News
Feb 3, 2017
Bathurst 12 Hour : Live Diary
Sunday 5 February
BATHURST 12 HOUR
Race Results
#38 – Pither/Flack/Bilski
Class AAM
Bathurst 12 Hour – 5th (overall 31st)
Chris Pither – Car # 38
Disappointed with the overall result today in the Hobson Motorsport Nissan GTR, we showed some potential at different times unfortunately we got caught out early in the race only a few laps in, wrong place wrong time with a spinning car in front blocking the circuit and sustaining damage to the right rear suspension. The boys did a great job to get the car repaired and back on track and I guess at the end of the day to finish the race and collect the checkered flag and finish 5th in class is not bad considering the challenges that we faced today.
#66 – Hobson/Davis/Poordad
Class AAM
Bathurst 12 – DNF
Brett Hobson #66
Disappointing end to the day after we started so well in the opening stint, moving up to 9th from 27th. At the end of the day that’s motor racing and we all come here knowing that there is a high risk for something to happen it’s just a shame that today it was us on the receiving end of it. We’ll work through it and come back bigger and better.
#6- Gartner/Zerefos/Padayachee/Shaw
Class B
Bathurst 12 Hour 4th – (21st overall)
Gartner #6
It was disappointing not claim 3rd for the race after being in that position for the majority of the day, but we shouldn’t be disappointed if you consider that most other teams have much faster cars and they have professional drivers, we were one of the only true amateur teams. We can be proud of our efforts.
Aaron Zerefos #6
We finished the race in 21st, 4th in class. We are all very excited. It was tough out there today with the heat and faster cars. All the co-drivers did a great job and moved from 45th to 21st. I would like to thank Wall Racing, Richard Gartner everyone for making it happen and it was great.
RACE FEED
4:50pm – Inside the last hour
#38 Chris Pither into the Nissan for the final stint P9 (P39 overall)
#6 Richard Gartner into the Porsche for the final stint P4 (P25)
4:00pm – #38 Bilski spent a few minutes in the garage with a cool box issue in the Nissan P9 (P39 overall)
#6 Zerefos handed the Porsche over to Shaw for the last hour P4 (P23)
2:50pm- #38 Bilski back in the Nissan P9 (P41 overall)
#66 is out of the race after Poordad hit the wall at the dipper
#6 Zeros been in the Porsche for the last hour P3 (P23)
1:55pm -#38 Flack now in the Nissan P10 (P43 overall)
#66 Poordad back in the Nissan P5 (P14)
#6 Porsche Padeyachee back in for his 2nd stint P3 (P23)
1:00pm – #38 Bilski remains on track P10 (P44 overall)
#66 Hobson has just jumped back in the Nissan P5 (P15)
#6 Porsche Padeyachee back in for his 2nd stint P3 (P28)
12:00pm – #38 Bilski continues on track P11 (P45 overall)
#66 Davis back in the Nissan P6 (P16)
#6 Porsche Gartner back onboard for his 2nd stint P3 (P31 overall)
11:00am- #38 Nissan returned to track with Bilski P12 (P46 overall)
#66 Poordad jumped aboard the Nissan P4 (P12)
#6 Safetstop Porsche Shaw pits for fuel and stayed in the car P3 (P34 overall)
10:00am – #38 Nissan has returned to garage. Brake Master Cylinder being changed.
#66 Davis still on track in Nissan. P5 (P15 overall)
#6 Safetstop Porsche Zeros has completed his first stint and Shaw has just jumped aboard P3 (P33 overall)
9:00am – #38 Nissan Flack still on track. P11 (P44 overall)
#66 Hobson had a great first stint in the Nissan, handing the car over to Davis. P5 (P16 overall).
#6 Safetstop Porsche Zeros now onboard, after taking over from Padayachee P3 (P35 overall)
7:45am – #38 Nissan has returned to the track with Flack behind the wheel, P13 in class.
#66 Brett Hobson doing a great job on track, running P3 in class and P12 overall.
#6 Safetstop Porsche pits for a 2nd time, driver change Padayachee now behind the wheel, currently running P3 in class.
