2015 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour: 6-8 February

[ff s conscience]

Thought I'd share the shout out to the crew... cant post pics here sorry... but the words to go with the crew pic, are heart felt.

It feels like a win, despite only being a 2nd in class and a 6th outright, but for the few that know the background, its epic for us... anyway...




So I think the words are coming now...

Firstly to Emily (far right in crew pic) if she can read this. I wish I got your name/contact. What a trooper. From Albury Motorsport TAFE, a brilliant effort from a bold young lady taking on a mans world. General garage assistant, sticker crease getter outer (and putter inner!), and keeping the car and garage clean and tidy. Fire woman in the fuelling pitstops. Also helping, and I think its fair to say, impressing, the lads from AF corse next door!

Erald Shabani. (In middle at back, thumb up). My helper at Hughes Supercar Services. Bulldozer of work to do. Since October we've been sinking our lives and energy into getting the car repaired from the mid year whoopsie, and preparing it for the 12 hour. Superb effort, so proud and I consider myself very lucky to now have you formally employed. To grab your life by the scruff of the neck, and bail from the crumbling economy in Italy without speaking the language, taking language school until you could get a job here.. amazing. And to land on my doorstep through astrological guidance and luck, I'll be forever thankful. Bulldozer. It is as it is supposed to be!

The Nizwits, err, I mean the Nizpro turbocharging professionals.... Tonys mates from way back, and legends at everything, including wit, predictions, and actual work too! David Symons (5th from right), Blake Morris (4th from right), Stuart (6th)and of course Simon (2nd). David on left wheels, blake on spike and handling, simon on fuel vent, stuart on fuel in. Sharp minds and funny buggers the lot of them. Ace jobs.

Brett Dickie, (third from right) my ex helper at Hughes Supercar Services, and part of one of aussie motorsports great families. So sorry you didn't get a drive in the race, but for sure your day will come. In the mean time, I'd want no other guy to fit those right side wheels.

Hector Lester and John Buchan. (each side of Erald) Longest serving British GT competitors, and people I consider great friends. The connection I helped give to Allan, has bound a knot that can't be undone. Hector, the passionate and enthusiastic Ferrari owner and racer, and deeply emotional character, fun loving and a bottomless pit of support and well meaning. Laconic Scot John, master of all things Ferrari. Preparer of the most speedy and successful and reliable Ferraris known to man. Nobody has a better reliability record.

Christophe Pizzoglio, (4th from left) Kessel racing. Always the best quality help, instantly. Enough said.

Stefano Govoni.(5th from left). 2IC at Michelotto GT3 dept... His presence was a surprise and a blessing. Big time!

James McCabe. (3rd from left). A huge pleasure and honour to scoop you up, and finish that unfinished business we had. From Teds Lambo effort in 2012. You were oil on the water, a slick operator and smoother of all wrinkles. A pillar of reasoning and knowledge.

Jordan Nizwit junior (2nd left). Enjoy your swim?

Elizabeth Parrish. Far left! Thanks so much for all the work catering and refreshing. But also for keeping Tony under control! That's one job few can claim to achieve! Also not pictured, sister Rachael, again, thanks for the same!

Andrea Montermini... (Front and centre). An honour and privilege. Highest regard for a top level pro, and funny bugger too.

Renato (front left). Mate, I don't know how you do it. You achieve so much in any given timeframe, multi tasking like no other, and your driving that weekend was impeccable. And barely a glimmer of Princess or chopper man!

Benny (front right). I struggle the most here. All I can say really is thanks. And wow. And **** yeah! What a drive, 50th to 14th, in a stint. Incredible, and something only few could ever do. And super professional in the car too, slick driver changes and an amazing race strategy brain also. Wise beyond years, but I guess you've had a good teacher...!

And finally Tony Defelice, Left middle. To remove yourself from your own car, and place your trust in me and take the educated risks proposed to you, takes more balls and guts than I've ever experienced from anyone. To allow me and Benny the closure we've gained, and experience we've built will never be under appreciated. To spend your own money to allow us to do that goes beyond gratitude. And the thanks we pass on toy you, come not only from us, but also our families and friends, around the world.

[velly4]

scudd, the GT Academy guys were kicked out of the British GT series from memory because they were to fast even though it was their first year ever racing.

[6.213km]

Originally Posted by ff s conscience

Clearwater lost most time with a dud wheel change pit stop under green. The nut/gun jammed or somethinge.

