Bathurst 12 Hour 2017

With the provisional entry list just released holding a massive 58 cars. The Bathurst 12 Hour for a number of years has turned itself into one of the worlds top endurance races.
Forum is to talk about anything 12 hour related.

Couldn't agree more Stu, For me endurance racing is by far my favourite form on Motorsport out there today a test of man and machine against the clock.
GT3 was introduced to me in 2011 when GT3 regulations were introduced. At first i was skeptical not knowing the catergory but i still remember listening to the 2 Audi's there that year and ever since i've been hooked to GT3 endurance racing.
Also this upcoming race will be quite special for me as i'll be working in a 2 car team this being my second attempt at the 12 hour.
Maybe if you would be happy doing so Stu spread the word about this forum would be great to have a lot of opinions from a lot of different people.

Less than 10 years Stu... with ford pulling out of Australia it is just nail in the coffin

yeah agreed. id say just on 5 years before it happens

For people who are interested this is the car i'll be working on for the 12 hour next year. They are also bringing their GT4 car out as well. That car has run 2 previous 12 hour races in 2013 and 2015.
http://www.speedcafe.com/2016/12/10/factory-aston-driver-debut-gt8-bathurst/

I'm very likely to be marshalling there, can't wait

Best way to get close to the action, It's going to be an epic weekend of racing. Also as a favour if you see any other class C or I cars maybe beached in the gravel or stopped on track just leave them there No one else has to know haha.

Haha will do

I was a flaggie at SMP at Turn 4 and on the pit wall last weekend at Homebush, it definitely is an unforgettable experience.

Trust me working on race cars suck lol, I can see V8 SC dying like you stated, At the moment I cant get into the GT3 stuff every year I sit down and try watch it but I struggle

Bathurst 1000 is so overrated with the outdated supercar regs making for well frat-train racing which puts me to sleep, 11 times out of 10

GT3 at the mountain on the other hand is poetry, with the assists allows them to go way off the racing line which makes things very interesting but still can't get into it

So the day we've all been waiting for has finally arrived. THE ENTRY LIST IS OUT!!! And what a beauty 61 cars i mean can this get any better?
Link http://www.bathurst12hour.com.au/news/depth-increases-new-gt3-gt4-entries/
My opinion on the changes to the list.
They're a few names missing on this list Phoenix Audi?, Marc BMW? But this biggest but not surprising withdrawal is the 2 Erebus Mercedes. I have heard for a while these 2 entries were never going to happen most likely due to financial difficulties. I personally feel like Erebus with their V8 program have tried to run before they could walk and sadly this is starting to show. They pumped so much money into a program which had no financial assistance from a manufacturer it was always bound to fail. And now everyone understand why Businessmen are investing money into gt3 racing and not V8 Supercars. But anyway let's stop talking about that.
Also the Tony Alford Lotus has been withdrawn in favour of the Marc Car, Not entirely surprising either.

Now to the new entrants John Bowe and his Big Bentley will return to the mountain after a 1 year hiatus. The car previously ran with David Brabham in the car who had a heavy shunt near the end of the race requiring a trip to hospital.
Walkinshaw will run a second 911 GT3 R which honestly surprised me. Good to see so many Porsche GT3 cars next years.
Steve Richards will run an older spec cup car in class B.
The Biggest entry is Walkenhorst Motorsport, For people who don't know they contest the VLN (10 round endurance based series all at the Nurburgring) and Nurburgring 24 hour race every year i'm shocked to say the least to see them entered but i'm really quite thrilled to see them entered.
Also more importantly to me because i'll be competing against them is 2 Ginetta GT4 car entered by RA Motorsports i sadly have very little information regarding the team but it'll be fun competing with so many different cars in GT4 next year.
The only interesting thing is this line on the Bathurst 12 hour site.
"The final entry list is subject to change with several pending entries yet to formally complete the entry process"
ME: "They're bloody more entered . Maybe that explains the Marc BMW and possibly the Phoenix Audi.

Hopefully that covered anything feel free to comment your opinions below. That took ages to write so i hope you guys enjoyed reading it.

Well to be honest I'm glad I'm not going to this now, Nissan just made possibly the dumbest decision ever leaving Matt out of either driver lineup.

