4th - 7th OCTOBER 2012
I thought that seeing as we as a forum seem to have an attraction to the big event in Australian Touring Cars, indeed one of the major and most iconic Touring Car events around the world, the Bathurst 1000 on the glorious Mount Panorama circuit, I would start an exclusive thread to cover this, a very special 50th anniversary event this year.
Ironically the pre race media here has been up an running for a few days now, with many teams running special one of retro liveries for the event. Love them or hate them, and personally I am all in favour, they will provide I am sure, the long time spectators that have been annual pilgrims to the Mountain come the first weekend in October, are already into full "I can remember the day when....." mode.
I will put together something of a preview to the race, which starts local time 10.30am (I think we here are currently +8 hours on Central Euro Time ... ie Euro start time is 2.30am). I also know that the race is traditionally shown live in many parts of Europe (Motors TV in UK?)... I also know that this year the race is being aired live on Speed TV in the US.
We get live coverage from 7am to 6pm. (Unfortunately the race finish will clash with the running of the Japanese GP I fear)
Race Format:
Thursday:
Practice: 2 x 50 min (all drivers)
1 x 45 min (co-drivers only)
Friday:
Practice: 1 x 45 min (co-drivers only)
1 x 50 min (all drivers)
Qualifying: 1 x 40 min
Saturday:
Practice: 1 x 50 min
Top 10 Shootout
Sunday:
Warm-up: 1 x 20 min
Race: 1 x 1000km (161 laps)
Tyre Format:
Only the hard compound Dunlop control tyre will be seen this
weekend, with each entry receiving eight new sets. An additional
three sets of pre-marked hards can be brought for practice.
Here is a timetable for race day.....
Race overview.
The Bathurst 1000 is a 1000 kilometre (620 miles) race held annually at Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. The race was traditionally run on the first Sunday in October but is now held on the second Sunday. The race traces its lineage to the 1960 Armstrong 500.
The Armstrong 500, which became the Hardie Ferodo 500/1000 and later the Bathurst 1000, was first held on 20 November 1960 at Phillip Island in Victoria over 500-mile (800 km) to determine which car had the best combination of speed, performance and reliability.
The popularity of the race continued to grow so rapidly during the 1960s that by 1966 most major manufacturers operating in the Australian market became heavily involved in what became known as "the Great Race". This is because an outright win in the long and tough race would add great credibility to the car and its brand, especially in proving the winning car-brand offered the best overall package in terms of performance, durability, reliability and image. This proved to be a great marketing opportunity to increase sales and market share in the local market, and so the famous "Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday" concept was born.
Notably, it was during this period that the famous Holden-Ford-Chrysler rivalry originated.Holden has won the most races of all the car makes (25) and Ford is the second most successful with 14. The Bathurst 1000 race was intially intended for small vehicles, as it was thought V8s would struggle due to the conditions and the required driving techniques. However, a Mini Cooper S' outright win in 1966 was the last time a naturally aspirated 4 cylinder car won at Bathurst. From then on V8s and V6s have dominated the winners table. The most successful driver at Bathurst is Peter Brock, whose nine victories (1972, 1975, 1978–80, 1982–84 and 1987) earned him the nickname King of the Mountain.
Since then 49 races have taken place under the combined history of two events at two venues in two states. It is known among fans and broadcasters as "The Great Race", and is widely regarded as the pinnacle of Australian motorsport. Since 2000, the race has been run exclusively for V8 Supercars and is now a round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series.
The race winners receive the Peter Brock Trophy which was introduced at the 2006 race in honour of nine-time Bathurst winner Peter Brock, most successful driver in the history of the race.
While the 50th year of the race is being celebrated, there are a range of other milestones to highlight.
- This year is the 35th anniversary of the famous Ford 1-2 form finish by Allan Moffat and Colin Bond in the 1977 race.
- This year is also the 45th anniversary of the first V8-powered car winning the Bathurst endurance race - and also of the first Falcon win - given it was in 1967 that Harry Firth and Fred Gibson won the-then 500-mile race in an XR GT Falcon V8.
- This year is the 25th anniversary of Peter Brock’s ninth and final win in the race in 1987 as well as the introduction of the Chase to the circuit, which extended the lap length and reduced the race distance from 163 to 161 laps.
The Chase is actually reverting to its original name this year, that being the Caltex Chase.
