David Among Goliaths: Abarth at Bathurst 12 hour

The true beauty of the Bathurst 12 Hour lies in its vehicle range. Its wide net gives different manufacturers the ability to come up with unique solutions that, in their view, will see them take the chequered flag come race day.

This kind of freedom breeds exciting racing, as cars with different relative strengths and weaknesses converge on the same piece of tarmac. The result is a haven for motorsport fans, this year privileged to see the fruits of Mercedes-AMG, McLaren, Ferrari, Lamborghini, NISMO and Audi all competing in the top-level GT3 category.

Another layer to this, or indeed other world-class endurance event, is the class structure, which gives more production-based machinery a chance to shine on the big stage, a class victory as important as the big prize for the less exotic teams.

For the Fiat Abarth Motorsport crew, class victory was the initial goal; however, then Class F competition in the shape of BMW 1 Series, Minis and the like evaporated from the entry list. Sights were therefore set on reliability, but with enough pace to qualify and perhaps slay a couple of Class C or D production-style competitors in the race.

Not only did the Abarths cruise to Class F honours, the two lead cars finished 18th and 22nd outright, with fastest laps in the 2min31sec range; ahead of, for instance, the Class D Subaru Impreza WRX STi in both finishing position and fastest lap time.

Where were the Abarths making the time?

“It’s surprisingly torquey up the mountain, but is up against aerodynamics over 160km/h,” explained Mike ‘Sinkers’ Sinclair, team driver and motoring.com.au Editor in Chief.

“Across the top we could match it with cars which, on paper, were much quicker over the full lap. Being so light, we also had an advantage under brakes and in tyre wear over other production-based cars.”

To put the 2min31sec laps into context, it’s only ten seconds off European legend Steve Soper’s fastest race lap in the 1987 Bathurst 1000, the first year the ‘Chase’ complex was added to Conrod Straight. Soper was aboard a full-spec Ford Sierra RS 500 Group A Touring Car, producing comfortably over 375kW. That’s progress.

SINKERS' SIGHTS
We asked Sinclair to recount what it was like taking on the Goliaths as Abarth’s David. Here are his thoughts:

“The fastest of the fast simply blew past us where and when they wanted — leaving just a wee gap was enough for the thundering Mercedes-AMG SLS, McLaren and top Ferrari 458 to get past.

“The SLS’s exhaust would boom through the Fiat as it blew by, though interestingly it was the Porsches that seemed the loudest. You’d hear the fast 911s coming – and going. The Ferrari and McLaren you could hardly hear.

“One time up Mountain Straight I crested the hump at exactly the same time as one of the SLSs – the bow wave moved the 695 Abarth about a metre sideways. I knew it was coming and I couldn’t help but giggle, though I probably should have been more serious about the consequences...

“During my stints, I didn’t have one issue with the fast guys. In fact, I’m pretty sure at one stage ‘Cricky’ [Greg Crick in the Erebus Mercedes] waved as he went past. My old mate Grant Denyer, meanwhile, waved every time… With one finger.

“It was the slower drivers in faster cars that were more challenging, particularly from The Cutting through to the kink just past Forest Elbow. At first we’d lift out of the throttle and wait for them as soon as they appeared in the mirrors, but often this wasn’t enough and you’d end up losing too much pace, and they still wouldn’t be passed. They simply weren’t gaining enough on the Fiats across the top of the mountain in any single corner.

“The Bosch Collision Avoidance system was interesting to watch here. It would highlight the closing cars as red chevrons – meaning they were gaining on us on the short straights. Then the marking would go green [ie. not closing] as we went deeper into the corners. They’d often stay green as we got back on the throttle early and punched the little cars through turns five to to eight and onto McPhillamy Park. When that would happen and they were close enough, I’d just lift early at Skyline, let them through and then annoy them all the way down the hill. That was fun...”

VIEW FROM THE TOP
Come Bathurst 12 Hour race day, keen motor racing fan Sheldon McIntosh is a permanent fixture at ‘the top’. Here’s his take on the Abarth’s performance

“Being the most unlikely looking car on a racetrack can often lead to that car becoming a fan favourite – like the first time a Mini Cooper appeared on track; the Volvo station wagon in the British Touring Car Championship; and even the Volvo 242 in the days of Robbie Francevic.

“I'm not going to say that happened to the Abarths on top of the mountain during the 12 Hour, but at the very least they got a lot of respect from the fans. When one of the Fiats completed a lovely dive up the inside of a WRX STi over the crest after Reid Park, there were quite a few of us on our feet cheering and clapping.

“The Abarths were clean and smooth all day, and to my eyes didn't seem to create any problems for the faster cars.

“Their lines were consistent all day long, something that can definitely not be said for all of the slower cars out there. I was glued to the spot for all 12 hours, and must have witnessed at least 10 very close incidents involving slower cars, at least three of which caused the faster cars to take to the grass at full speed to avoid contact. Scary stuff.

“It was good to see that the journos handled themselves well in the Abarths. The biggest compliment I could pay the drivers is that from on top of the mountain it was impossible to determine who was driving.

“With most of cars on track, even some of the very fastest cars, you could definitely tell when the slowest driver was in. In the Abarths this was not the case — all appeared smooth and quick, and were very respectful of the faster cars.