Mok did as well as he needed to, it wasn't his fault they didn't place. Vilander copped a drive through for hanging back too far under sc too.

Clearwater got the ferrari to behind the race leader on the track twice.

The safety car came out.

The leader directly in front of them pitted.

And.... they followed the leader.

My understanding was, that if the leader pitted , the pace car would pick up the new leader.

This occurred when the JBS Lambo got its lap back.

Had they stayed out they'd have been given their lap back.

So this happened twice - and they were two laps down.

All of a sudden Clearwater is on the lead lap with a third of the race to run.

[ff s conscience]

Originally Posted by 6.213km

Clearwater got the ferrari to behind the race leader on the track twice.

The safety car came out.

The leader directly in front of them pitted.

And.... they followed the leader.

My understanding was, that if the leader pitted , the pace car would pick up the new leader.

This occurred when the JBS Lambo got its lap back.

Had they stayed out they'd have been given their lap back.

So this happened twice - and they were two laps down.

All of a sudden Clearwater is on the lead lap with a third of the race to run.

Without seeing that myself, I agree with the theory, however you have to factor in how much drive time has been used, how much fuel is in the car and where the tyres are at.

It's not as easy in the moment as it looks after the race is done.

[kevin993]

Originally Posted by mayhem

My thoughts on the event after going for four days:
- Catch fencing has wrecked a lot of good photo ops but also made me go find some newer ones.

Any more thoughts on this? Were you able to find other good spots? From television coverage, it sure looked like there was a lot of fencing. Are there photo cut-outs? Can you get around the entire track along the fence line? Would like to attend and take photos, but trying to get a better handle on what to expect. Thanks!

[Trev Campbell]

Places now ruined by extra catch fencing.

Exit of the chase (Indside)
All of pit straight.
Reid Park all the way to McPhillamy.

You can still get a few shots from these locations but you need a long lens, 500mm you might get away with a 400mm.

You need to get up high on the spectator mounds to get a view over the fencing, This was not to bad at the 12hour but I think at the 1000 you will struggle just due to the amount of people there.

That said there are still a few of the old places with an unimpeded view. Murray's and Hell from some points. Reid Park out of the cutting, Skyline (If you can get a spot)

I didn't get down past the Dipper but I assume Forrest's is still OK

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by Trev Campbell

Places now ruined by extra catch fencing.

Exit of the chase (Indside)
All of pit straight.
Reid Park all the way to McPhillamy.

You can still get a few shots from these locations but you need a long lens, 500mm you might get away with a 400mm.

You need to get up high on the spectator mounds to get a view over the fencing, This was not to bad at the 12hour but I think at the 1000 you will struggle just due to the amount of people there.

That said there are still a few of the old places with an unimpeded view. Murray's and Hell from some points. Reid Park out of the cutting, Skyline (If you can get a spot)

I didn't get down past the Dipper but I assume Forrest's is still OK

Were you the winner of the Nismo competition Trev?

[Trev Campbell]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Were you the winner of the Nismo competition Trev?

Yep, Awesome weekend. The folks at Nissan/Nismo were incredible.

[Reload]

Originally Posted by Trev Campbell

Yep, Awesome weekend. The folks at Nissan/Nismo were incredible.

Well done to you.

[rich07]

Originally Posted by Trev Campbell

Yep, Awesome weekend. The folks at Nissan/Nismo were incredible.

Congratulations!

I saw you and your partner on Speedcafe and you guys looked very happy. Good on you.

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by Trev Campbell

Yep, Awesome weekend. The folks at Nissan/Nismo were incredible.

Brilliant! And you were with the winning squad

[Trev Campbell]

Thanks Guys. Sorry I didn't get to go to the dinner but it was all a bit of a rush to go. As you might have seen some of my photos are on Speedcafe. With the CatchFencePhotos site no longer operational once I've gone through my photos I'll post some on here.

[6.213km]

Originally Posted by ff s conscience

Without seeing that myself, I agree with the theory, however you have to factor in how much drive time has been used, how much fuel is in the car and where the tyres are at.

It's not as easy in the moment as it looks after the race is done.

FF

I saw them do it the first time - and thought, perhaps they were out of fuel and had to pit... benefit of the doubt there.

Second time - no way ....

To stay out the extra lap, drive around to the back of the pack, get that lap back and pit - and your back in the race.