For those that might be a little confused over the 50th Anniversary.... bear in mind the actual event was first run at Phillip Island until moving following track upgrades required at a crumbling P1.
V8 Supercars is this year celebrating the ‘50th year’ of the race
being held at Bathurst. This is not to be confused with the ‘50th
anniversary’, which will take place next year, or the ‘50th running’,
due to the staging of two races in both 1997 and 1998 (one for V8
Supercars and one for Super Tourers). The first three editions of
‘The Great Race’, which were held at Phillip Island, are not included
in the celebrations.
THE CIRCUIT
Originally constructed in 1938 as a scenic tourist drive, Mount Panorama has hosted all types of motorsport including the world famous Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, the annual 12 Hour GT race, 24 Hour endurance races and the Easter motorcycle meetings.
The circuit is public road on non-race weekends and has also hosted the Australian Grand Prix in the past. It remains one of the all-time favourite circuits of V8 Supercar drivers and is ranked among the great race tracks of the world.
Circuit Overview
Location: Bathurst, New South Wales
Length: 6.21 kilometres
Direction: Anti-Clockwise
Maximum speed: 300km/h
Fastest Point: Conrod Straight
Average Speed: 178km/h
V8 Supercars Lap Records
Practice/Qualifying 2010 Craig Lowndes Holden Commodore VE 2:06.8012s
Race 2008 Jamie Whincup Ford Falcon BF 2:08.4651s
RETRO LIVERIES
We have of course also a number of members who are great fans of the original 'King of the Mountain', 9 time winner Peter Brock, who sadly left us a week prior to the 2006 race.... Another forum favourite is 5 times winner Craig Lowndes, one time protegee of Peter and it is only fitting therefore that the association of Craig and Peter with the fact that Craig is the name that appears most on on the Peter Brock Trophy now awarded to the race winner, should be represented in the first of the special Bathurst 50th year liveries. This livery is only to be found on the 888 Lowndes / Luff car.... Whincups car will run the traditional Vodafone livery.
The launch of the livery was spectacular to say the least, with the race car arriving at the top of the Mountain at 'Brocky's skyline' mounted on a big pallet, hanging on a rope under a helicopter..... all very M.A.S.H style
Craig then drove Bev (long time partner of Peter) Brock down to the pitlane in the race car for the official part of the launch.
Some piccies.....
This is one of the liveries remembered in the Vodafone 2012 tribute.... notice the triangular Red on the 'Malboro Mountain has changed..... this was to overcome any protests over the anti smokers who think otherwise, with any resemblance or direct similarity to the old Marlboro pack we will all be rushing out to buy multiple packs of Malboro ciggies and take up smoking.....
Brocky in the Marlboro Holden Torana A9X
And a video of the launch.......
Various other V8 Supercar teams will modify their existing liveries to pay homeage to some of the iconic drivers, teams
and cars that have made up the race’s history.
ENTRY LIST>
BATHURST ROOKIE DRIVERS
There are five drivers in this year’s field making their Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 debut:
ScottMcLaughlin (#19 Tekno Autosports),
Christian Klien (#66 Supercheap Auto Racing),
Alexandre Premat (#33 Fujitsu Racing/GRM),
Scott Pye (#30 Team iSelect)
JesseDixon (#23 Shannons carsales.com.au Racing).
Some notable entry related trivia......
Klien is the first Austrian driver to compete in the race since the late Roland Ratzenberger and Mercedes Stermitz drove
factory BMWs in 1987, while Premat is the first French driver since Yvan Muller co-drove with Craig Lowndes in 2005.
Jesse Dixon was the winner of this years Shannons Supercar Showdown..... the TV prog with a winner takes a seat in the Kelly Bros run Shannons V8SC entry. Last year's winner was a 17 year old (an L Plate driver on the road!) Cameron Waters, and the pair will share the Shannons entry. He is to date the youngest ever starter of the Great Race.
They will become the youngest-ever combination in the history of the race.
Eighteen-year-old Waters, 20-year-old Dixon and their combined age of 38 will undercut the previous record of 39 held by Jack Perkins and Shane Price from 2006.
The Waters/Dixon car is the only wildcard entry in this year’s Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.
A couple of drivers are missing from the grid for the first time in many years.
Now V8 Supercars Commission Chairman, Mark Skaife will miss his first Bathurst in 25 years while 2000 winner Jason
Bargwanna is absent from the entry list for the first time in 16 years.
