2012 Bathurst 12 Hour - 24-26 February

[osrg]

It seems Christian Klien is in..... odd choice of vehicle though... would have thought he'd chase a seat in an outright contender.

http://www.speedcafe.com/2012/01/12/...12-hour-start/

[scudd]

2:08 quickest lap time allowed again this year for prac and quali.

Quite a few will be rolling off the throttle.

Race lap times will be quicker.

[TCR]

Does this means that any lap under 2:08 in either of these sessions will be discounted? Will there be penalties for anyone lapping under 2:08?

I understand the reasoning behind it, but it seems strange at such a high profile event such as this. Is a similar rule applied to the other races in the 24hr series, or is it just an Australian/Bathurst thing?

[scudd]

50kg penaty for a time sub 8 in prac or quali, go as hard as you like in the race.

Any sub 8 in quali is not counted for pole.

Dubai 24hr (on this wend) has something similar like teams having to advise a quali time to run to.

[TCR]

Interesting, thanks.

[St00ge]

haha what a joke.

[alfacors]

What's the likelihood of belting out 4s and 5s during the race given fulltanks, enduro mode on the engines etc? Scudd? FF?

[pplater]

Eh, that's no good. I can see the reasoning (safety, cost, accessibility) but it turns qualifying away from the contest it should be and turns it into a regularity trial.

Pretty much all of the GT cars are capable of a 2:08, so we won't see the cars at their best until Sunday morning. I'd much rather have seen a shootout between the likes of Lowndes, McConville, Simonsen, Bleekemolen etc than the pussyfooting we'll have instead.

[St00ge]

Originally Posted by pplater

Eh, that's no good. I can see the reasoning (safety, cost, accessibility) but it turns qualifying away from the contest it should be and turns it into a regularity trial.

Pretty much all of the GT cars are capable of a 2:08, so we won't see the cars at their best until Sunday morning. I'd much rather have seen a shootout between the likes of Lowndes, McConville, Simonsen, Bleekemolen etc than the pussyfooting we'll have instead.

what's that like a 1/4 of the field has to take it easy on Saturday... Might as well have the mardi gras there as well parading around because it is pretty gay

[scudd]

Originally Posted by pplater

Eh, that's no good. I can see the reasoning (safety, cost, accessibility)

no, it's due to the 130% rule.

Pretty much all of the GT cars are capable of a 2:08, so we won't see the cars at their best until Sunday morning. I'd much rather have seen a shootout between the likes of Lowndes, McConville, Simonsen, Bleekemolen etc than the pussyfooting we'll have instead.

*clears throat*
And Russell .

[TCR]

So cut off time for qualifying will be 2:46.40.

Pretty slow considering we were doing quicker times than that in our naturally aspirated MX5 earlier this year.

[porsche91722]

Originally Posted by St00ge

haha what a joke.

I agree. Hypothetically, what happens if they all roll across the line in qualifying on a 2.08 dead? You'd have 10 or whatever cars all starting off the grid in order after having set the same time. I understand their reasons for this but it is still ridiculous. Qualifying in a 12 hour endurance race is not that important, but they may as well just draw grid spots out of a hat, as Saturday afternoon qualifying is going to be pretty much, a waste of time.

[GTRMagic]

Maybe the quick teams will put their 3rd drivers in during qualifying, to help make sure the cars dont get to sub 2.08's? Makes the Q session a bit of a flop though..

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by porsche91722

I agree. Hypothetically, what happens if they all roll across the line in qualifying on a 2.08 dead? You'd have 10 or whatever cars all starting off the grid in order after having set the same time. I understand their reasons for this but it is still ridiculous. Qualifying in a 12 hour endurance race is not that important, but they may as well just draw grid spots out of a hat, as Saturday afternoon qualifying is going to be pretty much, a waste of time.

The first car to do the 2.08 would be on pole...

[Tourer]

That's a real shame and begs the question (for the front runners anyway) of why they even bother with a qualifying session.

I get why though and I guess that it serves as a reminder that the race is more a large club style event (not that there's anything wrong with that) than a full-on professional competition. A few of the teams don't quite fit that mould of course so there will be pros there but the main body of the event won't be like that.

[scudd]

Quali should be combined times from all drivers.

[peckstar]

isnt this the same as last year,

here are the rules for grid determination

Grid Determination
3.6.1 The grid position for a three (3) driver car will be determined by the sum of the fastest lap time
achieved during qualifying by each of the drivers nominated to drive that car during the race.
3.6.2 The grid position for a four (4) driver car will be determined by the sum of the three (3) slowest
lap times achieved during qualifying by each of the drivers nominated to drive that car during
the race.
3.6.3 If the sum of the fastest lap times achieved during qualifying (as detailed above) for two (2) or
more cars is equal, grid positions for these cars will be allocated in the order as determined by
the Stewards of the Meeting.

also, how are all the vehicles going to do a 2.08, if they go even 1 tentsh of a second quicjer, they cope a 50kg penalty for the rest of the race weekend, thats not going to happen and they are not going to be that accurate

[B24]

I think 2011 qualy was an average of all three drivers but what a great way to turn people away. Very poor choice by the organisers.
Did someone panic when Allen did a 2.04 in November? Someone from a rival enduro at the same track later in the year? Certainly seems that way..
Pole was a 2.09 at the 24hr and that was 10 years ago this year! What happen to progress?
Again, very annoyed at this backward decision.

[peckstar]

as i said the same rule applied last year except it was in the 2.09's (from memory.)

its purpose is to create parity, and also somewhat for safety purposes.

and B24 pole was:
2002 2.15
2003 2.13.2

[D.R.T.]

With all the cars in endurance set up, no one was in danger of getting anywhere near the times set by Simonsen late last year.

That said, by setting a minimum qualifying it destroys any spectacle or atmosphere around the session and a waste in my opinion.

[scudd]

Originally Posted by B24

I think 2011 qualy was an average of all three drivers but what a great way to turn people away. Very poor choice by the organisers.
Did someone panic when Allen did a 2.04 in November? Someone from a rival enduro at the same track later in the year? Certainly seems that way..
Pole was a 2.09 at the 24hr and that was 10 years ago this year! What happen to progress?
Again, very annoyed at this backward decision.

Didn't you read my post on 130% rule?

[ff s conscience]

Simonsen will belt out 5s at will, subject to traffic. His 4.95 was legit, he did a 4.88 that didnt register.

Kox and Cam will be right there on it too, Russell not far behind....

Its a shame, but the traffic will be a huge factor anyway. Lap times will come, the race will be about much more than that though.

[KSM86]

Tim slade and peter hackett racing with black falcon.

[Richard Craill]

Exciting news about a certain Gull-winged entry coming Monday... bit of a holdup in confirming everything but it's locked in and will be all confirmed Monday. The entry list is in a constant state of flux, as is the case with most things like this, so not much point releasing more (than what is already out) until a bit closer to the event.

Relax people. It's all happening and it's going to be great.

[alfacors]

Originally Posted by rich07

I am thinking of going but it'll depend on whether I can find acommadation and more importantly if I can get time off work . Is there camping available on the mountain?

Would like to know this upcoming news too, its been more then a week, Xmas and New Years are gone and everyone's ramping up for Dubai, holidays are over.

I may have a couple of motel rooms available next week (the gang and I are discussing our accommodation options). Will be too much for 1 person, but if you have others with you, it could work out nicely. Literally less than 5 minutes from the track.