My belief - they didn't fully understand our somewhat unique pace car rules.

A shame, because their strategy was a good one but my belief is they felt they needed to get in front of the leader to get the lap back ... but they didn't, they just needed to be close enough and for those in front to pit.

I understand it's not as easy as it looks - there are others of us on this forum who run endurance race teams and understand the goings on also FF. If clearwater want me next year i'm available....

[Reload]

A journo on caradvice certainly thinks that the new Merc is in next year ?


This year’s gruelling Mount Panorama event comprised 269 laps of the 6.213km circuit, for over 1670km and a record 20 safety car disruptions. It also signalled the final time affiliated teams would tackle the world-famous race in the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 before its new Mercedes-AMG GT-based replacement takes over in 2016.

[cossie55]

6.213 - that is not how it works.

the leader is picked up by the safety car. If the leader pits, then the next car in the train is kept behind the safety car. I know this as it happened to me in last years 12 hour in the early stages, and it was how things have always worked in supercar land as well...

[rich07]

Originally Posted by Reload

A journo on caradvice certainly thinks that the new Merc is in next year ?





This year’s gruelling Mount Panorama event comprised 269 laps of the 6.213km circuit, for over 1670km and a record 20 safety car disruptions. It also signalled the final time affiliated teams would tackle the world-famous race in the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 before its new Mercedes-AMG GT-based replacement takes over in 2016.

What would caradvice know about the GT scene?

Reminds me of Wheels predicting Ortelli joining the driver lineup this year. I think they got that right only out if sheer luck

Do you have a link to the article please?

[peckstar]

Originally Posted by cossie55

6.213 - that is not how it works.

the leader is picked up by the safety car. If the leader pits, then the next car in the train is kept behind the safety car. I know this as it happened to me in last years 12 hour in the early stages, and it was how things have always worked in supercar land as well...

I think though there is an element of your comment being right and 6.213 strategy being right but slightly missing a point

At some point (but not usally straight away) all the cars in front of the leader are let throught until the lead car is behind the safety car, At that point the lapped car (assuming it was in front of the new leader) is now at the tail end of the field and can pit and make its stop without going a lap down.

Not sure in the case mentioned it would have got two laps back though as the first time would have messed with its position the 2nd time

[Reload]

Originally Posted by rich07

What would caradvice know about the GT scene?

Reminds me of Wheels predicting Ortelli joining the driver lineup this year. I think they got that right only out if sheer luck

Do you have a link to the article please?

2015 Bathurst 12 Hour :: swan song for Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3

[ff s conscience]

Originally Posted by 6.213km

FF

I saw them do it the first time - and thought, perhaps they were out of fuel and had to pit... benefit of the doubt there.

Second time - no way ....

To stay out the extra lap, drive around to the back of the pack, get that lap back and pit - and your back in the race.

My belief - they didn't fully understand our somewhat unique pace car rules.

A shame, because their strategy was a good one but my belief is they felt they needed to get in front of the leader to get the lap back ... but they didn't, they just needed to be close enough and for those in front to pit.

I understand it's not as easy as it looks - there are others of us on this forum who run endurance race teams and understand the goings on also FF. If clearwater want me next year i'm available....

Fair enough.

There are also other factors to consider...

For instance, we wanted to triple stint Renato, but he got leg cramps, and only while under SC, so we had to rethink on the fly, and get him out at a time that suited our remaining driver slots and his own and their own rest breaks required etc....

It's quite a juggle to get it right.

It looks like we fluked it, but I'm claiming full responsibility when it goes so well

Our car was roughly 2 seconds lap off the pace on average, so by rights, we should have finished over 4 laps down on the leaders... We were just a smidge away from getting our lap back to be on lead.

[champcarman]

So next years race is February 4th to 7th?

[peckstar]

Originally Posted by champcarman

So next years race is February 4th to 7th?

No date has been released yet. The thought pattern being that ch 7 may need to be included in any discussions about date.

Plenty of time though

[one five five]

Originally Posted by champcarman

So next years race is February 4th to 7th?

It hasn't been announced yet

[GTRMagic]

Austin Cindric's View Of Race Week

Interesting how many brands he brought along to the team..

[peckstar]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Austin Cindric's View Of Race Week

Interesting how many brands he brought along to the team..

Good read

[TCR]

Seems to have a pretty good head on his shoulders and a reasonable talent behind the wheel from what I've seen.