13 of the 29 co-drivers in the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 will be performing ‘double duty’ and competing in one of the support categories over the course of the race weekend.
The drivers who will be busy jumping backwards and forwards between cars over this year’s Bathurst weekend are:
Dunlop Series (7)
Scott McLaughlin, Nick Percat, Dale Wood, Tim Blanchard, Andrew Jones, Luke Youlden, Scott Pye
Porsche Carrera Cup (5)
Craig Baird, Steve Richards, Daniel Gaunt, Alex Davison, Jonny Reid
V8 Utes (1)
Cameron McConville
Tradingpost FPR’s Will Davison and IRWIN Racing’s Lee Holdsworth will both rack up a special milestone at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 when the two Ford drivers each make their 100th V8 Supercars Championship event start.
They become just the 34th and 35th drivers to have reached the 100 event milestone in the 50-plus year history of
the Australian Touring Car Championship/ V8 Supercars Championship.
In experience terms last year Skaife and Lowndes had 41 starts between them....
Paul Morris and Steve Owen will be the most experienced combination this year.
They have 32 starts in the race between them with Morris to make his first-ever Bathurst start in a Ford this year. Interesting if he will remain the trouble maker he has been throughout his life. Waste of space.
The next most experienced combination in the race are:
Dick Smith Sandown 500 winners Craig Lowndes and Warren Luff - 30 starts
Greg Murphy/Owen Kelly (29 starts),
Mark Winterbottom/Steve Richards (28 starts),
Steven Johnson/Allan Simonsen (26 starts),
James Courtney/ Cameron McConville (26 starts),
Lee Holdsworth/Craig Baird (25 starts),
Jason Bright/Andrew Jones (25 starts)
Jamie Whincup/Paul Dumbrell (23 starts).
Only 6 of this years pairings are the same as last year....
Last years winners Garth Tander and Nick Percat (Nick was the first rookie winner in over 30 years)
Tony D’Alberto/Dale Wood,
Mark Winterbottom/Steve Richards
Jason Bright/Andrew Jones,
James Courtney/ Cameron McConville and
Steve Owen/Paul Morris.
HISTORY
Re the entry list, we have again got some overseas racing identities running..... Christian Klien (Ex F1, LMS, etc etc) is partering Russel Ingall in the #66 Supercheap entry.
Over the years racing ‘royalty’ has competed with a list of who’s who including Jack Brabham, Stirling Moss, Johnny Rutherford, Jacky Ickx (1977 winner), Denny Hulme, Armin Hahne (1985 winner), Rauno Aaltonen (1966 winner), Janet Guthrie, Dieter Quester, Johnny Cecotto, Roberto Ravaglia, Gianfranco Brancatelli, Roland Ratzenberger, Emanuele Pirro, Klaus Niedzwiedz, Klaus Ludwig, Henri Pescarolo, Derek Bell, John Fitzpatrick, Satoru Nakajima and many, many others from International Touring Car Categories world wide.
And then there was German royalty. His Royal Highness Prince Leopold Von Bayern of Bavaria and of course he drove a BMW.
During the days of the Group A formula Prince Leopold was enticed to Bathurst to race in the 1000km race in 1984.
He was sided with the 1967 F1 World Champion Denny Hulme in Frank Gardner’s JPS Team BMW 635CSi.
The pair managed to finish 15th, second in class but four laps behind the class-winning TWR Rover. But not after the Prince destroyed the car in practice when he arrived at the Dipper thinking it was a fast corner...... went in so hard that he also destroyed TV cameras the other side of a concrete barrier.
A BIT OF TECH STUFF...... Bathurst Tech Preview By Cameron Little
Bathurst is a special race because it’s just so hard to get right.
It’s a race that rewards preparation, but often it comes down
to a bit of luck on the day. People say you make your own
luck, but Bathurst is a place where sometimes it just works for or
against you.
I’ve personally been on both sides of it over the years through my
involvement firstly with the Tony Longhurst/Tomas Mezera Sierra
in 1988, and later with the Stone Brothers (1998) and Triple Eight
(2006-2008). The first win was a bit of a blur - there was lots of
controversy going on in the background and it was hard work. But
the one with Stones was just a really good day where our strategy
worked perfectly.
