 |
|
|
|
| · 2013 Formula One F1 Driver Line-up, Rumor Round-up & 2014 Silly Season Rumors - February 10th (Feb 10, 2013)
· 2013 Formula One F1 Driver Line-up, Rumor Round-up & 2014 Silly Season Rumors - February 9th (Feb 9, 2013)
· 2013 Jerez: Formula One F1 Friday Test Results - Raikkonen, Lotus Fastest! (Feb 8, 2013)
· 2013 Jerez: Formula One F1 Thursday Test Results - Massa, Ferrari Fastest! (Feb 7, 2013)
· 2013 Jerez: Formula One (F1) Wednesday Test Results - Grosjean, Lotus Fastest! (Feb 6, 2013)
|
Previous Top Stories! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
M Motorsport; Runs Are On The Board
As an operation, the GB Galvanizing M Motorsport team made its debut into top flight GT competition in Australia in the biggest way possible, by entering a brand new car, a brand new team and a team owner who had never driven Bathurst before, on the biggest stage of the year for 12 gruelling hours. Factor in too that on a day where even the very best of Bathurst champions was left questioning what had played out for them, they ran with the leaders and finished just outside the top ten.
|
|
|
Team Manager Josh Hunt admitted that despite a niggling gearbox issue which cost them 14-laps mid-race, that the weekend had gone flawlessly, and that they had ticked off every goal they had set for themselves, and a whole lot more.
“We’re absolutely rapt,” he beamed afterwards. “We finished, we ran with the leaders, and Justin - who had never driven at Bathurst before - not only improved his times, but got to within a couple of seconds of Richo. For a team that was only just put together in the weeks leading up to the event, we couldn’t be any more proud.”
Steven Richards agreed.. “I had a ball, driving the Lamborghini was incredible, it just goes so well, and is so quick with all that aero, it was a blast. To be honest though, it was actually pretty cruisy.
“Going in I didn’t have any expectations of what we could achieve. For such a young team, they worked brilliantly, and just kept focussed on the job at hand. We kept out of trouble during our stints, and apart from the gearbox issue, it was the perfect day.”
“The generator that controls the shifter over-heated so we had to bring it in and change it,” Hunt confirmed. “We lost 14-laps there, which really cost us, because we could have been battling for a position in the top five, which on debut would have been fantastic.
“As it was Richo moved us forward early after qualifying the car ninth, and we claimed fifth place honours in the Australian GT round by the time we reached the 50-minute mark. He was both fast and consistent, and the Pirelli tyres were remarkable, they just kept punching out lap times, and even better would last through two stints without needing to be changed.
“I guess we’re all rapt in the result, but the thing that really marked us as a team, was Justin’s pace. He laughed at the end of the race, that he’s done more racing laps in one day, than he had done in the two years leading up to the event - his only previous racing experience [during that time he won back-to-back Victorian State Sports Car Championships]. He didn’t put a foot wrong all weekend, and was incredibly quick, which can only work in his favour for Clipsal when he takes over driving duties alone.
“I think his confidence across the weekend grew exponentially, as did his understanding of the car and the engineering behind it, and when you’re in that position your motivation goes up as a result - I can only see good things for him from here on.”
“Justin really impressed me with his speed, but also his desire to learn, two important things for any budding race driver. It’s a pity in a way that we’re not doing some more endurance races through the year, because given a chance to join the M Motorsport team again to drive the Lambo - I’d be there in a heartbeat.”
Having started the GB Galvanizing/Strategy One Human Resources/Australian Post Tensioning Gallardo LP600 from the fifth row, Steven Richards was right in the box seat for the dramatic opening hour, and right behind the first accident that brought out the Safety Car when Mika Salo made contact with a Group B Porsche in the first 20 minutes.
“There was some manic stuff going on at the start by some guys that really should know better. The move that Salo pulled in the Ferrari was just mad, he didn’t need to be that impatient that early in the race - look at what happened to them in the end. We were just cautious and the race came to us. If we hadn’t had that gearbox issue, we would probably have finished in the top five.”
