TBK-Light.com

Nice. Will it be televised live or any of it televised for that matter?

Source: bathurst12hour.com

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2010 - The Year That Was In Crashes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSuiFaqDnSk Watch it!

So basically no different to previous years when the event was on Channel 7.

Nice! Will have to keep my eye out for this one...

Considering it isn't a race really of international significance I can't see them broadcasting it in full live, but I can't see why they can't do maybe the first/last hour live.

That will be the reason haha.

3 hour broadcast isn't bad really... It's live on stream which is good enough for me.

It will be a post-produced 3hr highlights package. Its not shown live for the sole reason of cost. ONEHD charge less for post-produced highlights than they do to show it live.

One wonders how the team of Eddy/Luff/Lowndes can race an Audi together given there is a rule stating only "one professional driver per car".

Also will be interesting to see what the final grid line-up will be, as alot of the main production car guys from the last few years have been talking of boycotting the race due to the GT cars being allowed in

The general public had their chance to see the 'exotics' in the 12hr from 1991-1994, then at the Bathurst 24hr in 2002 and 2003. Those events failed because the general public didn't want to watch.

The proddies (along with the V8Brutes) were also the only category in PROCAR that could attract a decent grid, the GT Nations Cup cars rarely getting above single digits.

The Australian GT grids have only grown over the last few years as all decent drivers have effectively been barred from competing (they allow a maximum of 3 to race in the series, and are heavily penalised with lead ballast), meaning its effectively a social series for amateurs. Jim Richards quit in disgust early in 2009...

Its all been done before though, and failed before.

The grid makeup of the early Bathurst 12hrs (1991-1994) and the Bathurst 24hrs was GT cars mixed with Production Cars, and a few Utes thrown in as well (for instance the Allan Grice/Brad Jones Akubra sponsored Holden Ute that ran).

I attended both the 2002 and 2003 Bathurst 24hrs as a spectator. A wonderful spectacle and a great experience, and produced great racing, however the crowds were very small (smaller than the 2-Litre Bathurst 1000s in 1997 and 1998), and the TV ratings even lower. PROCAR paid a motza for the live coverage it received, and didn't get any return. Ross Palmer lost millions on putting the Bathurst 24hr on, hence its sad loss.

The event died, along with the GT Nations Cup category (and the PROCAR organisation itself) 6 months later, due to a total lack of interest.

As for the International interest, one entry so far does not constitute much interest, and anyway the even cannot survive based on this. For the event to be successful, there needs to be a big crowd in attendance. I don't see nameless drivers in foreign cars getting much of a roll-up come Sunday morning on race day. If Internationals weren't interested enough in the 24hr with GT2-spec cars, how does anyone expect many of them to attend a race half the length, on a date right at the start of the racing season?

Australian touring car racing, and V8Supercars nowadays, was built on production car racing at Bathurst. It is a tried and true formula, and has much more chance of succeeding in the long run than yet another go at trying to get a GT race up and running. How many more times can they flog a dead horse??

GT racing has a long and rich history in Australia, going right back to the early 60s. GT titles in Australia have been won by the likes of 'Pete' Geoghegan, Alan Jones and Allan Grice.



Precisely, but where is the money going to come from to advertise it. 90% of the sponsorship money coming into Australian motorsport these days goes into V8Supercars, or classes associated with their program. Doesn't leave much spare $$ around for people trying to put on something different.

I really hope the event is successful, i just don't see much different in this proposal compared to the last few attempts, and the fact they've alienated alot of the production car guys won't help them get a big grid either.

In the 60s the most popular forms of Australian motorsport were the open-wheelers (driven mostly by the success of the Tasman Series), and sports/GT championships (though the dominance of Frank Matich didn't help). It was only towards the end of the 60s that touring car racing grew in stature, thanks mainly to the Bathurst 500, and in particular the 1968 Hardie-Ferodo where Holden tackled Ford head on for the first time.

In the early 70s Sports Sedans also rivalled touring cars for the limelight as open-wheelers started losing abit of popularity , but by the end of the decade it was all about the tourers. Open-Wheelers started falling away after the 1969 Tasman Series when the formula changed to F5000 for 1970. The cars were spectacular and a crowd favourite, but there wasn't enough promotion put into it (in the 60s, the current-F1 drivers who competed advertised themselves, a luxury not present from 1970 onwards)

There were still Sportscar and GT Championships though. Amongst others Allan Moffat won the 1980 Australian Production Sportscar/GT Championship in a Porsche 911 Carrera.

