[lMoly]Audi Anwers Back in Bathurst Qualifying : Vanthoor [audisport]

[lMoly]Audi Anwers Back in Bathurst Qualifying : Vanthoor [audisport] Feb 7, 2015 10:51:28 GMT -6

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Post by n7thGear™ on Feb 7, 2015 10:51:28 GMT -6

Audi Anwers Back in the Down Under: Bathurst Qualifying

A more favourable Balance of Performance is set to boost Audi’s Bathurst 12 Hour victory bid according to Phoenix Racing’s pole position winner Laurens Vanthoor.

Audi has proved to be quick at Mount Panorama having won the Bathurst 12 Hour in 2011 and 2012 but has struggled in recent years as a result of the Balance of Performance figures designed to achieve parity in GT3 racing.

Last year the Audi R8 LMS GT3s struggled to match rival manufacturers for top end speed at the mountain track.

The issue was widespread throughout last season resulting in the German manufacturer being given a BoP rule break ahead of the Spa 24 Hours GT3 endurance classic.

Having set a new Bathurst 12 Hour qualifying lap record to secure pole position, the Audi in the hands of Phoenix Racing has proved to be much more competitive than last year.

Reigning Blancpain Endurance Series champion Vanthoor says he has noticed a difference in his R8 compared the same model car he drove at the 6.2km circuit last year.

Vanthoor Phoenix Racing Bathurst Liqui Moly

Vanthoor Phoenix Racing Bathurst Liqui Moly

Although straight-line speed is still an issue, the 23-year-old is confident the Phoenix Racing Audi can put up a much stronger fight this year after finishing fifth 12 months ago.

“Last year we were lacking a lot of top speed and we were unable to fight the others,” Vanthoor said.

“It’s difficult to judge but it’s definitely improved since last year.

“This year we are in a much better position but I think we will still have a hard time on the straights.

“I think we have a good car especially for the race.

“It’s consistently quick and we will just have to wait and see how it is tomorrow

Vanthoor believes keeping to a set rhythm is the key to converting pole position into a Bathurst 12 Hour victory.

“We are at the front so we have to try and control the race,” added Vanthoor, who will partner Markus Winkelhock and Marco Mapelli in the #15 car.

“The race is long and last year there were a lot of safety cars.

Laurens Vanthoor

“I was very happy, it was tough in the beginning but we knew the speed was there. We had the group qualifying with some problems with traffic with people coming out of the pit lane, so I was very happy to have a free lap at the end and put it all together and it was a nice moment to have pole here at Mount Panorama. Of course qualifying for such a big race is just a small point but it is a good point to start the weekend. I expected a low ‘three’ would be impossible this morning but the 2.25 was not what I really expected, with qualifying though you push everything and I almost put the car into three pieces a few times, so it was worth it, it was really challenging.”

Watch the Video! 29.02 in length.
THEY NEVER really went away, but there’s no doubt that Audi are properly back in contention for the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour this year
when driver Laurens Vanthoor stunned Mount Panorama pushing his No. 15 Audi R8 LMS Ultra to a brilliant 2m02.5521s lap and the Allan Simonsen Pole position trophy in a thrilling 20-minute pole shootout held in near perfect conditions

Today he will share his car with Italian GT ace Marco Mapelli and former F1 driver Markus Winkelhock – but yesterday the Mountain was the 23-year-old Belgian's playground as he set the fastest ever officially recorded lap of the 6.213km circuit.

After a subdued performance last year where the cars rarely looked like contending for the outright victory, today’s performance has clearly re-established the most successful brand in Bathurst’s GT era as the ones to beat when the 12-Hour race beings at 5:50am local time tomorrow.

The race will be broadcast in its entirety on the Seven Network the broadcast on 7mate.

Five brands ended qualifying in the top five with Lamborghini, Nissan, Ferrari and Aston Martin next on the grid for the race.

JBS Racing driver David Russell led the early running in the final qualifying session and for a time his impressive 2m03.1751s lap looked to be unsurmountable – at least until Vanthoor’s stunning lap towards the end of qualifying.

Russell and co-drivers Steve Owen and Roger Lago will start the race from the front row in the best ever qualifying performance from a Lamborghini in Liqui-Moly 12-Hour history.

The contrast in the front row is notable with the works powerhouse Phoenix Racing team from Germany to line-up alongside the tiny part-time Lamborghini team from Brisbane’s inner suburbs in Queensland.

The factory-backed Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 will start third thanks to an impressive time from young Japanese star Katsumasa Chiyo – though his efforts ended soon after setting his 2m03.2974s lap when he made contact with the Cutting wall.

Chiyo lost the rear of the GT-R mid-corner and touched the concrete barrier, limping back to pit lane where the car remained for the final 10-minutes of the session.