For the M Motorsport team, as with all the teams entered in the Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli, it’s on to round two of the series at Adelaide as a support act to the opening V8 Supercar round of the series [28 February - 3 March].
Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12-Hour
1. Schneider/Jaeger/Roloff (Erebus Racing Mercedes Benz AMG SLS GT3) - 268-laps
2. Weng Sun/Baird/Griffin (Clearwater Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) - 267-laps
3. Quinn/Van Gisbergen/Kingsley (VIP Petfoods Porsche Type 997 GT3-R)
4. Kristofferson/Primat/Simonson (Pheonix Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra) - 266-laps
5. Eddy/Cini/Grant/Mies (Network Cloth/Hallmarc Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra) - 263-laps
6. Slade/Holdsworth/Hackett (Erebus Racing Mercedes Benz AMG SLS GT3)
7. Wyatt/Rugolo/Cioci (AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) - 261-laps
8. Conroy/Winslow/Huff (Peter Conroy Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3) - 260-laps
9. Johnson/Reid/Russell (Hunter Sports Group Porsche 997 GT3 Cup) - 257-laps
10. Koutsoumidis/McInnes/Middleton/O’Young (Equity-One Audi R8 LMS) - 255-laps
13. McMillan/Richards/Lilley (GB Galvanizing Gallardo LP600) - 247-laps
Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli
Rnd#1 - Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12-Hour (50-minutes)
1. Quinn/Quinn/Van Gisbergen (VIP Petfoods Porsche Type 997 GT3-R) - 14-laps
2. Edwards/Bowe/Simonsen/Salo (Il Bello Rosso Ferrari 458 Italia GT3)
3. Manolios/Murphy/Capelli (Chevrolet Corvette Z06.R GT3)
4. Koutsoumidis/McInnes/Middleton/O’Young (Equity-One Audi R8 LMS)
5. McMillan/Richards/Lilley (GB Galvanizing Lamborghini Gallardo LP600)
6. Salmon/Lowndes/Luff (Skwirk.com.au Audi R8 LMS ultra)
7. Weng Sun/Baird/Griffin (Clearwater Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT3)
8. Slade/Holdsworth/Hackett (Erebus Racing Mercedes Benz AMG SLS GT3)
9. Schneider/Jaeger/Roloff (Erebus Racing Mercedes Benz AMG SLS GT3)
10. Tony Quinn (VIP Petfoods Aston Martin Vantage GT3) - 11-laps
Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli
GT Championship points (after round one of six)
1. Klark Quinn/Shane Van Gisbergen (54 points), 2. Peter Edwards/John Bowe/Allan Simonsen/Mika Salo (50), 3. Jim Manolios/Greg Murphy/Ivan Capelli (37), 4. Dean Koutsoumidis/Andrew McInnes/Simon Middleton/Darryl O’Young (30), 5. Justin McMillan/Steven Richards/Ross Lilley (28), 6. Tim Slade/Lee Holdsworth/Peter Hackett (26), 7. Craig Baird/Mok Weng Sun/Matt Griffin (25), 8. Rod Salmon/Craig Lowndes/Warren Luff (21), 9. Alex Roloff/Bernd Schneider/Thomas Jaeger (19), 10. Roger Lago/David Russell/Peter Kox (16), 11. Tony Quinn (12)
2013 Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli - calendar
Rnd#1, 8-10 February - Bathurst 12-Hour, NSW
Rnd#2, 28 Feb - 3 March - Clipsal, Adelaide, SA
Rnd#3, 24-26 May - Phillip Island, Victoria
Rnd#4, 12-14 July - Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW
Rnd#5, 2-4 August - Queensland Raceway, Ipswich, QLD
Rnd#6, 8-10 November - Highland Motorsport Park, NZ
PaddockTalk Perspective
|
|
|
| |
|
