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Beware The Raging Bull Bathurst 12-Hour
Justin McMillan may be one of a handful of rookies making his debut in the 2013 Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli, but discount the two-time Victorian State Series Champion at your own peril.
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With just two years of motorsport experience under his belt, the Victorian is no seasoned veteran, but he already has runs on the board against some pretty serious competition.
“I think Justin will surprise a few people with his pace,” former Bathurst champion and McMillan’s 12-Hour team-mate Steven Richards admitted. “I didn’t see much of him during his State Series efforts, but I saw how quick and committed he was during testing, and I was impressed with how much he listened, and how quickly he adapated.”
Campaigning the four-wheel-drive Lamborghini Gallardo Super Trofeo in the Victorian State Series as a ‘toe-in-the-water’ exercise, McMillan decided to go ‘all-out’ for 2013, purchasing a Reiter Engineering prepared Gallardo LP600+ for the coming season, the M Motorsport team unveiling their new look at Lamborghini Australia’s Zagame showroom in Richmond [Melbourne] last night.
Resplendent in the colours of new sponsors GB Galvanizing, Strategy One Human Resources and Australian Post Tensioning, the Gallardo was revealed to an assembled group of supporters, partners and press ahead of what will be its maiden event this weekend during the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12-Hour.
“We were very pleased to be able to unveil the car, and introduce Justin, Steven and fellow co-driver Ross Lilley to our friends, sponsors and the media,” team manager and experienced driver in his own right, Josh Hunt revealed.
“There are some fantastic teams in the Australian GT Series at the moment, from Melbourne Performance Centre with the Audis, Maranello Motorsport’s Ferraris and of course Erebus Motorsport,” Hunt agreed. “They’ve set the benchmark pretty high, but we’re [M Motorsport] looking to raise that.
“We have long term aspirations to run more than one car, and perhaps in a range of categories, but at this stage, the focus is on the Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli, and getting Justin up to speed, but that shouldn’t be too hard..”
“I’ve always been a big car fan, it’s something I inherited from my father,” Justin said. “But up until recently I really had no interest in racing. In fact, initially we bought the Super Trofeo we raced in the State Series just to do track days for some fun, but that pretty soon turned serious.”
Serious in McMillan’s estimate is back-to-back State Series titles against some pretty serious competition, including new team-mate Ross Lilley.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for Ross,” Justin admitted. “He’s a hard competitor but he’s fair, and he knows how to keep a car straight whilst still being quick.
“When we first planned to run the GT Championship Bathurst wasn’t part of the equation, but when they revealed the calendar last year, we knew we’d do the full 12-hours, just for the seat time.
“Look, I’ve done a number of these endurance style races,” Steven Richards added. “They’re all about being there at the end. My plan is to make sure that at the end of every stint, I hand Ross and Justin back a car that’s capable of doing the next stint, and so on. If we can get to the eleventh hour, we’ll be okay, because I’m tipping that the car is good enough that we’ll be somewhere near the lead group, and from there we’ll see what happens.
“The car is incredible.. I didn’t do too many laps, because testing was about getting Justin up to speed and comfortable with the car, but the aero was just incredible. I’ve had a lot to do with Carrera Cup over recent years, and they’re harder physically to drive than these modern GT cars, but the aero is nowhere near as good, they’re just amazing.”
“Where we finish doesn’t really affect us, it’s purely to get time in the seat..” Justin agreed sheepishly..
So, a similar approach to that which you adopted when you started the State Series (he won the Championship on debut, and then backed that up with a second victory last year!) - ease yourself in..
“Yeah I did really, and what happened, happened (he shrugged grinning from ear-to-ear). So we’ll just take that attitude with AGT, and what happens, happens..”
If you get the chance at an event this year, go and talk to Justin, he’s probably not going to be what you expect a racing driver should be, but judge for yourself, do you think he’ll be happy to just turn laps and keep out of the limelight in 2013.. we think not..
It’s about time there was some colour back in Australian motorsport..!
Opening practice for the 2013 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12-Hour begins on Friday, February 8 at 7:45am, with qualifying at 7:45am on Saturday (February 9), with the 12-Hour race underway at 7:00am on Sunday, February 10.
M Motorsport is proudly supported by GB Galvanizing, Strategy One Human Resources and Australian Post Tensioning.
PaddockTalk Perspective
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