2011 Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour

The 2011 Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour was an endurance race for FIA GT3 cars, Australian GT Championship cars, Group 3E Series Production Cars and other invited vehicles.^[1] The event, which was staged at the Mount Panorama Circuit, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia on 6 February 2011, was the ninth running of the Bathurst 12 Hour, and the fifth since the race was revived in 2007.

The race saw GT cars return to long distance racing at Mount Panorama for the first time since the 2003 Bathurst 24 Hour. The addition of the faster GT3 entries saw the leading cars smash the previous distance record by 29 laps. Unfortunately it also saw many of the Class D and E cars not compete due to being reduced from outright contenders in previous races to class contenders for 2011. One of the reason's for including the GT cars was an attempt to not only increase manufacturer involvement in the race but to also raise the international profile of the event and attract the top FIA GT3 teams.

The race was won by Audi's official factory supported team Audi Sport which was run by Audi's Le Mans 24 Hour team, Joest Racing, under the banners of "Audi Australia" for car #7 and "Audi Top Service" for car #8. Running a pair of Audi R8 LMS GT3s, the team of Marc Basseng, Christopher Mies and Darryl O'Young (#8) lead home teammates Mark Eddy, Craig Lowndes and Warren Luff (#7) in a 1-2 finish, the cars crossing the line only 0.7141 seconds apart in a true racing finish. Lowndes fastest race lap of 2:09.0861 also set a new GT lap record for Mt Panorama, cutting a second from the time of 2:10.0277 set 16 months earlier by Tony Quinn driving an Aston Martin DBRS9. Lowndes time came within 0.6210 of his Team Vodafone teammate Jamie Whincup's outright lap record of 2:08.4651 set in a Ford BF Falcon V8 Supercar in 2007. The Joest Racing R8's finished one lap in front of the VIP Pet Foods Racing Porsche 997 GT3 Cup R of Craig Baird and father and son pairing Tony and Klark Quinn.

The race was run under international endurance rules meaning that all cars compulsory pit stops were each to be no less than 90 seconds in duration. The Class A cars had to make 12 compulsory stops with no less than 10 laps between each stop while Class B cars only had to make 9 compulsory stops.

Cars competed in the following classes:^[1]

• Class A – FIA GT3, Australian GT Championship
• Class B – Australian GT Challenge
• Class C – Australian GT Production
• Class D – Production (High Performance All Wheel Drive)
• Class E – Production (High Performance Rear Wheel Drive)
• Class F – Production (Performance)

For the race thin entries saw Classes D and E merged into Class D and Class F became the new Class E. There were several other classes listed in the regulations that attracted no entries.

Those in Bold represent class winners. Fastest Laps in Italics represent the class fastest lap.^[2]