Strategy
It’s obviously a very different race now then it was five years ago
thanks to the E85 fuel. The range of the cars is 25 laps, give or
take, which makes it a six and a half stint race with fairly big fuel
windows. You can do all the saving in the world and it’ll only get
you one lap further.
Economy is still important though - it’s all about knowing how
to drive fast and not use fuel. The last two years we’ve seen the
cars really stretched on the last stint due to Safety Car timing. I
believe that last year the main reason that Craig (Lowndes) couldn’t
really chase Garth (Tander) in that final stint was fuel. If you look
at Craig’s lap times he was doing 2:10s and I think they could go
faster than that. The year before it was only that late Safety Car (for
Will Davison’s crash) that saved about 10 people (including the
TeamVodafone cars) from having to stop again.
Having fuel-in-hand at the pitstops is very important at Bathurst,
but it’s a funny one because if you’ve got a competitive team-mate
you need track position to make it work. We’ve even seen in the
past that the second car has fuel-in-hand but has to sit and wait,
which can effectively be a 15 second penalty.
Stacking was obviously a major issue in 2011, and with the four
favoured cars this year coming from just two teams, there’s a real
possibility that it could decide the race. Last year it was the timing
of the yellows that forced Triple Eight to keep stacking their cars,
which obviously hurt Craig quite badly. If you’re pitting under
green then clearly you’d service your cars a lap apart, but if the
yellows fly in certain windows then you’re really stuck.
Tyres
Bathurst isn’t a place that’s hard on tyres, but you still have to make
sure you manage them across the weekend. We only get eight new
sets, and you need at least seven for the race, so you can’t afford
to flat-spot a single one.
The three sets of pre-marked tyres won’t get you through all of
practice, so you can’t head into the race with a full complement
of green tyres, but that’s not a big issue. You’ll get one good lap
out of a green tyre, but the big issue, particularly at Bathurst, is
a couple of key kerb strikes. That means you have to be quite
careful to stay away from those kerbs on your out-lap while the
pressures come up, so trying to get the most out of the green tyre
is counterproductive. Because it’s such a long way, you’ve really go
to stay off the kerbs and take it easy.
The only time you really get into trouble with tyres at Bathurst is
if you push the envelope with cambers and pressures. That’s been
going on for years, so it’s not anything that should be surprising
anybody.
Co-drivers
The co-drivers are always an important part of the endurance
races and since the rules came in splitting the primary drivers,
we’ve seen a greater mix of primary and co-drivers on-track at the
same time. That can put the pressure on the part-timers, so cool
heads and experience can be at a premium.
It’s interesting to see how some of the co-drivers perform
differently at the two circuits as well. John McIntyre was one of the
real standouts at Bathurst last year with Stone Brothers - he was
faster than Van Giz (Shane van Gisbergen) for most of the day last
year, but then at Sandown in our car he struggled a little bit.
Braking confidence is just so big at Sandown, so on the other
side of the coin you’ve got guys like Paul Dumbrell. He’s always
very strong at Sandown, but then last year we went to Bathurst
and Dean Canto was faster than him in every stint. It’s swings and
roundabouts when you go to different circuits.
Brakes
There are obviously a lot of other things to watch for throughout
the race. Brakes are an interesting one, with teams varying
between doing just one stop for pads to doing two pad stops and
a rotor change like we did last year. That depends a lot on which
of the pad options you take, so it varies between teams. Brake
cooling is also an interesting one as you have to balance your
desire to run blanking for aero against the basic need to lower
the temperatures. You get a big brake temp variation at Bathurst
because of the lengths of the straights.
Overall I think it’s going to be a really good race and not just
between FPR and Triple Eight. HRT always step up at Bathurst.
Garth in particular is always very good here, and Russell (Ingall)
can’t be discounted either.