“I only heard one 'fan' complaining about the Abarths being there – but he was a real throwback to the bad old days of Bathurst. He also complained about the Radical support category, the rotaries in Improved Production, the Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Audis, Porsches...I hope he had a good weekend.

“To all other fans I talked with, and certainly to myself and my friends there, the Abarths were an entertaining and welcome addition to the spectacle. They garnered nothing but respect for the way they handled themselves. And they just kept going and going and going...”

POCKET ROCKET SCIENCE
Alan Heaphy likes to work in the background – has his entire career. His modesty means Heaphy’s name isn’t instantly recognisable to those outside motorsport, but ask the likes of Jim Richards, Craig Lowndes or Le Mans winner, Mark Blundell, about his engineering skills and you’d come away with some sense of his success in global motorsport.

Heaphy has stood toe to toe with Tom Walkinshaw in Europe, engineered pole-sitting Le Mans prototypes and dominated Australian Touring Cars in the days of ‘Godzilla’, the Nissan Skyline GT-R. But it’s perhaps his run of success in Australian Manufacturer’s Championship Racing – where his Team Mitsubishi Ralliart Lancer Evolutions won four consecutive titles to 2012 (including the 2008 and 2009 Bathurst 12 Hour enduros) – that had most appeal to Fiat Chrysler Australia when it went shopping for a local race team partner.

In short, Fiat had the cars to take a tilt at The Mountain but needed specialised experience. Enter in Heaphy’s Performance Parts & Engineering (PPE) operation.

The odyssey started late last year, when Heaphy took possession of five Fiat Abarth 695 Assetto Corse racers – three for the track and two sacrificial cars for spares. The one-make racers, built in Belgium, were pukka circuit racing machines, but were far from endurance racers. In order to fit into a Bathurst 12 Hour category F – and more importantly last the distance – PPE had a body of work in front of it.

“The Abarths came from a controlled race series with sealed turbos and ECUs, and simple braking and suspension packages designed for sprint racing,” Heaphy explained.

“Most of our work has centred on preparing the cars for the rigours of endurance racing. We’ve done 1400km of testing, and expect each car to do between 1700-1800 kilometres over the course of the event with no major issues. As such, we’ve added items such as gearbox and oil coolers, along with an 80 litre fuel cell with dry-brake coupling for easy refuelling.”

A larger, more robust antilock braking system was also added to the Abarths. Bosch Motorsport supplied the system and was responsible for the calibration, as well as contributing its Collision Avoidance System (see separate breakout).

The Italian pocket-rockets weighed in under 1000kg ready for the 12 Hour starter and, thanks to PPE tuning, put out around 160kW from their turbocharged 1.4-litre fours. This was upped further for qualifying.

A rally-car sourced sequential manual six-speed Sadev gearbox, mechanical limited-slip differential and Michelin slicks complete the spec.

As they proved in the race, the pocket rockets were worthy of wearing the legendary Abarth scorpion badge and then some.

For generations the biggest issue surrounding multi-class endurance racing has been one of safety. Inevitably, major events such as Le Mans or the Nurburgring 24 Hours support a clogged entry list, and the speed differential between the fastest of outright cars and those in lower categories can create situations where three figure closing speeds are the norm.

The Bathurst 12 Hour has faced the same problem in recent years — and across the top of The Mountain, there’s not much room for the quicker cars to slide by safely if traffic doesn’t want to play ball.

Enter the Bosch Collision Avoidance System – Motorsport (CAS-M), pioneered by Corvette Racing’s C6.Rs in the American Le Mans Series, where Audi and Porsche Sports Prototypes regularly loom large. For the diminutive Fiats (at 1.4 litres the smallest cars in the 12 Hour field) it made sense – especially when you consider the fastest Ferraris, Mercedes and Mclarens all lapped the Mt Panorama circuit faster than any V8 Supercar.

“The Bosch system is revolutionary and will eventually become a key part of endurance racing,” says Alan Heaphy, whose Performance Parts & Engineering company prepared the Fiat Australia Abarths for Bathurst.

“We were delighted to be the first team in Australia to trial the system. And our decision to fit it to the Abarths for Bathurst was vindicated. Our three crews didn’t have an incident over three days of qualifying and racing. And the feedback we had from the fastest teams was also pleasing,” Heaphy stated.

On the surface, the Bosch CAS-M appears simple; so simple, you wonder why such technology wasn’t made endurance race mandatory years ago. The heart of the system is large cockpit-mounted screen (low on the left A-pillar in the left-hand drive Abaths –“So they don’t take their eyes off the road”). Out back, the business end is a high-resolution camera and rear-facing radar.

The cockpit screen contains distance and time scales, but the tech runs far deeper than that – generating a display that’s clear and intuitive. Simply coloured arrow-shaped icons appear above closing traffic, graduating through orange and red (with rifle-style crosshairs appearing if things get a little close for comfort) before a large horizontal flashing arrow 'points’ in the direction of the pass.

Impressively, the system can pick closing speed several cars deep, so if a front-runner is lapping a gaggle of smaller cars and is, for example, third in the queue, CAS-M can detect this and ‘separate’ the quickest approaching car from the others.

CAS-M also works in adverse weather and light conditions (even with headlight glare) – both vital when considering the weather conditions that endurance races often encompass.