Pos	Class	No	Team / Entrant	Drivers	Car	Laps	Time/Retired
					Engine
1	A	8	Audi Race Experience Team Joest	Darryl O'Young Marc Basseng Christopher Mies	Audi R8 LMS GT3	292	12:01:30.7045
					5.2 L FSI 2×DOHC V10
2	A	7	Audi Race Experience Team Joest	Mark Eddy Craig Lowndes Warren Luff	Audi R8 LMS GT3	292	+0.7141
					5.2 L FSI 2×DOHC V10
3	A	29	VIP Holdings (Aust) Pty Ltd	Tony Quinn Klark Quinn Craig Baird	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup R	291	+1 Lap
					4.0 L Porsche H6
4	A	38	Wall Racing	David Wall Greg Crick Barton Mawer	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S	289	+3 laps
					3.8 L Porsche H6
5	B	23	Lago Racing	Roger Lago Matt Kingsley David Russell	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	282	+10 laps
					3.8 L Porsche H6
6	A	37	Rosso Verde Ireland	Hector Lester Luke Searle Allan Simonsen	Ferrari 430 GT3	276	+16 laps
					4.3 L Ferrari V8
7	B	66	Motorsport Services	Scott O'Donnell Simon McLennan Miroslav Konôpka	Porsche 996 GT3 Cup	264	+28 laps
					3.8 L Porsche H6
8	B	67	Motorsport Services	Allan Dippie Steven Thompson Mark Maddren	Porsche 996 GT3 Cup	257	+35 laps
					3.8 L Porsche H6
9	D	14	Peter Conroy Motorsport	Peter Conroy Anthony Robson Mark Brame	Mitsubishi Lancer RS Evo X	256	+36 laps
					2.0 L 4B11T I4
10	D	28	GWS Personnel Motorsport	Peter O'Donnell Matthew Hansen Christian D'Agostin	BMW 335i	252	+40 laps
					3.0 L twin-turbo I6 N54
11	E	26	GWS Personnel Motorsport	Bruce Tomlinson Geoff Fontaine Richard Gartner	BMW 130i	244	+48 laps
					3.0 L BMW N55 I6
12	C	80	Bruce Lynton BMW	Beric Lynton Matt Mackelden John Modystach	BMW M3	242	+50 laps
					3.2 L BMW S54 I6
13	D	5	Tinkler Motor Sports	Nathan Tinkler Jeremy Gray Steven Johnson	FPV FG GT	238	+54 laps
					5.4 L Boss 315 V8
14	E	68	Motorsport Services	David Glasson Dennis Roderick Aaron Harris	BMW 130i	235	+57 laps
					3.0 L BMW N55 I6
15	B	39	Wall Racing	Paul Tresidder Shane Smollen Simon Middleton	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	230	+62 laps
					3.8 L Porsche H6
16	E	50	Racer Industries	Chaz Mostert Ashley Walsh Gerard McLeod	HSV VXR Turbo	227	+65 laps
					2.2 L Ecotec I4
17	C	25	Paul Freestone Racing	Paul Freestone Hayden Pullen David Sieders	Chevrolet Corvette Z06	192	+100 laps
					7.0 L LS7 V8
18	C	62	Lee Knappett Racing	Adam Gowans Richard Meins Chris Lillingston-Price	Lotus Exige S	192	+100 laps
					1.8 L supercharged Toyota I4
19	D	3	Maximum Motorsport	Dean Herridge John O'Dowd Angus Kennard	Subaru Impreza WRX STi	129	+163 laps
					2.5 L Subaru H4
DNF	A	69	Supabarn Supermarkets Racing	James Koundouris Theo Koundouris Steve Owen	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S	261	Driveline
					3.8 L Porsche H6
DNF	A	12	Hallmarc Racing	Marc Cini David Reynolds Dean Fiore	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S	196	Accident
					3.8 L Porsche H6
DNF	D	43	Alan East Motorsport	Leigh Burges Damien Flack Neil McFadyen	Mitsubishi Lancer RS Evo IX	165	Turbo
					2.0 L 4G63T I4
DNF	A	17	Maranello Motorsport	Peter Edwards John Bowe Tim Leahey	Ferrari 430 GT3	161	Engine
					4.3 L Ferrari V8
DNF	E	27	GWS Personnel Motorsport	Garth Duffy Alan Shepherd Paul Stubber	BMW 130i	106	Spun off
					3.0 L BMW N55 I6
DNF	C	44	Donut King Racing	Tony Alford Peter Leemhuis Mal Rose	Nissan R35 GT-R	102	Gearbox/Accident
					3.8 L Twin-turbo VR38DETT V6
DNF	A	2	Procon Developments	Geoff Emery Dean Grant Max Twigg	Mosler MT900 GT3	11	Accident
					7.0 L LS7 V8

• Pole Position - #7 Mark Eddy, Craig Lowndes, Warren Luff
• Fastest Lap - #7 Craig Lowndes - 2:09.0861 (GT lap record) on lap 267

* Grid positions were taken on the lap average of the fastest times set by all drivers in a car, e.g Steve Owen set the fastest time of all cars with a GT qualifying record of 2:09.1015 in his Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S but the times of co-drivers James and Theo Koundouris averaged out to start the car 3rd behind the two Joest Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3's. Warren Luff had the overall 2nd fastest qualifying time in his Audi R8 (2:09.6360) but the times of co-drivers Mark Eddy and Craig Lowndes saw the #7 car start from pole position.

* Craig Lowndes fastest race lap in the #7 Audi, set on lap 267 of 292 when the car had already covered 1,652km, was not only a new GT lap record for the Mt Panorama Circuit but undercut the Owen's qualifying record by 0.0154 seconds.

• Official website