The fuel-in-hand factor means that anyone can pit under every
Safety Car to take a drink of fuel and, if the Safety Cars fall right,
jump right to the front, which is something we saw BJR do that
quite well last year. Obviously you need to have the pace to
maintain a high position, but it can really make the race interesting
in the closing stages
PREVIOUS EVENT WINNERS(both P.I and Mt Panorama):
Year Driver Team Car
2011 Garth Tander/Nick Percat Toll Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VEII
2010 Craig Lowndes/Mark Skaife TeamVodafone Holden Commodore VE II
2009 Garth Tander/Will Davison Toll Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VE
2008 Craig Lowndes/Jamie Whincup TeamVodafone Ford Falcon BF
2007 Craig Lowndes/Jamie Whincup TeamVodafone Ford Falcon BF
2006 Craig Lowndes/Jamie Whincup Team Betta Electrical Ford Falcon BA
2005 Mark Skaife/Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VZ
2004 Greg Murphy/Rick Kelly Kmart Racing Team Holden Commodore VY
2003 Greg Murphy/Rick Kelly Kmart Racing Team Holden Commodore VY
2002 Mark Skaife/Jim Richards Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VX
2001 Mark Skaife/Tony Longhurst Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VX
2000 Garth Tander/Jason Bargwanna Valvoline Cummins Repco Team Holden Commodore VT
1999 Greg Murphy/Steven Richards Wynn's Australia P/L Holden Commodore VT
1998 Jason Bright/Steven Richards Pirtek Australia P/L Ford Falcon EL
1998 Rickard Rydell/Jim Richards Volvo S40 Racing Volvo S40
1997 Larry Perkins/Russell Ingall Castrol Perkins Racing Holden Commodore VS
1997 Geoff Brabham/David Brabham BMW Motorsport Australia BMW 320i
1996 Craig Lowndes/Greg Murphy Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VR
1995 Larry Perkins/Russell Ingall Castrol Perkins Racing Holden Commodore VR
1994 Dick Johnson/John Bowe Shell-FAI Racing Ford Falcon EB
1993 Larry Perkins/Gregg Hansford Castrol Perkins Racing Holden Commodore VP
1992 Jim Richards/Mark Skaife Winfield Racing Nissan GT-R
1991 Jim Richards/Mark Skaife Nissan Motor Sport Nissan GT-R
1990 Allan Grice/Win Percy Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VL SS Group A SV
1989 Dick Johnson/John Bowe Shell Ultra-Hi Racing Ford Sierra RS500
1988 Tony Longhurst/Tomas Mezera Benson & Hedges Racing Ford Sierra RS500
1987 P.Brock/D.Parsons/P.McLeod HDT Racing P/L Holden Commodore VL SS Group A
1986 Allan Grice/Graeme Bailey Chickadee Chicken Holden Commodore VK SS Group A
1985 Armin Hahne/John Goss JRA Ltd/Jaguar Racing Jaguar XJ-S
1984 Peter Brock/Larry Perkins Marlboro Holden Dealer Team Holden Commodore VK
1983 P.Brock/L.Perkins/J.Harvey Marlboro Holden Dealer Team Holden Commodore VH
1982 Peter Brock/Larry Perkins Marlboro Holden Dealer Team Holden Commodore VH
1981 Dick Johnson/John French Palmer Tube Mills Ford Falcon XD
1980 Peter Brock/Jim Richards Marlboro Holden Dealer Team Holden Commodore VC
1979 Peter Brock/Jim Richards Marlboro Holden Dealer Team Holden Torana SS A9X
1978 Peter Brock/Jim Richards Marlboro Holden Dealer Team Holden Torana SS A9X
1977 Allan Moffat/Jacky Ickx Moffat Ford Dealers Ford Falcon XC
1976 Bob Morris/John Fitzpatrick Ron Hodgson Motors Holden Torana SL/R 5000 L34
1975 Peter Brock/Brian Sampson Gown-Hindhaugh Holden Torana SL/R 5000 L34
1974 John Goss/Kevin Bartlett McLeod Ford – 2UW Ford Falcon XA GT
1973 Allan Moffat/Ian Geoghegan Ford Motor Company Australia Ltd Ford Falcon XA GT
1972 Peter Brock Holden Dealer Team Holden Torana GTR XU-1
1971 Allan Moffat Ford Motor Company of Australia Ford Falcon XY GT-HO
1970 Allan Moffat Ford Motor Company of Australia Ford Falcon XW GT-HO
1969 Colin Bond/Tony Roberts Holden Dealer Team Holden Monaro GTS 350
1968 Bruce McPhee/Barry Mulholland Wyong Motors Pty Ltd Holden Monaro GTS 327
1967 Harry Firth/Fred Gibson Ford Motor Company Ford Falcon XR GT
1966 Rauno Aaltonen/Bob Holden BMC Australia Morris Cooper S
1965 Bo Seton/Midge Bosworth Fairfield Motors Pty Ltd Ford Cortina GT500
1964 Bob Jane/George Reynolds Ford Motor Company Ford Cortina GT
1963 Harry Firth/Bob Jane Ford Motor Company Ford Cortina GT
1962 Bob Jane/Harry Firth Ford Motor Company Ford Falcon XL
1961 Bob Jane/Harry Firth Autoland Pty Ltd Mercedes-Benz 220SE
1960 John Roxburgh/Frank Coad S.A. Cheney Vauxhall Cresta
In recent years we have seen something of a T888 and HRT dominanance..... especially if you include the wins of the say the K Mart Holdens (which were a part of the HRT empire, but ran as a different team to HRT. In fact if you look at the results this way, the last non T888 / HRT winner was Garth Tander and Jason Bargwana back in 2000, when they won in a Gary Rogers Valvoline, Cummins & Repco backed Holden.
