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GT Racing
GT: Bathurst 12 Hour Notebook
News and notes from Mount Panorama ahead of Sunday’s Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour...
Erebus Racing will be seeking victory in its Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3, run in conjunction with Dubai 24 winners Black Falcon. (Photo: John Dagys)
BLEEKEMOLEN, GRIFFIN SEEK ENDURANCE DOUBLE — Despite only being two months into the 2012 season, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Matt Griffin could notch their second major endurance race victory of the year in Sunday’s Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour.
Bleekemolen, who was part of Black Falcon’s Dubai 24-winning lineup, is making his Bathurst debut in an Erebus Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3, run in conjunction with the German squad that he was victorious with last month.
“There's not a lot of things you can compare,” Bleekemolen said of Dubai vs. Bathurst. “The track is very different, as Dubai is more like the new F1 tracks. It's different with the refueling and different with the stint times as well. I guess this is more or less like a standalone race. I like it as it's a new experience and it's good to be here.”
The 2010 ALMS GTC champion gained his first laps of the famed Mount Panorama on Friday, along with co-driver Bret Curtis and Bathurst veterans Tim Slade and Peter Hackett. Despite the gull-winged beast having suffered an accident in practice, Bleekemolen is optimistic of their chances tomorrow.
“They are great guys,” he said. “When you see the way they run it, they do it properly. I think we have a really good combination with Black Falcon knowing the cars well and Erebus knowing the track.”
For Griffin, a winner in last month’s Gulf 12 Hours at Abu Dhabi with AF Corse, the Irishman also heads into his first Bathurst 12 Hour but with reigning Asian GT champions Clearwater Racing and the local experience of V8 star Craig Baird as co-driver.
“I think for any driver to come here is a real privilege,” Griffin said. “We know the Ferrari is good and I know the car very well. Touch wood, it has shown its reliability. We've put the pieces together, but as with all endurance races, you never know.
“It's 12 hours and around here, as a driver, you need to be mentally 100 percent the entire time. Not having absolute concentration isn't a case of running wide, it's a case of hitting something real hard.”
A HELPING HAND FROM BATHURST LEGEND — There’s probably nobody more successful around Mount Panorama than Craig Lowndes. The three-time V8 Supercar champion and five-time Bathurst 1000 winner returns to the wheel of an Audi R8 LMS this weekend, rejoining fellow Aussies Warren Luff and reigning Australian GT Champion Mark Eddy in the No. 2 Phoenix Racing entry, which qualified fifth.
However, on Thursday Lowndes gave a crash course lesson to United Autosports drivers, and Bathurst rookies, Mark Patterson, Alain Li and Frank Yu, in a road car around one of the world's most challenging and unforgiving circuits.
So what are some of the keys to success, from Mr. Bathurst himself?
“It's more of the brake points, the turn in points, what to look for, areas where you can push the car and experiment a little bit and areas across the top of the mountain where you really can't afford to do that because you'll be into the wall,” Lowndes explained.
“I just tried to give them a 20-minute crash course on what Bathurst is all about. I said to them, if they could just work up to it and look after the car, the Audis are very reliable and strong cars, it should go the distance. It's up to those guys to look after it.”
The lesson appeared to have paid off, as all three drivers quickly adapted to the 23-turn, 3.861-mile circuit on Friday and made considerable improvements in their times in qualifying... and most importantly, they've kept the red, white and blue Audi off the walls.
PHOTOS: Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour
Bleekemolen, who was part of Black Falcon’s Dubai 24-winning lineup, is making his Bathurst debut in an Erebus Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3, run in conjunction with the German squad that he was victorious with last month.
“There's not a lot of things you can compare,” Bleekemolen said of Dubai vs. Bathurst. “The track is very different, as Dubai is more like the new F1 tracks. It's different with the refueling and different with the stint times as well. I guess this is more or less like a standalone race. I like it as it's a new experience and it's good to be here.”
The 2010 ALMS GTC champion gained his first laps of the famed Mount Panorama on Friday, along with co-driver Bret Curtis and Bathurst veterans Tim Slade and Peter Hackett. Despite the gull-winged beast having suffered an accident in practice, Bleekemolen is optimistic of their chances tomorrow.
“They are great guys,” he said. “When you see the way they run it, they do it properly. I think we have a really good combination with Black Falcon knowing the cars well and Erebus knowing the track.”
For Griffin, a winner in last month’s Gulf 12 Hours at Abu Dhabi with AF Corse, the Irishman also heads into his first Bathurst 12 Hour but with reigning Asian GT champions Clearwater Racing and the local experience of V8 star Craig Baird as co-driver.
“I think for any driver to come here is a real privilege,” Griffin said. “We know the Ferrari is good and I know the car very well. Touch wood, it has shown its reliability. We've put the pieces together, but as with all endurance races, you never know.
“It's 12 hours and around here, as a driver, you need to be mentally 100 percent the entire time. Not having absolute concentration isn't a case of running wide, it's a case of hitting something real hard.”
A HELPING HAND FROM BATHURST LEGEND — There’s probably nobody more successful around Mount Panorama than Craig Lowndes. The three-time V8 Supercar champion and five-time Bathurst 1000 winner returns to the wheel of an Audi R8 LMS this weekend, rejoining fellow Aussies Warren Luff and reigning Australian GT Champion Mark Eddy in the No. 2 Phoenix Racing entry, which qualified fifth.
However, on Thursday Lowndes gave a crash course lesson to United Autosports drivers, and Bathurst rookies, Mark Patterson, Alain Li and Frank Yu, in a road car around one of the world's most challenging and unforgiving circuits.
So what are some of the keys to success, from Mr. Bathurst himself?
“It's more of the brake points, the turn in points, what to look for, areas where you can push the car and experiment a little bit and areas across the top of the mountain where you really can't afford to do that because you'll be into the wall,” Lowndes explained.
“I just tried to give them a 20-minute crash course on what Bathurst is all about. I said to them, if they could just work up to it and look after the car, the Audis are very reliable and strong cars, it should go the distance. It's up to those guys to look after it.”
The lesson appeared to have paid off, as all three drivers quickly adapted to the 23-turn, 3.861-mile circuit on Friday and made considerable improvements in their times in qualifying... and most importantly, they've kept the red, white and blue Audi off the walls.
PHOTOS: Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour
FIA GT Nogaro
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