2014 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour: 7-9 February (Merged)

[Oldtony]

Thanks for the heads up KSM on announcemts.
I wasn't there, and didnt see the opening laps on live stream, but I have the impression that mixing the 1 hour sprint for local GTs into the first hour was not a good idea for the 12hr runners. Not saying those drivers were at fault in the early carnage, but just being there as extra traffic with a different set of priorities didn't seem to fit. With what happened to TQ, one of the prime movers behind the idea I would guess it could be out of favour next year.
Regarding the supports my feeling is that the logical support classes would be things like Marques, Prodsports, Porsches and feature events for that end of the market. More Chardonay than VB
Might be very good way of re-engaging a lot of the club scene who turn out for track days etc but are now somewhat divorced from racing.
Would suit a different sort of market to that which goes to V8SC. (And that is not to denigrate those fans, just to say they are different).

[D.R.T.]

Getting Group A/C on board would be awesome - the history of those cars at Bathurst is a good link as well

[Reload]

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

Getting Group A/C on board would be awesome - the history of those cars at Bathurst is a good link as well

Yep, they would be awesome.Not sure if I am right on the mark here, however i thought that they were asked in previous years, but couldn't guarantee numbers at the early cut off date required.

[peckstar]

getting F1's there would be awesome too. they would go well against a GT car, only a 20 second gap also

[bluesport]

Originally Posted by peckstar

getting F1's there would be awesome too. they would go well against a GT car, only a 20 second gap also

pecky, when they say the Group A/C cars they mean as a support category, not to race against the GTs.

[peckstar]

Originally Posted by bluesport

pecky, when they say the Group A/C cars they mean as a support category, not to race against the GTs.

ok thanks, i might have misunderstood that

But i'm not wrong, they would be awesome

[Reload]

Yes please

► 2:25
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AIJecvXIR4

[rich07]

Not sure if the Camaro has been officially homologated yet, I recall some problem with two different cars from two different companies (reiter and some belgian team) wanting to homologate the Camaro in FIA GT3 and there can only be one.

Sounds great and is probably one of the cheaper cars so hoping to see more of them getting around.

[Belly13]

Date announced for 2014 is fantastic news. Less than a week after this year's race. Put in my leave already.
As for supports, and with the carnage on the Saturday this year, if like to see a few changes. Would love to see AGT race on the Saturday by itself, and the AMC with a 3 hour race. I think it's important to keep the production car aspect of the Mount, but with the 12 hour growing in GT3 aspect so quick, might be time to separate?
TCM sounds good, and what about Superkarts? They'd provide a huge field...are they licensed to run at the Mount?

[R4z3rw33n]

Originally Posted by rich07

Not sure if the Camaro has been officially homologated yet, I recall some problem with two different cars from two different companies (reiter and some belgian team) wanting to homologate the Camaro in FIA GT3 and there can only be one.

Sounds great and is probably one of the cheaper cars so hoping to see more of them getting around.

The Camaros running in ADAC GT were Reiter-built, if memory serves.
This being the case, the Reiter chassis must be subject to some form of national homologation, at least.


There's a contingency in the (B12H) vehicle eligibility regs for (unlisted) national homologations:

4. Vehicles not on the Eligibility List will be considered upon application and be subject to approval by the Event Organiser and
CAMS. Any vehicles accepted and approved may be subject to balance of performance measures.

http://www.bathurst12hour.com.au/wp-...t-04.01.13.pdf

I'm not versed with CAMS process for vetting another national body's homologation.
If it's homologated for running in Germany, there's a decent chance it's possible to have one homologated in such a capacity here.

[nafe!]

First of all, what a race! Last weekends race was amazing and its now clear that the race is well and trully on the international motorsport calender with teams/drivers and radio lemans coming over to take part in the event.

First i would like to see where its mentioned that Mal had to stick to 2:15 all day. I have heard this is the case from more then one person but would like to confirm it. If its true its sadly another case of organisors meddling in the race results unfairly and unecessarily. Take note that this car is loved by people overseas and whole heartidly welcomed to race in the different 24hr races it takes part in. Just because we are in australia and there is some kind of euro snob attitude towards anything related to v8supercars should not have seen it hobbled. This is all assuming its true of course.

As far as next year goes i have heard they are considering an early start time again for a dark/twilight start which is better then nothing.

Also if the minimum laptime in qual is removed i also see it as a positive. Lets face it the race is now likely to become a must do event on the the worlds GT Calender and with the tight and short nature of the circuit relative to tracks like the Nurburgring a fair chunk of the slower production car classes will not be able to produce a lap time within the 130% rule.

As spectators we want to see the excitement of the lap record being obliterated and teams going all out for qualifying rather then tippy toeing around certain sector times in case they go under the dreaded lap time.

This will also make for a better overall field, with this years huge increase in gt cars it can be argued that with the coverage recieved by the race internationally this year that even more gt cars are likely to turn up next year making the race a predominately gt affair.

As far as support events the events promotor should seriously consider running a production car event the day prior to the 12hr. There are still so many production cars out there that were built for the AMC and previous iterations of the 12hr that could be brought up to play for say a 3 hr race on saturday. It gives these guys the spotlight and the chance to race in an event where they are not a danger to the faster entrants. This is assuming there are enough sports car and invitational entries to make a full grid in the 12hr race on their own. I cautiously suggest that this will be the case either next year or the year after going by the current growth pattern of the event and gt3.


Now the biggest blight on this years event was the safety car periods and just how long it took to clear the track.

There are spots on the track where more recovery crews could be in place to reduce the response time and its my personal belief that more of these teams need to be present. They also need to manned by experienced, fit and able people.

Also better driver briefings and driver etiquette as has been mentioned previously would go a long way in reducing the likelyhood of an accident in the first place.

My concern and pessimism after this time last year has now been replaced by excited optimism regarding the future of this event!

This is set to become the true Great Race now that the 1000 is just a artificial shell of its former self.

[gossie]

Congratulations to SBS for letting us see at least three hours of this wonderful race today.
I don't expect it to be live for 12+ hours next year, so guess I'll keep watching the live stream at times on the day.

[bluesport]

nafe, the Mal Rose car isn't actually a supercar, it has a six litre engine and it has been said on this forum that it also has some lightweight panels. It competes in the invitational class and I guess the organisers have to be careful about this class because participants could build and try to enter any mongrel thing specifically for this event and that would outside the spirit of the rules.

[peckstar]

Nafe if it helps Mal mentioned the 2.15 on the podium, and i have seen it written in some post race reports.

and as Bluesport mentioned, while it was a v8 supercar ten years ago, it has been modified since

[GTRMagic]

GRM need to get the Monaro band back together

[bluesport]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

GRM need to get the Monaro band back together

[R4z3rw33n]

Originally Posted by nafe!

First i would like to see where its mentioned that Mal had to stick to 2:15 all day. I have heard this is the case from more then one person but would like to confirm it. If its true its sadly another case of organisors meddling in the race results unfairly and unecessarily. Take note that this car is loved by people overseas and whole heartidly welcomed to race in the different 24hr races it takes part in. Just because we are in australia and there is some kind of euro snob attitude towards anything related to v8supercars should not have seen it hobbled. This is all assuming its true of course.

Originally Posted by peckstar

Nafe if it helps Mal mentioned the 2.15 on the podium, and i have seen it written in some post race reports.

and as Bluesport mentioned, while it was a v8 supercar ten years ago, it has been modified since

There's mention of the class-specific benchmark time in the appended version of sporting regs. It's poorly outlined, though - particularly as it's slated under qualifying procedure.

2.4 Driver Qualification Procedure
2.4.1 All drivers must practice or qualify within 130% of the fastest time set during Qualifying, save for
exceptional circumstances accepted as such by the Stewards of the Meeting.
2.4.2 A driver is only permitted to drive in one (1) automobile in the Bathurst 12 Hour category for the
duration of the Meeting.
2.4.3 All practice and qualifying sessions will be timed and count towards driver qualification.
2.4.4 Cross entering of drivers for the Bathurst 12 Hour Event is not permitted.

2.4.5 Bench Mark Times:
2.4.5.1 For all automobiles in Classes A and B the benchmark minimum lap time for this
event is 2 minutes 07 seconds.
2.4.5.2 For all automobiles in Class I the benchmark minimum lap time for this event is 2
minutes 15 seconds.
2.4.6 If in any official practice or qualifying session a driver records a lap time which is faster than the
benchmark lap time they will receive a 50kg weight penalty to be carried for the remainder of
the Event in the vehicle for which they are entered. During qualifying sessions, lap times that
are quicker than the benchmark lap time will be deleted from the results.
2.4.7 During the race if a driver of an automobile in Class I records a lap time which is faster than the
benchmark lap time they will receive a drive through penalty. During the race if a driver of an
automobile in Class I breaks the benchmark lap time more than twice, a timed penalty will be
applied.

http://www.bathurst12hour.com.au/wp-...-supp-regs.pdf

[D.R.T.]

Good to see the event has an active sponsor in Liqui Moly - definitely something that will keep pushing the event forward.

Hard to imagine 12 months ago when Armour All didnt renew their sponsorship some people were questioning if the event would even run in 2013!

[mayhem]

edit

[Reload]

Originally Posted by D.R.T.

Good to see the event has an active sponsor in Liqui Moly - definitely something that will keep pushing the event forward.

Hard to imagine 12 months ago when Armour All didnt renew their sponsorship some people were questioning if the event would even run in 2013!

I think you will find that some/many of those doubters were hoping that it would fail because their favourite category could be under threat ?

[champcarman]

Speaking of sponsors being pro active in promoting their involvement I believe Peugeot will be producing a documentary of their weekend at Bathurst with the two little RCZs which might be shown on Speed in the near future.

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by Reload

I think you will find that some/many of those doubters were hoping that it would fail because their favourite category could be under threat ?

More likely, the farce that saw the category manager of GT3 not being involved with arguably the biggest event on the GT calendar in this part of the world threatened the existence of the event more than replacing one sponsor with another

[Reload]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

More likely, the farce that saw the category manager of GT3 not being involved with arguably the biggest event on the GT calendar in this part of the world threatened the existence of the event more than replacing one sponsor with another

Agree.

[alfacors]

And now that category's manager has done a control tyre deal which further threatens his own category's future with many competitors unhappy and looking elsewhere to race.

[bathurst]

Originally Posted by bluesport

Ditto, they were way outside the rules