Spewing for Matt, but discounting the bias we have in his favour around here unfortunately from a business perspective and it'd be tough for him to get the drive ahead of more recognised names from V8SC for publicity reasons alone (other teams will have drivers local like Van Gisbergen and Lowndes who are usual suspects at this race), especially in a top team like Nismo - maybe Nissan Aus would sponsor him to drive in the other GTRs for Wall Racing instead?

I have to be honest i find Nissan's lineup fairly confusing. In my opinion this would have been the ideal lineup

#23 Buncombe, Chiyo, Mardenborough
#24 Caruso, R.Kelly, Strauss.

I know people straight away would say "why haven't you put Matt in your lineup". And i can answer this for you. First off i want to say i highly respect Matt for what he has managed to do, i'd love to be in his shoes right now. But from a teams point of view especially a factory team he doesn't have enough experience as a racing car driver to warrant a place in this lineup, Don't forget he's only been racing professionally for 1 season. Also i remember watching some GT academy episode where Bob Neville (Nissan Team Principal) was talking about putting the newer GT academy winners on easier tracks and than build them up to more difficult circuits. Example Nurburgring and Bathurst.
Look i know it's a shame not seeing Matt in the lineup however don't entirely count him out yet as Wall Racing still hasn't announced lineups and Matt has had an entire season worth of experience in this car. What i'm saying is if i was Matt i'd be knocking on their door trying to get a seat with Wall Racing. It could potentially happen. Also does anyone know wether Matt is contracted to Nissan for 2017? The program has shown in recent past getting rid of multiple drivers after just 1 year.

Also on my end i was thinking about maybe doing a blog on my end to give you guys an idea what it's like to work for a race team in the 12 hour, Wouldn't mind hearing some feedback/suggestions

Still should have gotten a seat in one of the factory cars. Todd shouldn't be there in my opinion. He has no where near the pace he used to. Yes he knows the Mountain like the back of his hand, but Matt should have been rewarded with a seat. He is driving the bloody car in the Australian GT series this year ffs. They must have faith in him. Plus, he only is doing that if Nissan don't other things for him to be doing. He is a talent no doubt.

It's an outrageous decision by any measure, ROOZ bias doesn't enter the equation when it is fact that Matt had more than the measure of Caruso in NZ, except it wasn't allowed to showcase it in Practice or Qualifying thanks to AusGT's stupid grading rules. He was very much on Walkinshaw's pace all of last year and wiped the floor with Sarazin.

Having Todd in the car is a complete joke, he was past it more than a decade ago, for me he's holding onto his V8SC for dear life. And then gets given a GT3 seat whilst denying a young Australian talent a chance at his dream event? Are you kidding me Nissan?

And not to mention the fact Todd has never even driven the car while Matt's been piloting it for over 12 months now.

Right i'm going to settle this once and for all, i'm going to explain why Matt hasn't been selected in this lineup.
The 2 main reasons are as follows.
Firstly let's compare the 2 drivers with experience at Mt Panorama.
Todd Kelly - 21st season racing, 18 in V8SC. 1 Bathurst 1000 win, 2 Bathurst 1000 podiums 1 Bathurst 24 Hour win
Matt Simmons - 1st season racing. No previous racing experience at Mt Panorama
Pretty self explanatory

And the second and the major reason is as follows, Nismo entered 2 cars for this years 12 hour with the intention of running both in the PRO category. Matt is an AM driver and had he been placed in the lineup instead of Todd Kelly the car would have been forced to run in PRO-AM which i would presume is something Nissan didn't want. They wanted the 2 cars to run in the Pro class.

That's why i said Matt should try to get into the Wall Racing GTR. I know for a fact they are looking for drivers. Also Wolfgang Reip (2015 Bathurst 12 Hour Winner) and former Nissan factory driver is looking for a drive so Reip,Simmons and someone else and that makes a pretty competitive PRO-AM entry. Also if he can have a good showing in the Australian GT championship this season then maybe 2018 could be the year to run for Nismo in the 12 Hour

Whilst it is a shame Matt isn't in the lineup, We can't judge Todd until we see what he does in the car. and thats coming from someone who isn't a big fan of the Kelly's.

Nissan only had eyes on one Pro and one Pro Am entry. However in recent weeks they changed their mind as now we know they're fielding 2 Pro cars. I can tell you right now Matt was basically assured a drive only a few weeks ago but clearly their intentions changed, and as far as I know, Wall Racing isn't an option.