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Bathurst 12 Hour livestream

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emailBy: SRO Motorsports Group | 8 hours ago

Stream all the action from the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.

BATHURST 12 HOURS - FULL MAIN RACE LIVE

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180K subscribersABOUT INTERCONTINENTAL GT CHALLENGE POWERED BY PIRELLI The world's only global GT3 series represents the highest echelon of long-distance GT racing, while its 2020 calendar once again features five iconic circuits on as many continents.

Established in 2016, the series’ purpose couldn’t be simpler: reward the manufacturer and drivers who achieve the best collective results in the world’s greatest standalone endurance events. The proliferation of GT3, built on a decade of manufacturer involvement and SRO’s Balance of Performance stability, has resulted in it becoming the de facto senior class for all of the world’s most prestigious GT races.

This, as well as using the same Pirelli tyres, offers manufacturers an incentive to compete in all such events by employing regional customer teams without the expense of freighting cars around the world. The season begins in February with Australia's international enduro - the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour -

before moving on to Europe for the world's biggest GT3 event in late July: the Total 24 Hours of Spa. It's followed one month later by the Suzuka 10 Hours, which takes place at the iconic figure-of-eight circuit in Japan. The world-famous Brickyard then hosts the inaugural Indianapolis 8 Hour in early October before the Kyalami 9 Hour closes out the campiagn in Africa.

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Record number of pre-race withdrawals at Bathurst

Campbell storms to Bathurst 12 Hour pole

Bathurst, Livestream, GT, International Racing, Videos

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Campbell storms to Bathurst 12 Hour pole

Image courtesy of Porsche Motorsport
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emailBy: Stephen Kilbey | 14 hours ago

Matt Campbell claimed the Allan Simonsen trophy after a stunning 2m03.555s lap of Mount Panorama in the Bathurst 12 Hour Top 10 shootout. This puts Absolute Racing’s No. 911 911 GT3 R on pole for the current-gen Porsche’s first attempt in the event.

“I put everything on the line, I was pushing hard, missed a few apexes, but there was nothing left on the table. I’m extremely excited — this is a trophy I’ve wanted for a long time,” Campbell said after the session.

After topping Qualifying 2 earlier in the day, Campbell was given the chance to go last in the shootout, which pits the top 10 runners from Q2 in reverse order out on the track for a single flying lap each.

His time was staggering, the Australian, who won the race last year, seven tenths up on the other runners after the second sector, before crossing the line two tenths clear.

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Bathurst 12 Hour livestream

Record number of pre-race withdrawals at Bathurst

Vanthoor's Audi on top in final Bathurst practice

Alvaro Parente came closest to pole in 59Racing’s No. 60 McLaren 720S GT3, the Portuguese racer touring the circuit in 2m03.555s, putting him on provisional pole before Maro Engel and Campbell headed out on the track. It wasn’t quite pole position for the former McLaren factory driver, but it was nevertheless a strong run from the McLaren on its first attempt at qualifying on the Mountain.

Raffaele Marciello put the No. 999 GruppeM Mercedes third with a 2m03.821s, narrowly bettering Joao Paulo De Oliviera who was the fourth driver to set a time and looked rapid in the sole remaining KCMG Nissan.

The No. 1 Earl Bamber Motorsport Porsche, which is the defending race winner, will start fifth and on the third row of the grid ahead of the No. 77 Craft-Bamboo Black Falcon Mercedes AMG GT3 which bounced back from its suspension failure and incident yesterday to make the shootout.

Team Valvoline’s No. 222 Audi, the No. 888 GruppeM Mercedes, No. 63 FFF Racing Lamborghini and No. 76 R-Motorsport Aston Martin completed the session respectively.

The shootout came after two qualifying sessions earlier in the day which were marred by multiple heavy incidents. The entry looks to have been reduced to 34 cars ahead of tomorrow’s race as a result of the shunts.

The No. 35 KCMG Nissan was scratched from the entry yesterday, while the HubAuto Corsa Ferrari, No. 777 Bend Motorsport Park Mercedes, No. 92 Racer Industries MARC II and No. 62 R-Motorsport Aston Martin have all been withdrawn following huge accidents today. This is a record number of pre-race withdrawals from the event, one more than the previous high from the 2017 edition of the race where four cars were deemed irreparable before the race.

There is also a question mark overhanging the Trofeo Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3, which had a big off in Q2, Dean Canto going backwards at high speed into the tires at McPhillamy Park, the car flying into the air and landing on the grass verge in front of the spectator fencing.

Outside of the GT3 ranks, the Invitational and GT4 class poles were decided in Q1. The No. 91 Racer Industries MARC II will start from pole in the former after Nick Percat’s 2m05.537s, and the RHC BMW M4 GT4 bettered the Nineteen Corp Mercedes to take the GT4 honors.

