2011 Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour

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.

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

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

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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

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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   Audi Race Experience Team Joest   Darryl O'Young
  Marc Basseng
  Christopher Mies
Audi R8 LMS GT3 292 12:01:30.7045
5.2 L FSI 2×DOHC V10
2 A 7   Audi Race Experience Team Joest   Mark Eddy
  Craig Lowndes
  Warren Luff
Audi R8 LMS GT3 292 +0.7141
5.2 L FSI 2×DOHC V10
3 A 29   VIP Holdings (Aust) Pty Ltd   Tony Quinn
  Klark Quinn
  Craig Baird
Porsche 997 GT3 Cup R 291 +1 Lap
4.0 L Porsche H6
4 A 38   Wall Racing   David Wall
  Greg Crick
  Barton Mawer
Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S 289 +3 laps
3.8 L Porsche H6
5 B 23   Lago Racing   Roger Lago
  Matt Kingsley
  David Russell
Porsche 997 GT3 Cup 282 +10 laps
3.8 L Porsche H6
6 A 37   Rosso Verde Ireland   Hector Lester
  Luke Searle
  Allan Simonsen
Ferrari 430 GT3 276 +16 laps
4.3 L Ferrari V8
7 B 66   Motorsport Services   Scott O'Donnell
  Simon McLennan
  Miroslav Konôpka
Porsche 996 GT3 Cup 264 +28 laps
3.8 L Porsche H6
8 B 67   Motorsport Services   Allan Dippie
  Steven Thompson
  Mark Maddren
Porsche 996 GT3 Cup 257 +35 laps
3.8 L Porsche H6
9 D 14   Peter Conroy Motorsport   Peter Conroy
  Anthony Robson
  Mark Brame
Mitsubishi Lancer RS Evo X 256 +36 laps
2.0 L 4B11T I4
10 D 28   GWS Personnel Motorsport   Peter O'Donnell
  Matthew Hansen
  Christian D'Agostin
BMW 335i 252 +40 laps
3.0 L twin-turbo I6 N54
11 E 26   GWS Personnel Motorsport   Bruce Tomlinson
  Geoff Fontaine
  Richard Gartner
BMW 130i 244 +48 laps
3.0 L BMW N55 I6
12 C 80   Bruce Lynton BMW   Beric Lynton
  Matt Mackelden
  John Modystach
BMW M3 242 +50 laps
3.2 L BMW S54 I6
13 D 5   Tinkler Motor Sports   Nathan Tinkler
  Jeremy Gray
  Steven Johnson
FPV FG GT 238 +54 laps
5.4 L Boss 315 V8
14 E 68   Motorsport Services   David Glasson
  Dennis Roderick
  Aaron Harris
BMW 130i 235 +57 laps
3.0 L BMW N55 I6
15 B 39   Wall Racing   Paul Tresidder
  Shane Smollen
  Simon Middleton
Porsche 997 GT3 Cup 230 +62 laps
3.8 L Porsche H6
16 E 50   Racer Industries   Chaz Mostert
  Ashley Walsh
  Gerard McLeod
HSV VXR Turbo 227 +65 laps
2.2 L Ecotec I4
17 C 25   Paul Freestone Racing   Paul Freestone
  Hayden Pullen
  David Sieders
Chevrolet Corvette Z06 192 +100 laps
7.0 L LS7 V8
18 C 62   Lee Knappett Racing   Adam Gowans
  Richard Meins
  Chris Lillingston-Price
Lotus Exige S 192 +100 laps
1.8 L supercharged Toyota I4
19 D 3   Maximum Motorsport   Dean Herridge
  John O'Dowd
  Angus Kennard
Subaru Impreza WRX STi 129 +163 laps
2.5 L Subaru H4
DNF A 69   Supabarn Supermarkets Racing   James Koundouris
  Theo Koundouris
  Steve Owen
Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S 261 Driveline
3.8 L Porsche H6
DNF A 12   Hallmarc Racing   Marc Cini
  David Reynolds
  Dean Fiore
Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S 196 Accident
3.8 L Porsche H6
DNF D 43   Alan East Motorsport   Leigh Burges
  Damien Flack
  Neil McFadyen
Mitsubishi Lancer RS Evo IX 165 Turbo
2.0 L 4G63T I4
DNF A 17   Maranello Motorsport   Peter Edwards
  John Bowe
  Tim Leahey
Ferrari 430 GT3 161 Engine
4.3 L Ferrari V8
DNF E 27   GWS Personnel Motorsport   Garth Duffy
  Alan Shepherd
  Paul Stubber
BMW 130i 106 Spun off
3.0 L BMW N55 I6
DNF C 44   Donut King Racing   Tony Alford
  Peter Leemhuis
  Mal Rose
Nissan R35 GT-R 102 Gearbox/Accident
3.8 L Twin-turbo VR38DETT V6
DNF A 2   Procon Developments   Geoff Emery
  Dean Grant
  Max Twigg
Mosler MT900 GT3 11 Accident
7.0 L LS7 V8

Statistics

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* 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

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  1. ^ a b 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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