Luff will start fifth in their Audi R8 LMS, ahead of the Erebus Racing / Black Falcon Mercedes Benz SLS AMG GT3 driven by Peter Hackett, Tim Slade, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Brett Curtis.
The Anglo-American United Autosports Audi R8 LMS will start seventh, ahead of the first Class B (GT3) entrant; the Hunter Sports Group Porsche 997 GT3 of Nathan Tinkler and Bathurst vets Stevens’ Johnson and Richards.
The second Black Falcon / Erebus Mercedes will start ninth ahead of the New Zealand-based Motorsport Services Porsche 997 GT3 – also a class B entry.
Qualifying featured plenty of drama, with Ted Huglin’s Consolidated Chemical Co. Lamboghini Gallardo GT3 nearly destroyed in a major crash at turn one earlier this morning.
The impact, estimated at over 10G, has forced the team to withdraw from the race leaving co-drivers Luke Searle, Cam McConville and Peter Kox also out of a start.
Huglin emerged battered and bruised – but otherwise unscathed – from the hefty impact.
The battle in the production car ranks was just as competitive as the one for the outright pole position, local outfit GWS Motorsport’s BMW 335i turbo edging out the Subaru Impreza WRX STi from Western Australia.
The full starting order is here.
CLASS POLE POSITIONS:Pedigree GT3 Outright: Meis / O’Young / Jens Audi R8 LMS GT3
Century Batteries GT3: Tinkler / Johnson / Richards Porsche 997 GT3 Cup Car
Elf GT Production: Mark O’Conner / Adam Gowans / Chris Lillington-Price / Richard Meins
Fuchs Lubricant’s Production (High Performance): O’Donnell / D’Agostin / Duffy
STP Production (Performance); Scott Pye / Elliot Barbour / Chris Pither / Ryan McLeod
Total lubricants Invitational; Duvashen Padayachee / James Parrish / Phil Alexander / Andrew BollomTOP TEN AGGREGATE TIMES – QUALIFYING
1. #1 Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS 6:28.65
2. #17 Maranello Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia 6:29.61
3. #33 Clearwater Racing Ferrari 458 Italia 6:29.63
4. #23 JBS Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 6:29.73
5. #2 Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS 6:32.25
6. #20 Erebus Racing SLS AMG GT3 6:39.68
7. #22 United Autosport Audi R8 LMS 6:45.41
8. #3 Hunter Sports Group (B) Porsche 997 GT3 6:54.20
9. #21 Black Falcon Racing SLS AMG GT3 7:01.05
10. #65 Southern Cross Lubes (B) Porsche 997 GT3 7:10.39
QUOTEBOARD – Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour Qualifying.CHRISTOPHER MEIS – AUDI R8 LMS GT3
“The field is much stronger this year than last year. We have two strong Ferrari’s, two strong Mercedes. We are in a good car; we are in with a good shot.”
DARRYL O’YOUNG – AUDI R8 LMS GT3
“The pressure is on from the first few laps, you realise you need to respect this track and have to learn it all over again. That was the way I went with my approach. Pole position for us is great, but it’s 12 Hours of racing. That is the key point, the pole is a bonus. Our preparation is great, it is the first time here for Phoenix Racing. The car has been perfect since we pulled it out of the box. The car is very comfortable to driver, the key point for us. Hopefully we can give Audi a good result here.”
CHRISTER JOENS – AUDI R8 LMS GT3
“These two guys won last year, so when I got the job to drive here it was really exciting. I have done a lot of preparation on the simulator and from videos from last year so it has been a good way to learn. I am very happy be here and looking forward to the race tomorrow. It should be a big challenge.”
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ALLAN SIMONSEN – FERRARI 458 ITALIA
“What we learned in November last year has proven to be very helpful this weekend with only three practice sessions. We have Dominic here this weekend, who hasn’t been at this track before so it is important to give everyone some laps in the car everyone is.”
PETER EDWARDS – FERRARI 458 ITALIA
“I feel really comfortable and very happy with my time and I’m happy I didn’t let the guys down. It’s a great team. We’re great mates. Dom’s a new mate and they all speak for themselves.”
DOMINIK FARNBACHER – FERRARI 458 ITALIA
“I’m excited, of course, and it’s a unique track. It gives me Goosebumps going around. There are some great names here – john is a legend here.. and Allan in Denmark! We have a great team and I think tomorrow if we can get through this race without incidents we will see about the result.
“It is very well prepared and I have excellent team mates. The Maranello motorsport team are doing a great job, so we will see.”
JOHN BOWE – FERRARI 458 ITALIA
“The car is really good. Last year Pete and I drove in the 430 – but this, it’s from a different country. It’s nice to have a nice car and nice team mates. Tomorrow is 12 Hours and you just don’t know what’s going to happen across it.
“This sort of race has become quite strategic and relies on a certain amount of luck so you can’t predict it.”
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CRAIG BAIRD – FERRARI 458 ITALIA
“(On eclipsing the 2m08 second lap time restriction in Qualifying) It was a complete mistake, it cost us a little bit going into the race. As JB (John Bowe just said, going into this race you need a little bit of luck, it’s like doing two Bathurst 1000’s. As Cromley said, you have to buy a ticket for the last hour.
“Normally in a Porsche, it (having to stay under a set time) would be ideal for me. I got completely bamboozled by the dash in the Ferrari and that is how the mistake happened.
“I think, like everyone else, you have to go in with your own game plan. Obviously I have raced a lot with Wang a lot in Asia. “
MOK WENG SUNG – FERRARI 458 ITALIA
“It is an absolutely fantastic circuit, I never expected it to be like that. I have watched a lot of video and Bathurst 1000 races on tv before. I was shocked by the elevation changes, I am not used to being in a car where your stomach goes light so much. I am definitely looking forward to having a clean race tomorrow.
“I don’t want to think about that (tomorrow’s result). I have done so many long distance races, you never want to think about the result. I think we have a good car and a good team, just hope that nothing goes wrong.
“We were in a Ferrari last year, we have gotten fantastic support from the factory as well as those who build them for us. It took a little fine tuning to get the cars to run in the heat we run to, like in Malaysia. The car is good now, looking forward to defend that title in Asia again this year.”
MATT GRIFFIN – FERRARI 458 ITALIA
“So far it is awesome. When I told all of my friends back home I was going to race here, one of them emailed me a video of Tom Walkinshaw driving around here in a Jaguar. I thought ‘This is crazy, this place is mental.’ And he said ‘No, no, don’t worry, they have put walls up to protect the trees now!’.
“I have raced all over the world; I have never raced in a place like this. I am really looking forward to tomorrow. Every lap you do around here you get more confidence, it is so, so quick up the mountain and the walls are so close, they look hard – Hopefully I won’t find out how hard.
“Lap by lap we are getting there, the car is good. I know the 458 very well, I have done thousands of kilometres in it and It is really, really good around here. The hardest part was trying not to go to quick, we are used to going as quick as we can go, and to hold back was really difficult. We are really comfortable with how are car is, you always need a little bit of luck but we are confident going in to tomorrow.
“There will be a quicker lap time for sure, once we are let off the leash, if it is clear, obviously a 2m06 is possible, depending on the weather conditions. It is going to be tight, this car is strong, the Audi is strong, as are the Lambo’s and Merc’s.”
ENDS
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