Entry List is out:

[spoiler]Class A – GT3 Outright
No Driver 1 Driver 2 Driver 3 Manufacturer Model
2 Dean Grant Max Twigg Geoff Emery Mosler MT 900
7 Mark Eddy Craig Lowndes Warren Luff Audi R8 LH5 GT3
8 Darryl O’Young Marc Basseng Christopher Hies Audi R8 LH5 GT4
12 Marc Cini David Reynolds Dean Fiore Porsche GT3 Cup S
17 Peter Edwards John Bowe Tim Leahey Ferrari 430 GT3
29 Tony Quinn Klark Quinn Craig Baird Porsche GT3 R
37 Hector Lester Luke Searle Allan Simonson Ferrari 430 GT3
38 David Wall Greg Crick Des Wall Porsche GT3 Cup S
69 James Koundouris Theo Koundouris Steve Owen Porsche GT3 Cup S

Class B – GT3
6 Peter Boylan Geoff Morgan Rick Bates Porsche 997 GT3 Cup
10 Andrew Waller Cade Bell Craig Willis Porsche 997 GT3 Cup
39 Paul Tressider Shane Smollen Simon Middleton Porsche 997 GT3 Cup
23 Roger Lago Matthew Kingsley David Russell Porsche 997 GT3 Cup
66 Scott O’Donnell Simon McLennan Miro Kinopka Porsche 996 GT3 Cup
67 Allan Dippie Stephen Thompson Mark Maddren Porsche 996 GT3 Cup


Class C – GT4
25 Paul Freestone Hayden Pullin David Seiders Corvette 206
44 Tony Alford Peter Leemhuis Mal Rose Nissan GTR R35
62 Adam Gowans Richard Meins Chris Lillington-Price Lotus Exige S
63 Rob Thomson Jon Mills TBA Lotus Exige S
80 Beric Lynton Matthew Mackelden John Modystach BMW M3

Class D – Production (High Performance)
3 Dean Herridge John O’Dowd Angus Kennard Suburu WRX STI
28 Peter O’Donnell Matt Hansen Christian D’Agostin BMW 335i
43 Leigh Burges Damien Flack Neil McFadyen Mitsubishi EVO IX GSR

Class E – Production (Performance)
16 Paul Nelson Bob Holden TBA Ford XR8
26 Bruce Thomlinson Geoff Fontaine Richard Gartner BMW 130i
50 Ryan McLeod TBA TBA Holden HSV VX-R Turbo
27 Allan Shephard Garth Duffy TBA BMW 130i
68 David Glasson Dennis Roderick Aaron Harris BMW 130i[/spoiler]

Source: http://www.speedcafe.com.au/2011/01/10/ ... -released/

_________________
2010 - The Year That Was In Crashes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSuiFaqDnSk Watch it!

This isn't the 12 Hour but as far as I'm concerned there's too many enduros for the production cars right now. Last weekend I saw the Eastern Creek 8 Hour highlights on Speedweek. Guess how many cars turned up and started? 13! OK, there was good racing, but there was only 2 cars that really seemed to be in the hunt towards the end. Klark and Tony Quinn's #29 Evo was 4 laps in the lead until he had problems, which is fairly ridiculous in modern times.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bathurst-12-hour

Live streaming guys

Koundouris Brothers/Owen Porsche fastest after the first qualifying session, Lowndes Audi in second.

Only 26 cars qualifying..... a far cry from the 45 who started last year....




The TV coverage didn't portray the race properly.

The VIP Evo wasn't 4 laps ahead on pace, it was 4 laps up as it ran trouble free while others had problems, then their problems struck and the others caught back up

The race was top heavy with competitive cars, the Pro-Duct Evos, the VIP and the Hunter Subari in particular. The Pro-Duct Evo's were all out by mid-race due to a problem with their fuel tanks (which sent the Crompton/Seton car up in smoke), while the Hunter Subaru suffered 4 right-front punctures in the opening hours of the race, which ultimatly saw them switch tyre brands mid-race, and allowed them to run down the Morcom BMW and take victory.

The problem for Production cars in certainly not too many enduro's, infact enduro's is what the entrants have been asking for. The problems have been a lack or stability in the organisation of the CAMS Australian Championship and the PCAA, which have hopefully been fixed for this season.

The EC race was a late announcement, and there was some opposition from the PCAA towards some of the rules used in the race (as it wasn't a championship round for anything, just an ARDC-promoted enduro, they adjusted some of the regs). The race did offer significant prizemoney though ($8000 for first in class), so it was a shame more cars weren't in attendance. Watching in person though it was an absorbing and interesting race, which unfortunatly seemingly wasn't conveyed in the post-produced TV coverage

The 8hr is confirmed for this year though

Yeah, but wasn't there a six hour not long before that?

I do agree that there was action in the early stages though.

Race is underway. So far the 2 Audis are running away early.

Stream: http://bathursttiming.com

Only 25 cars started, one didn't start but they're still hoping to get out on track.

Big crash.

The Mosler just had a big crash in the Chase.