6:45am – The #38 #Nissan into the garage after contact with the 74 Audi who had spun on track. Brett Hobson is still on track in the #66 Nissan, currently P6 in class. #6 Safetstop Porsche currently running P4 in class having pitted once for fuel.
Saturday 4 February
PRACTICE & QUALIFYING WRAP
#38-Pither/Flack/Bilski
Class AAM
Practice 5 – 11th (Fastest Lap: 2:11.152)
Qualifying- 26th/7th in Class (Fastest Lap: 2:04.752)
Daniel Bilksi #38
Always special being at Bathurst, it is only my second real shot at doing the 12 hour at Bathurst. It is great fun, really challenging, the team is doing a wonderful job with the GTRs, the first time they have run the cars and it’s a fantastic piece of equipment to have at Bathurst. To drive a GT3 here is really a big step up, super challenging, very high concentration levels but you’ve got another 54 cars on the grid to add a little bit of difficulty to the mix. Everything is going well so far and we are confident we will have a good race tomorrow, we aren’t that worried abut qualifying position because it’s a 12 hour race and we will have to see how it all goes tomorrow. All the drivers are gelling as a team with the crew. The car is great and I am confident we can pull off a good result tomorrow.
#66 – Hobson/Davis/Poordad
Class AAM
Practice 5 – 8th (Fastest Lap: 2:08.221)
Qualifying – 30th/10th in Class (Fastest Lap: 2:06.513)
Brett Hobson #66
Qualifying was good today, unfortunately we didn’t have enough time in the car during Qualifying 1, we tried to get out in the back half of the session but there was a red flag when I was heading up Mountain Straight, so I missed any laps in that session and they had changed the gear changer. I had set my sights too high for qualifying but a 2:06 is good in the end. Moving into the race tomorrow we have good race pace as long as we keep our nose clean, I am pretty sure we will be there somewhere and hopefully we finish on the lead lap.
#6- Gartner/Zerefos/Padayachee/Shaw
Class B
Practice 5 – 5th (Fastest Lap: 2:21.518)
Qualifying – 47th/5th in Class(Fatest Lap: 2:18.280)
Aaron Zerefos #6
So far the weekend has been very smooth, leading up to endurance races the most important thing is to have the car in on piece, which we do have. The Porsche is looking like a good race car for tomorrow and hopefully we can chip away, put our head down and see where we end up at the end of day.
Friday 3 February
PRACTICE WRAP
#38-Pither/Flack/Bilski
Class AAM
Practice 1 – 2nd (Fastest Lap: 2:12.891)
Practice 2 – 4th (Fastest Lap: 2:08.140)
Practice 3 – 7th (Fastest Lap: 2:07.089)
Practice 4 – 4th (Fastest Lap: 2:07.389)
Chris Pither – Car # 38
First day in the car, running in three practice sessions. For us today it was all about getting settled into the car and learning for race day. We did longer runs and learnt about the tyres, how they wear and different fuel loads. Productive day and a very exciting car to drive, had lots of fun and jumped out of the car with a massive smile on my face. Looking forward to having another crack tomorrow.
#66 – Hobson/Davis/Poordad
Class AAM
Practice 1 – 4th (Fastest Lap: 2:22.137)
Practice 2 – 9th (Fastest Lap: 2:15.624)
Practice 3 – 8th (Fastest Lap: 2:08.302)
Practice 4 – 8th (Fastest Lap: 2:09.183)
Brett Hobson – Car #66
Today was good, having two gentleman drivers in the car we had to get them up to speed so I didn’t get too many laps in the car, we only managed 5 to 6 laps each session. It was good to be not too far off the pace and looking forward to getting more laps in the car tomorrow.
#6- Gartner/Zerefos/Padayachee/Shaw
Class B
Practice 1 – 5th (Fastest Lap: 2:20.678)
Practice 2 – 4th (Fastest Lap: 2:20.906)
Practice 3 – 5th (Fastest Lap: 2:19.854)
Practice 4 – 5th (Fastest Lap: 2:21.839)