Tomorrow’s race, as per tradition, will start before sunrise at 5:45 a.m. local time, the cars racing through sunrise and into the afternoon.

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Vanthoor's Audi on top in final Bathurst practice

Image by Andrew Hall
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emailBy: Stephen Kilbey | January 31, 2020 4:21 PM

After Mercedes proved dominant on Friday, it was Audi that topped the times in Practice 5, the final practice session at Mount Panorama ahead of the Bathurst 12 Hour.

The session’s best time came courtesy of Dries Vanthoor, a 2m03.443s — by far the fastest lap of the weekend — in the No. 2 Audi Sport Team Valvoline R8 LMS GT3.

Vanthoor’s fast lap, though, was just a tenth up on second place, as Marco Mapelli in the No. 63 FFF Racing Lamborghini clocked a 2m03.549s, those two drivers the only ones under the 2m04 mark.

Rounding out the top three was another Valvoline Audi, the No. 222 with a 2m04.152s.

Outside of the pro runners, the best of the Pro Am GT3 cars ended up fourth, the Grove Motorsport Porsche 911 RSR GT3 which managed a 2m04.203s. The sole BMW M6 GT3, run by Walkenhorst Motorsport, completed the top five.

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Bentley leads wide-open Bathurst 12 Hour at the halfway mark

Bathurst 12 Hour livestream

Record number of pre-race withdrawals at Bathurst

This session was incident packed at the start and at the end, featuring two red flags, the first for an outbreak of kangaroos storming the circuit (photo above). Thankfully, the cars all avoided them, but much time was lost as one of them hopped all the way from Mountain Straight to The Esses!

Following the red flag for the kangaroo invasion, the session ran almost entirely clean until the final minutes when two cars had significant offs at the same time.

The first was the HubAuto Corsa Ferrari, which hit the concrete wall on driver’s right at McPhillamy Park. Daniel Serra was at the wheel and the car snapped on him as he was passing through, sending him flying off the circuit. He was unlucky to miss the tire barriers completely, the 488 GT3 suffering significant damage to its right-hand side.

The car’s status, at this stage, remains an unknown.

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Bathurst 12 Hours 2015. Last Laps Battle

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Bentley wins Bathurst thriller

Bentley wins Bathurst thriller

Image courtesy of Bentley Motorsport
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emailBy: Stephen Kilbey | 7 hours ago

M-Sport Team Bentley scored the biggest victory of the marque’s GT3 program to date at the Bathurst 12 Hour. The No. 7 Continental GT3 of Jordan Pepper, Jules Gounon and Maxime Soulet outlasted the competition, survived a late puncture, endured the heat and crossed the line moments before the heavens opened to win the Australian event after five years of trying.

In what was an incredibly tense finish, the weather front moved in and circled the circuit, but the predicted heavy rain held off until moments after the checkered flag fell. Yet the threat meant that multiple teams, all on differing strategies, tried to hold on as long as they could hoping that a late shower would hand them a lifeline.



But rain didn’t come, only gale-force winds, and the No. 7 took a comfortable victory over 30 seconds clear of the chasing pack.

It had been no easy day though, as the team was forced to work for it. The M-Sport mechanics had earned their paychecks before the race even started, as both the team’s Continental GT3s suffered major issues; the chassis which eventually won underwent an engine change pre-race.

Having taken control just before the halfway mark, the No. 7 led for much of the second half of the race, before two key moments made for a nail-biting run to the flag.
The No. 999’s double-stint put it in position to win, but the strategy didn’t quite pan out. Image by Andrew Hall

The first was a gamble in strategy by the No. 999 GruppeM Mercedes AMG GT3, which emerged as Bentley’s biggest rival towards the end. The team double-stinted its tires after the fourth and final safety car of the race to gain track position and take the lead at the penultimate round of stops.

This created a chase for the lead between Rafaelle Marciello and Gounon, the Frenchman reeling in the leading AMG over the course of a stint, reducing the deficit from 17 seconds to just a couple of car lengths before they pitted for the final time.

The final pit stop was a hectic one, the No. 7 suffering a blowout on the Conrod Straight at full speed forcing it in early.



Fortunately, Gounon was able to steer the car back to the pits without further damage for quick tire change. Despite losing around seven seconds, the Bentley still emerged in the lead, ahead of the No. 999 after its final stop.

From there Gounon pushed all the way to the flag, scoring a hugely popular win with the local fans, and an incredibly important one for the M-Sport program. M-Sport becomes the first British team to win the 12 Hour, and Bentley becomes the first British-flagged marque to win the race as a result.
Mission accomplished for Bentley. Image by Andrew Hall

“I can’t believe it, Jordan, Jules, all three of us did an amazing job, we pushed the whole way through, and we had luck with us as the rain has started now!” Soulet said after the race.

