What. A. Race.
After Saturday’s drama filled qualifying session where Mika
Salo broke the previous qualifying record, only to have Maro Engel edge him out
by 0.0835 seconds, it was a safe bet that the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour would
not disappoint. And it didn’t. After 12 hours of racing, and 296 laps laid
down, five cars were on the lead lap. Of those five, there was a Ferrari, two
Mercedes, a McLaren, and an Audi. After 720 minutes of racing the gap from
first to second was only 0.4 seconds. Insane doesn’t quite cut it.
Even before the race began, the main story was attrition.
Four cars didn’t even make it to race day after severe accidents on Friday and
Saturday. And on Sunday, it didn’t take long before cars started dropping out
of the race. All in all, twelve
cars retired as Mount Panorama fought back. It threw everything, including
kangaroos, at the drivers and the ones who finished found their own kind of
victory.
While the main race deserves the bulk of the attention, a
quick word needs to be said about the little team who found victory in more
than one sense. Fiat Chrysler Australia sent three Abarths to run around the
track. All three cars finished and, more importantly, all three cars gave
racing room to avoid other competitors. A perfect example of their polite
manners came with the last safety car period. Two of the Fiats were in between
a huge battle and the team kindly pulled their cars into pit lane rather than
have them be moving chicanes for the faster classes. Another thing Fiat did was
to send “comfort packs” to the marshals, saying they worried the little cars
would give the marshals extra work and the team wanted to apologize in advance.
While it was a pleasant surprise that the little cars made it to the end, it
was also a celebration that they raced cleanly and I applaud the team for a job
well done.
Another team who surprised the field was Rotek Racing. The
class B group, running an Audi R8, led the field overall twice! Richard Meins and David Gleason, along with
superstars Oliver Gavin and Rob Huff shared driving duties. It was Gavin, the
Corvette factory driver on loan, who electrified from the start. But it wasn’t
a fairy tale ending for this car. A rare engine issue plagued the Audi and
forced an early retirement of one of the early favorites. These guys aren’t
down and out though. The Rotek team, based in Germany, should be back at the 24
Hours of the Nurburgring in June and I think they’ll be real contenders there.
Last year’s race was amazing. The caliber of drivers who
turned out to challenge the mountain was impressive. But that was nothing
compared to this year. Champions from Porsche Super Cup, the American Le Mans
Series, World Touring Cars, Pirelli World Challenge, DTM and V8 Supercars (just
to name a few) decided to compete in the Bathurst 12 Hour. What a show they put
on! It wasn’t just the big names who surprised and delighted with superb
performances, however. The young kids, aged 25 and under, caught a lot of
attention too. Shane van Gisbergen, 24, probably got the most attention for his
spectacular battles with the Erebus cars. He wheeled around the orange McLaren
with finesse and a lack of regard for the laws of physics. At one point, Shane
made a pass on the #1 car in a place where no one passes. Instead of being thrown
violently into the wall due to lack of grip, Shane took the lead. The crowd
roared and SVG became even more of a legend. Jack LeBrocq, 21, is another who hit
his stride, as well as a dead kangaroo lying in the track due to a collision
with the #23 car. Even though his aero was seriously deranged from that
incident, Jack still manhandled the #63 Erebus Mercedes around the circuit, and
set some lap times others couldn’t match. Around six hours into the race, his
car found even more aero “updates” when it lost most of the front right
paneling. I asked Jack if the car was a beast to handle and he replied, “No,
it’s just more fun!” Clearly, a crazy naïve fellow. The last young gun I’ll
mention is Earl Bamber. Earl, 23, already has attention on a global stage after
his triumph in the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia last year. Earl drove the Class B
winning car at Bathurst, but had his highlight of the weekend hours before the
finish. The Kiwi passed Patrick Long, a factory Porsche driver, after a good
battle. He got out of the car beaming. I’ll be keeping an eye on him to do well
in Super Cup, where he’ll be racing this year.
It’d be a mistake not to mention the final laps and the
drama associated with them. The battle for the win came down to HTP and
Maranello Motorsports. HTP were certain underdogs, who had to rebuild their car
from a crash in Friday’s practice. Then in the early stages of the race, they also
fix the front right wheel area, which put them six laps down. They overcame all
of these obstacles to finish second, an admirable achievement. It looked for a
while like the Mercedes would easily be able to overtake the leading Ferrari
but then a brilliant move by the Ferrari would surprise us all. Time and time
again, this pattern went on. Behind them, a battle for third raged on between
the McLaren and the injured #63 Erebus Mercedes for third, ultimately resulting
in the podium finish for the latter. But it was the Maranello Motorsports
Ferrari who came out on top and got the win for their late friend, Allan
Simonsen. Could you say they were meant to win? I think so. When I interviewed
Craig Lowdnes a few hours before the end of the race, he said the heat really
wasn’t helping their tyre wear. The track and ambient temperature started to
drop shortly there after. Craig held off the charging Mercedes of HTP and took
the win by a small margin, a mere 0.4 seconds after 12 hours of racing. I’d
like to think the Ferrari had help from a fifth driver in that victory, one who
wasn’t there on the entry list but who’s presence was felt everywhere around
the track.
The Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour had it all, as far as
endurance racing is concerned. Several well-known drivers from around the world
tuned in and got envious of the fact that they weren’t there. Expect even more
cars, big name drivers, and stunning battles from the 2015 race! Best part of
all, it’s only 354 days away!
