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https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/marci ... penalties/John Dagys wrote:Marciello: Victory Was “Stolen” from GruppeM Due to Penalties
Raffaele Marciello believes victory was “stolen” from GruppeM after series of penalties.
February 3, 2019
Raffaele Marciello believes that a likely victory in Sunday’s Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour was “stolen” from GruppeM Racing after being served what he says were unjustifiable penalties.
The defending Blancpain GT Series champion and co-drivers Maxi Buhk and Maxi Gotz took their No. 999 Mercedes-AMG GT3 to a third place finish, and second-place points in the Intercontinental GT Challenge season-opener, in a race that saw the bright yellow-colored entry handed a pair of drive-through penalties.
The first came in the sixth hour for a breach of the safety car protocol, when Buhk was found to have been warming his tires by weaving back and forth while behind the safety car prior to a restart.
It was followed by a second drive-through for passing under yellow when Marciello was at the wheel.
The penalties, occurring during a four-hour green flag period, dropped the pole-sitting Mercedes to the tail end of the lead lap, with clever pit strategy putting Marciello back in contention for a podium position on the final restart.
“I think we got stolen from a victory,” Marciello told Sportscar365. “I think the Australians treat [race procedures] in a different way to us.
“[Triple Eight] got a drive through and they were able to fight it and it got removed.
“We got two drive throughs. Mine, I didn’t pass under yellow flags. There are pictures as the yellow flag came behind me. We were not able to speak with [the officials].
“I think this is not fair. It’s a great event but they should treat everyone equal.
“We cannot change it. We finished P3. The drivers [can say] we did an amazing job, blah blah blah. But I’m not like this. We came here for a win.
“We did a good job but we didn’t do enough, maybe. So it’s a pity.”
A tactical call to triple stint their Pirelli tires in the end, however, paid off, with the Italian able to hold off Shane van Gisbergen for the final podium position.
Marciello said the team also triple-stinted at the start, although under cooler conditions.
“We had a lot of time lost on track [to other cars] with shorter pit stops so we had to triple stint,” he said.
“I’m quite surprised the tires held up [so well]. The car handled very well and I lost a bit of traction at the end but I thought it would be much worse.
“A big thanks to Pirelli because the tires behaved very well.”
https://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/campb ... -thriller/John Dagys wrote:Campbell Gives EBM Porsche Victory in Bathurst 12H Thriller
Matt Campbell gives EBM Porsche victory in come-from-behind run at Bathurst…
February 3, 2019
Earl Bamber Motorsport has claimed victory in its GT3 debut, following a storming come-from-behind run by Matt Campbell in Sunday’s Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.
Campbell took his No. 912 Porsche 911 GT3 R to a 3.441-second win over the No. 62 R-Motorsport Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 of Jake Dennis after a daring late-race pass for the win.
The Porsche Young Professional got around Dennis for the lead with nine minutes to go at Forrest Elbow and bridged out a gap in the closing moments of the Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli season-opener.
It came after Campbell and the No. 42 Team Schnitzer BMW M6 GT3 of Chaz Mostert made contact while battling for third, moments before the final full-course caution with 30 minutes to go.
A post-race investigation for the incident by race stewards resulted in no further action.
Campbell shared driving duties with Dennis Olsen and Porsche factory driver Dirk Werner, marking Porsche’s first victory in the Australian enduro.
It came in the final professional outing for the German manufacturer’s previous-generation GT3 contender.
Dennis and the R-Motorsport Aston Martin, also in its last pro race, held on for second after fading late on double-stinted Pirelli tires.
Campbell, who emerged form the final round of pit stops in fifth, carved his way through the field as the only car to take fresh tires on his stop with 1 hour and 15 minutes to go in the race.
A caution for the No. 50 M Motorsport KTM X-Bow GT4, which stopped on the Conrod Straight, saw Dennis’ seven-second lead neutralized and set up for the dash to the finish.
Raffaele Marciello held off a hard-charging Shane van Gisbergen for the final podium position in third, in the No. 999 GruppeM Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 he shared with Maxi Buhk and Maxi Gotz.
Mostert, who ran third in the closing stages, completed the top-five in the Schnitzer BMW, ahead of the No. 108 M-Sport Bentley Continental GT3 of Andy Soucek, who lost nearly 40 seconds after stalling his car at pit exit on the final stop.
Six GT3 manufacturers finished in the top-seven, which all finished on the lead lap of the fast-paced race, which featured a four-plus hour caution-free period.
GT3 Pro-Am class honors went to the No. 51 Spirit of Race Ferrari 488 GT3 of Pedro Lamy, Mathias Lauda and Paul Dalla Lana, which finished 9th overall.
It came after a rebounding from a heavy accident in Friday that saw the AF Corse-run squad rebuild the car overnight.
Defending IGTC manufacturer champions Audi had a race to forget, with its highest placed Audi R8 LMS finishing 14th overall after a steering rack issue delayed the No. 2 Team Vavoline entry by nearly ten laps in the eighth hour.
The sister factory backed No. 22 entry, meanwhile, was one of 15 retirements after multiple issues, including a collision with a Pro-Am class Mercedes.
Grove Racing’s Stephen and Brenton Grove and Ben Barker, meanwhile, picked up Class B honors in their No. 4 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Car, which was classified 16th overall.
Results 12h Bathurst