“Unreal,” added Gounon after stepping out the car. “I was seeing the thunder and I was like, ‘Please not now!’ The car has been unreal all race long. M-Sport has done an amazing job. Bathurst 12 Hour — I can’t believe it. This is huge, we’ve had huge potential with this car but we’ve only had bad luck until now.”



The drama didn’t stop there, as in the final laps the No. 999 suffered a puncture of its own on the Conrod Straight, forcing Marciello into the pits. This dropped him to third, right behind the delayed No. 60 59Racing McLaren, which was in the midst of a stunning recovery driver after two penalties.

Marciello forced his was back to second at the final corner, but it would be for nothing. Not only was GruppeM and its trio of Marciello, Max Buhk and Felipe Fraga robbed a chance of victory by the puncture and Gounon’s unbeatable pace at the end, but a penalty right after the flag for not switching the car’s engine off at the emergency stop at the end cost the team further. A 30-second time penalty dropped the car off the podium and back to sixth.

This penalty promoted the 59Racing McLaren of Alvaro Parente, Ben Barnicoat and Tom Blomqvist to second place. It was a hard-fought podium for the trio, who had a lucky escape when Barnicoat ran over debris at high speed in the seventh hour, and came back after suffering two penalties, one for speeding in pit lane, the other for ignoring blue flags.

The No. 888 entry from Triple Eight Mercedes eventually was named the best of the 2020-spec AMG GT3 finishers and classified third. The new Mercedes was strong throughout, with both speed and reliability. Here, errors and poor luck with punctures that cost the German brand its first win at Mount Panorama since 2013.



Finishing the day fourth was the No. 911 pole-sitting Absolute Racing Porsche, which spent much of the race recovering from a puncture and penalty for a pit infringement. Matthieu Jaminet, Matt Campbell and Patrick Pilet had the pace to win this one, but it wasn’t meant to be.



The No. 77 Craft-Bamboo Black Falcon Mercedes completed the top five after a spirited drive late in the race by an aggressive Maro Engel was hampered by a puncture in the final hour which cost the crew a sure third-place finish.

As ever at Bathurst, there are efforts with much hype surrounding them that either underperform or have a day to forget. Three marques in particular come to mind when reflecting on this one.

The first is Audi. Its three-pronged Pro class attack with Team Valvoline had a disastrous day. The No. 22 had a huge off in the opening hours avoiding the No. 2 sister car at McPhillamy Park. Dries Vanthoor would then be forced to pit and retire the No. 2 later due to a rev sensor failure. The third Valvoline Audi, the No. 222, finished, but down in 18th after a costly puncture.

Aston Martin customer team R-Motorsport had a rough day too. The No. 62 Vantage didn’t make the start after a huge accident for Marvin Marvin Kirchhofer on Saturday. Its hopes therefore rested on the No. 76 Castrol-liveried model driven by Rick Kelly, Scott Dixon and Jake Dennis, but that fell to the back of the back at the start due to an electrical issue and later spent time in the garage repairing a damaged splitter.

The final mention goes to BMW. Walkenhorst didn’t have strength in numbers, as it was forced to withdraw a car before this race because it didn’t get shipped to the circuit in time. Then in the race it didn’t have luck on its side either. Its M6 GT3 hit a kangaroo early in the race and retired after subsequent overheating issues. This was far from the dream double-win fortnight the Bavarian brand hoped for after winning the GTLM class at the Rolex 24 At Daytona last weekend…

Beyond the Pro class there was little to get excited about. The No. 59 59Racing 720S GT3 made it a near-perfect result for McLaren, winning the Silver class after hours of trading places with the No. 46 Black Falcon Mercedes.



Grove Racing won the Pro-Am class with its new Porsche 911 GT3 R, which meant Stephen Grove took a record-equaling fifth class win in the event.

Outside of the GT3 ranks, the No. 91 Racer Industries MARC II won the Invitational category by over 100 laps and the JET Battery Services BMW M4 took a dominant win in the two-car GT4 class.

Up front, though, this was a real thriller of a race with countless changes of lead throughout that kept the huge crowd trackside and at home guessing until the very end. It was a significant result, too, with Bentley scoring its biggest victory in motorsport since it won the 2003 Le Mans 24 Hours.

senor honda

When the announcer says the Bently
glow in the dark, flourescent, green
was British Racing Green, the announcer needs to get smarter.
-----------------------------------

senor honda

Bentley leads wide-open Bathurst 12 Hour at the halfway mark

Image by Andrew Hall
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emailBy: Stephen Kilbey | 18 hours ago

We’re halfway through the 2020 running of the Bathurst 12 Hour and the No. 7 M-Sport Bentley Continental leads the race by just half a second. It’s been a remarkable run thus far for the leading crew of Maxime Soulet, Jules Gounon and Jordan Pepper, after a trying week for the team in which its mechanics have had to perform major repairs on both of its cars during the build-up to the race.