2011 Bathurst Race Result.
2011 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000
Scheduled Distance: 161 Laps (1000km)
pos # driver car laps race time q
1 2 G.Tander / N.Percat Holden Commodore VE2 161 06:26:52.2691 9
2 888 C.Lowndes / M.Skaife Holden Commodore VE2 161 06:26:52.5608 3
3 11 G.Murphy / A.Simonsen Holden Commodore VE2 161 06:27:04.0641 1
4 5 M.Winterbottom / S.Richards Ford Falcon FG 161 06:27:11.7877 10
5 8 J.Bright / A.Jones Holden Commodore VE2 161 06:27:12.1918 18
6 9 S.Van Gisbergen / J.McIntyre Ford Falcon FG 161 06:27:25.8804 5
7 1 J.Courtney / C.McConville Holden Commodore VE2 161 06:27:28.4741 4
8 200 R.Ingall / J.Perkins Holden Commodore VE2 161 06:27:29.4516 25
9 3 T.D’Alberto / D.Wood Ford Falcon FG 161 06:27:33.9441 23
10 34 M.Caruso / M.Marshall Holden Commodore VE2 161 06:27:40.1258 14
11 49 S.Owen / P.Morris Holden Commodore VE2 161 06:27:42.0196 6
12 47 T.Slade / D.Gaunt Ford Falcon FG 161 06:27:42.3904 15
13 19 J.Webb / R.Lyons Ford Falcon FG 161 06:27:43.1531 26
14 21 K.Reindler / D.Wall Holden Commodore VE2 161 06:27:47.6209 27
15 30 W.Luff / N.Pretty Holden Commodore VE2 161 06:27:57.0766 22
16 4 A.Davison / D.Brabham Ford Falcon FG 161 06:28:04.1190 12
17 33 L.Holdsworth / G.Ritter Holden Commodore VE2 161 06:28:29.8879 13
18 6 W.Davison / L.Youlden Ford Falcon FG 161 06:28:40.5818 2
19 16 D.Reynolds / T.Blanchard Holden Commodore VE2 161 06:28:55.5565 7
20 12 D.Fiore/M.Patrizi Ford Falcon FG 160 06:27:01.0932 28
21 88 J.Whincup/A.Thompson Holden Commodore VE2 160 06:27:05.4642 8
22 15 R.Kelly/O.Kelly Holden Commodore VE2 159 06:28:29.2994 16
23 14 J.Bargwanna/S.Price Holden Commodore VE2 158 06:27:39.1809 21
24 7 T.Kelly/David Russell Holden Commodore VE2 154 06:28:31.6207 19
25 18 J.Moffat/M.Halliday Ford Falcon FG 146 06:28:06.6759 17
DNF 55 P.Dumbrell/D.Canto Ford Falcon FG 144 05:51:01.7182 11
DNF 17 S.Johnson/D.Besnard Ford Falcon FG 112 04:21:49.5665 24
DNF 777 G.Denyer/C.Waters Holden Commodore VE2 95 06:28:10.8761 29
DNF 61 F.Coulthard/C.Baird Holden Commodore VE2 13 43:08.8590 20
Fastest Lap: Jamie Whincup, 2:09.3340s (Lap 127)
Safety Cars: 8 for a total of 15 laps
A MUST WATCH.....
One thing I must add, and one of the funniest things I have seen on a racetrack in a while, was Darrel Waltrips trip down under to have a passenger lap round what he referred to a a 'Geological Oddity', whilst he was to add a simple commentary......
Some more pics and that is it for now..... I will add more as I collate it all together.
Click for larger: