BATHURST FROM THE INSIDE: The big race

You know you’ve arrived in world motorsport when Allan McNish tweets about you. McNish expressed his surprise after seeing footage of the Fiat Abarth Motorsport team in the early stages of the Bathurst 12 Hour.

Despite its obvious road-car resemblance – it looks almost double the height of the Class A Lamborghini Gallardo GT3s – the Class F Fiat Abarth Assetto Corse 695s impressed many with their speed and reliability in the lead-up to race day.

The #95 and ‘our’ (Editor-in-Chief Mike Sinclair was a team driver) #96 Fiats took to the grid in 35th and 36th position, with number #59 in 40th.

Professional driver Luke Youlden took the start in Car 96, running in unison with Paul Stokell in the 95 car as both double-stinted.

They quickly settled into the 2:32 bracket as sunlight expanded to bathe the circuit, the drivers focused on minimising time loss as the quicker outright cars came through.

Meanwhile, Car 59 was returned to the garage, after giving Matt Campbell the experience of a Bathurst 12 Hour start.

Underlying the ability of both the car and the drivers, both drivers put in mid-2:31 laps to close out their stints.

Paul Gover took over from Youlden, the Fiat Abarth’s tyres looking barely worse for wear, before Greg Hede completed his first stint.

Then, it was time for Sinclair to step in. Quite relaxed in the lead-up, the race face appeared as he went out to battle.

And battle he did, though not necessarily for position. “The hairiest moment was when the McLaren cut across me on the way to the pits. He must have received a late call or something, but it was no problem,” Sinclair explained.

The #96 Abarth was settled in 23rd position outright by this stage and Sinclair retained that position throughout his stint, ahead of the Class D Subaru STI and BMW 335i entries, before handing back over to Gover.

How was his first Bathurst race experience? “It was magic, just so much fun… everything they say about racing here is true.”

Sinclair returned to the track for two more afternoon stints, concluding as the race ticked over its ninth hour. By this stage the mood around the Fiat Abarth Motorsport pits and hospitality was turning from cautious optimism to a buzz of anticipation, as #96 was handed over to gun steerer Youlden in 19th place outright.

“The car’s running perfectly, no dramas,” was Sinclair’s simple summation. “It’s hot out there, but I had a ball!”

Alan Heaphy, head of car preparer PPE, was equally happy: “Both 95 and 96 have run without major issue since the start, and they’ve importantly kept their noses clean. Both cars have had brake changes as well as routine tyre servicing, but the rest has been simple: Check the fluids and go.

“Unfortunately a safety car put the #95 car back. It was second on the road for a restart, so I decided to pull the car through pitlane to avoid any potential incidents on the restart,” he concluded.

Also assisting in any collision avoidance was Bosch’s, ahem, Collision Avoidance System, which we previewed before the race. As a spectator you can almost see the system working, as the Fiats stayed well out of the way in heavy traffic.

A final afternoon stint repeated the dose: Sinclair, sweaty but smiling, referring to the circuit’s greatness and the ability of the Abarth, a car essentially new to endurance racing, which required basic maintenance… and nothing else throughout.

As 6:15 hours approached, the cars were once more pulled through pit lane during a safety car period so as not to get in the way of an epic final scrap for the outright victory, which you can read about here.

As the (brake) dust settled, the results appeared before our eyes. Car 96 completed 243 laps, or over 1500km, in the 12 Hours to finish 18th outright and first in Class F.

Car 95 finished 236 laps for 22nd outright and second in class. The Fiats had run essentially without fault all race and in doing so embarrassed a couple of higher-class cars in the process. For the finale, Car 59 was able to rejoin the circuit to take the chequered flag, to make a three-wide formation finish for the Abarth team.

But reliability is one thing; pace is another. That they ran comparable lap times to a Class D Subaru Impreza STI and BMW 335i in both qualifying and race trims proved that the feisty Abarths, and their brace of journo drivers, were far from embarrassments – they were rusted-on endurance racers.