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.

2011 Armor All
Bathurst 12 Hour
Previous: 2010 Next: 2012
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

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

Those in Bold represent class winners. Fastest Laps in Italics represent the class fastest lap.[2]

Pos Class No Team / Entrant Drivers Car Laps Race Time Fastest Lap
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 2:10.2017
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 12:01:31.4186 2:09.0861
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 12:03:07.7427 2:11.3079
4.0 L Porsche H6
4 A 38 Wall Racing David Wall
Greg Crick
Barton Mawer		 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S 289 12:01:59.0682 2:12.7634
3.8 L Porsche H6
5 B 23 Lago Racing Roger Lago
Matt Kingsley
David Russell		 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup 282 12:02:38.5294 2:14.4387
3.8 L Porsche H6
6 A 37 Rosso Verde Ireland Hector Lester
Luke Searle
Allan Simonsen		 Ferrari 430 GT3 276 12:02:50.0944 2:12.3556
4.3 L Ferrari V8
7 B 66 Motorsport Services Limited Scott O'Donnell
Simon McLennan
Miroslav Konopka		 Porsche 996 GT3 Cup 264 12:01:46.1710 2:22.2708
3.8 L Porsche H6
8 B 67 Motorsport Services Limited Allan Dippie
Steven Thompson
Mark Maddren		 Porsche 996 GT3 Cup 257 12:03:21.1949 2:25.4937
3.8 L Porsche H6
9 D 14 Peter Conroy Motorsport Peter Conroy
Anthony Robson
Mark Brame		 Mitsubishi Lancer RS Evo X 256 12:01:45.2597 2:32.3415
2.0 L 4B11T I4
10 D 28 GWS Personnel Motorsport Peter O'Donnell
Matthew Hansen
Christian D'Agostin		 BMW 335i 252 12:03:38.8181 2:31.4950
3.0 L twin-turbo I6 N54
11 C 80 Bruce Lynton BMW Beric Lynton
Matt Mackelden
John Modystach		 BMW M3 245 12:03:34.1061 2:31.4314
3.2 L BMW S54 I6
12 E 26 GWS Personnel Motorsport Bruce Tomlinson
Geoff Fontaine
Richard Gartner		 BMW 130i 244 12:03:32.3214 2:40.8912
3.0 L BMW N55 I6
13 D 5 Tinkler Motor Sports Nathan Tinkler
Jeremy Gray
Steven Johnson		 FPV FG GT 238 12:02:37.1787 2:40.6970
5.4 L Boss 315 V8
14 E 68 Motorsport Services Limited David Glasson
Dennis Roderick
Aaron Harris		 BMW 130i 235 12:02:53.3888 2:41.8986
3.0 L BMW N55 I6
15 B 39 Wall Racing Paul Tressider
Shane Smollen
Simon Middleton		 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup 230 12:03:40.8699 2:18.6995
3.8 L Porsche H6
16 E 50 Racer Industries Chaz Mostert
Ashley Walsh
Gerard McLeod		 HSV VXR Turbo 227 12:03:55.8888 2:37.0462
2.2 L Ecotec I4
17 C 25 Paul Freestone Racing Paul Freestone
Hayden Pullen
David Sieders		 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 192 12:02:24.0342 2:19.6556
7.0 L LS7 V8
18 C 62 Lee Knappett Racing Adam Gowans
Richard Meins
Chris Lillingston-Price		 Lotus Exige S 192 12:02:32.2864 2:24.9244
1.8 L supercharged Toyota I4
19 D 3 Maximum Motorsport Dean Herridge
John O'Dowd
Angus Kennard		 Subaru Impreza WRX STi 129 12:01:41.2740 2:31.3951
2.5 L Subaru H4
DNF A 69 Supabarn Supermarkets Racing James Koundouris
Theo Koundouris
Steve Owen		 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S 261 11:27:28.9388 2:10.6884
3.8 L Porsche H6
DNF A 12 Hallmarc Racing Marc Cini
David Reynolds
Dean Fiore		 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S 196 08:53:25.0075 2:10.9530
3.8 L Porsche H6
DNF D 43 Alan East Motorsport Leigh Burges
Damien Flack
Neil McFadyen		 Mitsubishi Lancer RS Evo IX 165 07:45:42.9671 2:32.2315
2.0 L 4B11T I4
DNF A 17 Maranello Motorsport Peter Edwards
John Bowe
Tim Leahey		 Ferrari 430 GT3 161 07:14:57.9304 2:13.9841
4.3 L Ferrari V8
DNF E 27 GWS Personnel Motorsport Garth Duffy
Alan Shepherd
Paul Stubber		 BMW 130i 106 05:45:20.2294 2:39.8422
3.0 L BMW N55 I6
DNF C 44 Donut King Racing Tony Alford
Peter Leemhuis
Mal Rose		 Nissan R35 GT-R 102 06:48:41.1208 2:26.1198
3.8 L Twin-turbo VR38DETT V6
DNF A 2 Procon Developments Geoff Emery
Dean Grant
Max Twigg		 Mosler MT900 GT3 11 00:30:26.5023 2:16.1376
7.0 L LS7 V8

Statistics

* 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
  1. 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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