Tag: 458 Italia GT3

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Bathurst 12 Hour Ferrari

Maranello Motorsport wins 2014 Bathurst 12hr

2014 Bathurst 12 Hour

Craig Lowndes has hung on in the Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 during a drama-filled final 12 minutes to win the 2014 Bathurst 12 Hour for the Maranello Motorsport team.

The winning margin was just 0.41 seconds back to Max Buhk in the #84 HTP Mercedes. Third place was claimed by the #63 Erebus Mercedes who had to fend off a charging Shane van Gisbergen in the #37 McLaren.

In P5 was Laurens Vanthoor in the #3 Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS Ultra, the final car on the lead lap. A total of 296 laps were completed a new distance record for the Bathurst 12 Hour race.

A grandstand finish was guaranteed on lap 288 after the #67 Porsche went into the wall on the top of the mountain forcing the Safety Car on track to allow track marshals to move car and driver to safety.

It was the ninth Safety Car period for the race it pulled into pit lane with 12 minutes left on the clock. Lowndes held the lead from Buhk, Davison and van Gisbergen.

While those positions didn’t change the drama and excitement went through the roof. It was a two-stage race with Lowndes and Buhk dicing, while Davison and van Gisbergen fought over the final podium step.

Bathurst rookie Max Buhk gave his Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 every chance to win trying twice to overtake Lowndes around the outside of Lowndes at Griffins Bend. Lowndes showed immense composure to hold his line and defend his position.

Meanwhile van Gisbergen was doing all he could to get past the leading Erebus Mercedes but had to contend himself with P4. That late splash and dash for the McLaren proved to take away its chance for victory.

As you can imagine the Maranello Motorsport team was overjoyed at the win with Craig Lowndes joined by fellow drivers John Bowe, Mika Salo and Peter Edwards on the podium. The entire team paying tribute to fallen teammate Allan Simonsen.

And with that dramatic and final result the Bathurst 12 Hour race delivered not only an exciting sprint to the line but also a sentimental victory that nobody can deny.

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Bathurst 12 Hour Ferrari McLaren Mercedes-Benz

Erebus Mercedes on pole for 2014 Bathurst 12 Hour

Maro Engel, Erebus Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3

Maro Engel has claimed pole position for the 2014 Bathurst 12 Hour in this afternoon’s Class A-only Qualifying 3 session with an outstanding lap time of 2:03.8586. Engel’s time in the #1 Erebus Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 was 0.0835s faster than Mika Salo’s provisional pole time from this morning.

That means Engel now holds the fastest recorded lap for a closed roof car around Mount Panorama and along with his Erebus teammates they become the inaugural winners of the Allan Simonsen Pole Position Trophy.

Starting from P3 tomorrow will be the #37 McLaren 12C GT3 which went 2:04.0006 at the hands of Shane van Gisbergen. Alongside the McLaren will be the #63 Erebus Mercedes which couldn’t quite pull off a late charge for pole, when Will Davison was the last car across the line, setting a time of 2:04.2563.

Rick Kelly’s 2:04.7643 lap set during the morning session was enough to put the #32 Nissan GTR on the third row. A dispute over technical regulations saw the #23 Lamborghini Gallardo forced to change to 2013-spec and move from Class B up to Class A. The team spent the morning session making the required changes, mostly to do with aerodynamics. David Russell returned to the track in the afternoon to top the time sheets in Qualifying 2 and his time of 2:05.0320 secured P6 on the starting grid.

You could throw a blanket over the next three cars, all Audi R8 LMS Ultras. The Audis posted their fastest times in the cooler morning conditions, with the #9 Network Clothing R8 recording a 2:05.5919 lap; the #3 Phoenix Racing R8 was desperately close with a time of 2:05.5946 and the #25 United Autosports R8 went 2:05.7175.

The top 10 is rounded out by #48 Lamborghini Gallardo which recorded its 2:06.3498 time in the morning session.

After collecting the pole trophy Engel paid tribute to Simonsen, killed at Le Mans last year, as well as his former teammate Sean Edwards, who died after a testing accident in Queensland where he was acting as a private tutor.

2014 Bathurst 12 Hour – Qualifying times
Qualifyng 1 | Qualifying 2 | Qualifying 3

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Bathurst 12 Hour Ferrari

Mika Salo sets lap record in B12hr Qualifying 1

2014 Bathurst 12 Hour

Mika Salo driving the #88 Maranello Motorsport Ferrari has claimed provisional pole position for the 2014 Bathurst 12 Hour race with a blistering 2:03.9421 lap time posted late in Qualifying 1 this morning.

Salo’s time is a new lap record for a GT car and is the fastest lap ever by a closed roof racecar around Mount Panorama.

The one hour session was marred by two red flags which cost competitors more than 30 minutes of track time. A total of four cars were lost, perhaps for the rest of the weekend, but thankfully no driver suffered serious injury.

The first incident occurred early in the session, which began at 9am, when Jason Bright hit the wall on the exit of Reid Park. His #5 Audi R8 was left stricken in the middle of the track as cars came flying up the Mountain. Most cars got past without incident, however the Porsche 911s of Shane Smollen and Garth Walden came to blows trying to avoid Bright’s car.

Bright was reportedly unconscious for a short time but he was able to walk away from the car and was taken to Bathurst Hospital for observation.

It took 25 minutes to clear the track and when the green flag dropped it wasn’t long before cold tyres caught out Ben Schoots who nosed the #65 Daytona Coupe into the concrete barrier after the Cutting. Another red flag followed and gave race organisers cause to extend the session by a few minutes.

The closing 15 minutes of Qualifying 1 was very entertaining and raises hopes for some fast times in this afternoon’s Class A only session at 2:20pm.

Salo holds a gap of 0.8s back to a trio of cars who all ran in the 2:04s. In second place was Maro Engel in the 2013 race winning #1 Erebus Mercedes with a lap of 2:04.7643. The Nismo-backed #32 Nissan GTR continued its strong form on the Mountain with Rick Kelly recording a time of 2:04.8228.

Shane van Gisbergen lapped in 2:04.9150 to further prove his versatility with the fourth fastest time in the #37 McLaren 12C GT3. Three Audi R8s filled the next three positions with laps in the 2:05 bracket.

With one hand on the pole postion trophy named after Allan Simonsen, Mika Salo acknowledged the former Maranello Motorsport driver was inspiring the team. Speaking to Speedcafe.com Salo said: “We need to keep the trophy for Allan Simonsen. He would have been on the pole anyway, so it’s good to get it for him.”

Salo and the rest of the Class A runners have to get through two more qualifying sessions before pole position is confirmed but with warmer conditions early this afternoon Maranello Motorsport may have cause to be confident of securing P1 for tomorrow’s race.

A full list of times from Quali 1 can be seen on the Natsoft website.