MOTORSPORT: Bathurst 12 Hour short of local stars

Grid reduction
The Bathurst 12 Hour is looking good again for February – at first sight, at least.

Organisers have released a list of 60 cars entered, representing 13 marques.

The provisional grid comprises 10 Audi R8s, six Mercedes-Benz AMG GTs, seven BMWs (three M6 GT3s and four M4 GT4s), three McLaren 650s, two Bentley Continentals but only one Ferrari. Add in three Lamborghinis (two Gallardos and a Huracan), 11 Porsches (three GT3 Rs, five GT3 Cup cars and three Caymans), four Ginetta GT4s, two KTM X-Bows, a Daytona Coupe, a Dodge Viper and nine MARC V8s (three of them new) and the stage is set for a classic.

Thirty-one of the cars are GT3s that will contend for outright honours.

They are entered by many of the top GT teams in the world and will have an array of international drivers.

But, while many driver line-ups are yet to be announced, the list doesn’t have an entry from Melbourne-based Maranello Motorsport – which won the 2017 12 Hour with a Ferrari 488 driven by Jamie Whincup, Craig Lowndes and Finnish ace, Toni Vilander.

Nor from Betty Klimenko’s Erebus Motorsport, which won in 2013 with a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG with three overseas drivers and was victorious in the 1000km Supercars classic two months ago. There is an as-yet-anonymous Merc entry on the list – could that be her entry?

There is a Nissan GT-R there but not an official factory entry. This is a fairly disappointing, the Japanese marque has been a strong supporter of the race, won it in 2015 with three international drivers, was runner-up in 2016 and this year fielded two cars.

The only Ferrari entered this time is an older 458 by New Zealand’s Trass Family Motorsport.

Drivers from Supercars Championship confirmed for the next 12-Hour include Chaz Mostert, already a winner of the Bathurst 1000 and Bathurst 6 Hour, Cameron Waters, winner of this year’s Sandown 500, Tim Slade and Lee Holdsworth.

But Australian fans will have been hoping to see more local stars, especially as Supercars now runs and jointly owns the 12 Hour.

The cars have been top-notch since the event became predominantly a GT race in 2011 and the international drivers among the best in the world, but the local fans need to see Australian drivers if they are to attend or follow it in greater numbers.

Event director John Casey says that, while he’s “very pleased with the depth of competition in every class”, he’s “expecting a few high-profile additions to the list before the final grid is settled”.

The race, on February 4 and starting at 5.45am will again be screened live in its entirety by the Seven Network’s 7mate channel and be streamed on the Bathurst 12 Hour website.

“Great drivers and great cars on one of the world’s best racing circuits. Who could ask for anything else?” says Seven’s head of sport, Saul Shtein.

Lots more top Australian drivers?

While we await news on that front, Mostert is a certain starter with Germany’s Schnitzer Motorsport, which will be returning to Bathurst for the first time in 31 years.

It has teamed Mostert with two-time DTM championship winner Marco Wittmann and Brazilian, Augusto Farfus.

The local star drove a BMW M6 in the 12 Hour this year as a privateer and says that “to be doing it with such an iconic team and with a driver line-up that strong is incredible”.

Two other M6s have been entered by local endurance ace Steven Richards’ BMW team, with ex-Formula 1 driver Timo Glock and Austrian Philipp Eng (like Farfus a rookie at Mt Panorama) sharing one with Richards.

Waters will make his 12 Hour debut with British-based Strakka Racing in one of the two Mercedes AMGs it has entered for its first Bathurst outing, having recently switched its allegiance from McLaren.

“It’s a race I’ve always wanted to do and it’s a top-level team and I think we have a genuine shot at winning it,” Waters says.

Slade will be in one of the McLarens and Holdsworth an Audi.

Bentley Motorsport, run by M-Sport which this year won the World Rally Championship with a Ford Fiesta and made Frenchman Sebastien Ogier a five-time world champion, has been third at The Mountain the past two Februarys.

The race in less than two months will be the swansong for its first-generation Continentals before it starts racing the newly-homologated model in Europe’s Blancpain GT series next year.

Audi won the first two GT 12 Hours in 2011 and ’12 but hasn’t been able to repeat that success. Two of the R8 entries this time are from top Belgian team WRT while six are from Audi Sport Customer Racing Australia.

One of the Porsche 911 GT3 Rs, entered by the renowned Manthey Racing of Germany, has French two-time Le Mans 24-Hour outright winner Romain Dumas among its driver line-up, while the others are entered by American teams Competition Motorsports and Black Swan Racing.

The GT3 R gives Porsche a chance of its first outright Bathurst victory.

Missing though is the Walkinshaw Racing Porsche that claimed Class A amateur honours this year.

While the five 911 GT3 Cup cars will be vying for Class B honours, and Class C – for GT4 cars – has 13 entries, including the four BMW M4s and the four Ginettas.

“The growth in the GT4 class mirrors the evolution of the category on a global stage,” event director Casey says.

Absolute honour for me to receive my Order Of Australia in London yesterday. I'll be forever grateful for growing up in country/rural Australia. Around the right people that's all.

Webber gets Order of Australia
Mark Webber, who retired as a world sports car champion after nine grand prix victories in Formula 1, has collected his Order of Australia in London.

Webber was awarded the OA in the 2017 Australia Day Honours in January and was presented with it in London at the weekend by Australia’s high commissioner to Britain, Alexander Downer.

Now 41, Webber tweeted that it was “an absolute honour”.

”I’ll be forever grateful for growing up in country/rural Australia. Around the right people that’s all,” he said.

The OA is for his “distinguished service to motorsport as a competitor and ambassador, and to the community through fundraising and patronage of a range of medical and youth support organisations”.

“I hope I represented Australia as best I could,” he said.

Webber remains a global ambassador for Porsche and recently became a member of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation board.