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Up And Down Bathurst 12 Hour For DragonSpeed
The Florida-based DragonSpeed team experienced mixed fortunes on its 20,000 mile round trip to contest the 2013 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour race, the event rapidly earning a place in the top rank of the world’s GT enduros alongside the Nürburgring and Spa 24 Hour classics. Running comfortably in the top 10 before problems intervened, the team’s GT3 Audi R8 LMS ultra driven by Eric Lux, Christian Zugel, and DragonSpeed team principal Elton Julian finished 17th of the 49 starters who took the green flag at Australia’s famed 4.0-mile Mount Panorama circuit.
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A conservative approach to practice and qualifying saw the number 81 Audi line up 18th on the grid for the 7.00 am start. Lux made strong progress to run eighth just before the 90-minute mark, when a slow puncture turned into a 175 mph blowout entering the Chase bend at the end of the undulating Con-Rod straight. After wrestling the car to a halt within sight of the pits, Eric re-entered the fray in 21st spot and climbed back up to 13th before handing off to Christian Zugel, who gained pace throughout his long stint. Julian and Lux took the next two runs, until Eric was forced to pit from 13th on lap 183 with a broken wheel bearing and upright caused by contact with the wall earlier in the race. The repairs cost a total of 24 laps and 11 places, but Lux and Julian skillfully exploited two outbursts of heavy rain and hail in the last two hours to claim 17th place from 34 finishers at the checkered flag.
“On a seriously challenging track against tough competition, the team really showed what they’re made of,” Lux said. “They responded like total pros to two big setbacks, giving us back a solid car that let us continue to fight both times. The tire blowout may have given me a wild ride but all I can think of now is coming back next year to win this thing.”
“It’s really something to survive 12 hours at Bathurst,” said Zugel. “It’s like a street course on a mountain, with the occasional kangaroo thrown in, where they stage a demolition derby for Audis, Ferraris, Mercedes, and Porsches. Our day would have been better without me tagging the wall, but the whole team fought back with great commitment, so my thanks to DragonSpeed for providing a great car and superb crew.”
“Without the problems, I think we would have continued our upward trend with a result well inside the top ten,” Julian said. “Instead we took some big hits, but still took our third finish in as many enduros. Eric came back from the puncture to set our fastest lap, while Christian improved every time he drove the car. The crew did an awesome job dealing with all the dramas and when the weather went crazy, we made the right calls for the conditions. The amazing track and racing a GT for the first time made my one-off comeback as a driver a lot of fun, but now I’m thinking about the next part of our learning curve as a team and preparations for Spa in July.”
PaddockTalk Perspective
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