It is very much a wide open contest, though, with multiple cars on different strategies, all with a chance at winning this one.

Second on the road is the No. 77 Craft-Bamboo Black Falcon Mercedes AMG GT3, which has had a relatively quiet run to the front but, like all the front runners, has spent this race rising and falling down the running order.

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Completing the top three is the No. 60 59Racing McLaren 720S GT3, which has been the surprise package in this edition after six hours. Ben Barnicoat stormed to the lead from the start, making a bold move on Maxi Buhk’s No. 999 GruppeM Mercedes through the Chase with the sun rising. Since then the car has enjoyed further spells in the lead, but also has dropped outside the top 10 multiple times.



The McLaren team has taken a gamble on strategy, pitting the car out of sequence under a safety car which has put the car out of sync with many of the other runners. Barnicoat and teammates Tom Blomqvist and Alvaro Parente have been faultless throughout, and must begin to believe they can win this heading into the second half.

Fourth at the six-hour mark is the No. 888 Triple Eight Mercedes, which has shown flashes of pace from Maxi Gotz, Shane van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup, and also has led at several points. This car, too, should be a contender if it has a clean run into the final hours.

The top five is completed by the sole remaining KCMG Nissan, which is so quick in Sector 3 that it has managed to stay on the lead lap and fly the flag for the Japanese marque in this one.

Ten cars are on the lead lap as it stands. The other five cars still very much in with a chance of racing for the win at the end are the No. 63 FFF Racing Lamborghini; No. 999 GruppeM Mercedes (delayed by a penalty for a pit infringment); No. 8 Bentley; No. 1 Earl Bamber Motorsport Porsche; and No. 912 Absolute Racing 911 GT3 R.

Outside of the Pro GT3 runners, the No. 59 59Racing McLaren, like its sister car, has had a near-perfect run and sits 12th, leading the Silver class. The No. 75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes leads Pro-Am.

Of the handful of non-GT3 cars, the No. 91 Racer Industries MARC II is dominating the Invitational class which has been a race of attrition. The No. 13 RHC BMW M4 GT4 leads the GT4 class by 12 laps after its only competitor, the Nineteen Corp Mercedes, suffered mechanical issues and required major repair work.

While the pace of this race has been as blistering hot as the weather — and we’ve had lots of green-flag running — the Mountain, as ever, has caught drivers out. Four cars have retired so far. The first was the No. 188 Garage 59 Aston Martin of Come Ledogar in Hour 2. The Frenchman hopped the curbs at the Esses and was sent flying backwards into the outside wall, destroying the car.



Shortly after, the Wall Racing Lamborghini Huracan also had its day ended by a concrete wall, Julian Westwood slapping the barriers at The Esses, too, forcing the car into retirement.

The third significant incident so far was the No. 22 Team Valvoline Audi R8 LMS GT3, Supercars regular Garth Tander having a huge off at McPhillamy Park in the third hour. Tander was following teammate Dries Vanthoor’s No. 2 R8 through the left-hander, and had to move to the inside in avoidance of Vanthoor who drifted wide. This made Tander’s rear end loose, sending him veering back across the track, narrowly avoiding Vanthoor, and into the tires at high speed.



The fourth retirement came in the form of Tony Bates Racing Audi, which had an engine failure and parked up trackside on Mountain Straight. It’s been a rough race for Audi, all its contending cars in the wars here on the 10th anniversary of its first Bathurst win.

There were a few other incidents of note too. The pole-sitting No. 911 Absolute Racing Porsche, which had looked strong until midway through the fifth hour is now off the lead lap after a right-rear puncture which may have already cost Matthieu Jaminet, Patrick Pilet and defending winner Matt Campbell the chance to win this one.



The No. 888 Mercedes of Jamie Whincup turned the Hallmarc Audi round, but thankfully not into the wall, at The Grate. The Honda NSX, No. 76 R-Motorsport Aston Martin and No. 2 Valvoline Audi have all suffered mechanical woes and spent time in their respective garages. And the No. 95 MARC II has also had an engine change after a pit fire early in the race.

Six hours to go.

senor honda

Near the end when they kept saying "if it rains".........

on the other side of the hill the wet glare on the road in the headlights tells me it was ALREADY RAINING

for at least 1/2 hour..........
----------------------------------------

senor honda

When I saw the crews placing tires into what looked like porta-johns, they were ovens and
it told me they were warming up tires and getting ready for a pit stop.

It also told me if they were going to change two tires or four tires.....

......shhhh............ don't tell that to the annoucer.......
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