2011 Bathurst 12 Hour

[alfacors]

The lowest class is D which has the Corolla Sportivo, RenaultSport Clio, Astra Turbo etc in it. I don't believe the Yaris is eligible anymore.

[D.R.T.]

Originally Posted by nafe!

"There is two aspects with the international teams. The first is with the drivers. Each car can only have one seeded driver and there is a minimum of three drivers per car. For example – if there was factory team, they could only bring one professional driver out. Secondly, parity – after the October Bathurst round of the Australian GT Championship, we will have a parity system that we can implement for February but I wouldn’t discount further adjustments at the event."

This is a worry.

Here was a chance for the event and the GT category to have a race with a clean sheet of paper. Hold a proper outright race where the best team and drivers from anywhere in the world can win but yet it seems we will have another charity benefit.

I will look on in interest to see the when entry list released.

[6.213km]

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

This is a worry.

Here was a chance for the event and the GT category to have a race with a clean sheet of paper. Hold a proper outright race where the best team and drivers from anywhere in the world can win but yet it seems we will have another charity benefit.

I will look on in interest to see the when entry list released.

You would think, that for this event only, you'd relax the dumb pro drivers rule.

Try this for size, "Hi Audi, my names James, I'm from Australia, how bout you spent a zillion dollars and bring down some of your cars to Bathurst, oh, by the way, only send two good drivers, and if you go too quick on Saturday, we might throw 200kgs on the passanger seat for the race "

Audis response "Get ****ed"

[Holly Wood]

Do they actually want factory entries with three professional drivers aboard?

One entry like that would kill the whole race.

I'm not a fan of the way the driver seeding stuff is handled in the Aus GT Championship, but once you start to talk about races where multiple drivers are required, it can actually work quite well.

[cptkablamo]

I don't have an issue with the seeded driver rule...many championships use it and GT Championship was basically dead before they implemented it. I think that domestic teams will make up the majority of GT entries for this and if there is sufficient interest from overseas competitors this may be reviewed in future years. It is also likely that any international team at the moment would be looking for additional funding for the race and hence a pro-am line-up will be handy to raise the funds...

If you read the article, the parity and target lap times will be known to competitors before the event and only minor changes should be made come the weekend - I would probably say that no changes should happen on the weekend but I guess if there is a car that is 7sec a lap faster...

Part 2 now available

[courageous]

Some people are talking about this driver seeding as if it is only happening in aus gt - even the le mans series mandates no all pro line ups for LMP2

[rich07]

I can see why people would be concerned about an all pro lineup but at the same time I cant see why a car owner cant have two pros in his car.

[D.R.T.]

Endurance racing especially at Bathurst for these type of cars should be a leveller in terms of car performance and driver performance.

If you look at the two 24 hour events of the past (Monaro's aside), most teams were made up pro's and amatuers due to the cost of the event. The distance and characteristics of the circuit also act to balance the field over 12 hours anyway.

Mandating the number of 'seeded' drivers which is very ambuiguous anyway and parity adjustments over a weekend just complicates things and turns people away.

[Sheep Stations]

Entries now open...will be interesting to see how many 'overseas' entries come in. Makes good economic sense to be an overseas entrant and by-pass being rail-roaded by Aust GT and have to commit financially to their 2011 championship/income.

Expect lots of Kiwi and Asian entries with Australian accents. Reg's out too, one seeded driver per team and its a genuine seed, must have a pretty good recent resume to be classed as one, unlike GT's classification.

[GTRMagic]

The determining of the grid sounds like loads of fun..

Originally Posted by 3.6 Grid Determination

The grid position for each 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. 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.

.. from the Supp Regs..

So 3 drivers aggregate time sets the grid?

Hope they get their own sessions of significant length to set good times... and that there arent car issues..

[pplater]

I don't like that qually change, I rather enjoyed the idea of a Simonsen v Hackett v Wall v Baird shooutout for pole.

The Seeded driver regs are interesting too, and it seems drivers aged 55 and more are excempt. How old are guys like Seton, Crompton, Richards, Morris etc?

And how do they define a works manufacturer driver?
Does someone like Paul Morris count because of the Diet Coke BMW?

There's a good opportunity here for fast guys who haven't quite ticked a championship box... someone like Peter Hackett could pair up with Allan Simonsen, Tony Quinn with Craig Baird, The Koundouris bros with Fabian Coulthard/Dave Reynolds etc.

Maybe there will be less room for people like Paul Stokell who have won the GT championship in the past (making him a seeded driver) but don't have recent form in the category.

[DAVID PATERSON]

Originally Posted by pplater

The Seeded driver regs are interesting too, and it seems drivers aged 55 and more are excempt. How old are guys like Seton, Crompton, Richards, Morris etc?

Seton is 45, I think Morris is 43 and Crompton is 40 something. Jim Richards is 63............

[rich07]

Whilst going through the Bathurst 12hr website I read this

http://www.bathurst12hour.com.au/mal...hurst-12-hour/

Team Porsche Club Singapore owner Mok Weng Sun was the first to put pen to paper, confirming that he would bring a Porsche 911 GT3 R to Bathurst next year.

Reading through the regulations I see that the more modern FIA GT3 cars can only be entered by international teams which I think is a bit unfair, Ted Hughlin owns a 560-4 GT3 which he could not enter if he wanted to (I'm not sure if he did want to or not).

Other teams to express a strong desire to compete include the two-car Petronas BMW Z4 outfit and the works-supported Audi Team Joest squad, who have returned to Germany to pencil in Bathurst on their 2011 calendar for one of their stunning R8 supercars.

The BMWs dont meet GT3 regs so I wonder what class they would race in if they indeed did appear. A Joest Audi would make more sense seeing as though that team is running a 'turn up and race' package for gentlemen drivers, which can involve a pro driver to share the car which would fit in with the seeded driver rules. That is of course if either of those two teams enter the race that is.

[cptkablamo]

I do believe that 2009 and 2010 GT3 cars will be eligible - in order to draw some international competitors, which would also apply to Ted's Lambo

Unless I am mistaken

[rich07]

Originally Posted by cptkablamo

I do believe that 2009 and 2010 GT3 cars will be eligible - in order to draw some international competitors, which would also apply to Ted's Lambo

Unless I am mistaken

In Appendix 1 of the supplementary regs there is a eligible vehicle list with a star next to several newer cars and at the bottom of the table there is this, 'this make/model has been deemed eligible for international teams only'.

Not sure if this applies to other 2009/2010 cars or not. I'm guessing not.

Link to supp regs http://www.bathurst12hour.com.au/wp-...as-31.8.10.pdf

[D.R.T.]

Surely you can't have one set of eligibility rules for half the grid and another for the other half?

[alfacors]

Get an international team to "lease" Ted's Lambo and enter it?

[Sheep Stations]

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

Surely you can't have one set of eligibility rules for half the grid and another for the other half?

Ahh, yes you can when you engage AGT in the event prematurely as the promoter did. Only way he'll get sufficient numbers on the grid.

Huglin has NZ company connections, problem solved with entering the 2010 Lamborghini. He hates AGT after they blanked his car anyway.

The qualifying thing is a worry. Don't expect a Simonsen/Baird style shoot-out in qualifying as showing your cards will result in some back-of-a-napkin style parity being placed on the car for the race. We will see race laps several seconds faster than any qualifying.

And I can't see two pro drivers together in any case. With the budget to run a championship GT car for this event being $100-150k, pro drivers don't write cheques so owners will be seeking capable drivers with funds.

[racer69]

Sorry to say but these regs are getting laughable (from a fans point of view...and aren't they the one's that count?)

[peckstar]

like the qualifying format, what a great idea.

Think you boys are making mountains out of molehills regarding the eligibility regs

[Sheep Stations]

had a rethink about the qualifying...at least if the 'pros' tank, it means less chance of having to bench a production car that doesn't meet the 130% rule.

No whinge about eligibility from me, all for a FIA GT3 based inclusion.

Racer, fans all important in regards to the regs?...please.

[racer69]

Originally Posted by peckstar

Think you boys are making mountains out of molehills regarding the eligibility regs

eligibility of certain cars for some people and not for others.... it'd be a worry if people weren't making a mountain out of it

Originally Posted by Sheep Stations

Racer, fans all important in regards to the regs?...please.

It was regulations like this that helped killed the 24 hour, i think fair regs are important to the fans

[peckstar]

Wasnt it Mr Palmer running out of money that killed the 24 hour?

i reckon if you go back to every 12 hour thread on her there are prople complaining about the eligibility, based on what you are suggesting then the race should not be happening

[D.R.T.]

Originally Posted by peckstar

Wasnt it Mr Palmer running out of money that killed the 24 hour?

Palmer didnt run out of money - he chose not to continue investing.

The failure of a tv network and title sponsor to buy into the event it what brought it to its knees. As racer suggests the unstable regulations would have been a factor in this.

[peckstar]

sorry you are right, he stopped spending the money.

The regulations may have been a factor, but they may not have also or may have been a really minor factor