Quiet achievers AF Corse’ ended the day as the best Ferrari team, Italian Michele Rugulo’s 2m03.84s lap surprising many and putting the next-best thing to a works Ferrari GT team right into contention for tomorrow.

German star Stefan Mucke hauled the Craft Bamboo Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 into fifth position, just 1.4s from pole position and only 0.8s from a potential front-row spot.

Perennial Bathurst 12 Hour visitors Clearwater Racing finished qualifying in 6th position, Erebus Motorsport No. 36 SLS AMG seventh and the Darrel Lea McLaren 12C GT3 8th.

One of the hero cars from last year, the McLaren had suffered from electrical issues for much of the weekend however an overnight engine change and hard work from the crew allowed their star import – factory McLaren driver Kevin Estre – to haul the car into the top-10.

The Marc Cini / Christoper Mies / Mark Eddy Audi R8 LMS Ultra will start 9th tomorrow with the first M-Sport Bentley Continental GT3 - car 10 - 10th, only 1.9s off the pace.

In the class battles, a surprise result in the Century Batteries GT3 Cup class B saw the Supabarn Supermarkets Porsche Cup S score the class pole position – thanks to a strong 2m09.9s lap by experienced driver Marcus Marshall.

The Canberra team ousted the defending class champions – Grove Racing – by just 0.3s despite the Grove car having topped all five practice sessions in the lead up to qualifying.

The Donut King Racing Lotus Exige topped Ryges GT4, Tony Alford, Peter Leemhuis and Mark O’Connor in a solid 39th position overall.

The Aussie-built Daytona Sportscar dominated proceedings in GWS Personell Class D (Invited Production), qualifying a superb 31st outright and ahead of several Class B Porsche GT3s.

Another Aussie-built car led the way in the Recaro Class I (Invitational Non-Production) standings with the No. 31 MARC Cars Australia Ford Focus heading the charge.

The Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour 2015 is proudly supported by the NSW Government through its tourism and major events agency Destination NSW.

Pos	No	Team	Drivers	Vehicle	Class	Best
1	15	Phoenix Racing	M.Mapelli/L.Vanthoor	Audi R8-LMS Ultra 20	AP	2:02.5521
2	32	JBS Australia	David Russell (QLD)	Lamborghini Gallardo	AP	2:03.1751
3	35	NISMO Athlete Global Team	F.Strauss/K.Chiyo/W.Reip	Nissan GT-R NISMO GT	AA	2:03.2974
4	77	AF Corse SRL	S.Wyatt/M.Rugolo/D.Rigon	Ferrari F458 Italia	AA	2:03.8400
5	97	Craft Bamboo Racing	D.O'Young/A.MacDowall/S.Mucke	Aston Martin Vantage	AP	2:03.9685
6	33	Clearwater Racing	T.Vilander/M.Griffin	Ferrari F458 Italia	AP	2:04.0583
7	36	Erebus Motorsport	J.LeBrocq/R.Muscat/D.Canto	Mercedes SLS AMG GT3	AP	2:04.1471
8	59	VIP Petfoods	T.Quinn/K.Quinn/K.Estre	McLaren MP4-12C 2012	AA	2:04.1483
9	9	Hallmarc / Network Clothing	M.Cini/M.Eddy/C.Mies	Audi R8-LMS Ultra 20	AA	2:04.2191
10	10	Bentley Team M-Sport	Steven Kane (GBR)	Bentley Continental	AP	2:04.5283
11	48	Interlloy / M Motorsport	Steven Richards (VIC)	Lamborghini Gallardo	AP	2:04.5976
12	51	IMAK - KWIKMIT	A.Macpherson/B.Shiels/M.Campbell	Porsche 911 GT3 R 20	AA	2:04.6446
13	16	Phoenix Racing	F.Baumgartner/C.Haase/S.Ortelli	Audi R8-LMS Ultra 20	AP	2:04.7293
14	74	Jamec Pem	A.Latif/W.Luff/G.Crick	Audi R8-LMS Ultra 20	AA	2:04.8294
15	8	Flying B Motorsport	J.Bowe/D.Brabham	Bentley Continental	AA	2:04.8941
16	27	T F M - Ferrari Motorsport NZ	J.Lester/J.McIntyre/G.Smyth	Ferrari F458 Italia	AA	2:05.0043
17	2	Fitzgerald Racing / Evolve Tec	Matthew Halliday (NZL)	Audi R8-LMS Ultra 20	AA	2:05.0926
18	12	ICE Break	P.Long/C.Pither	Porsche 911 GT3 R 20	AP	2:05.1838
19	63	Erebus Motorsport	N.Morcom/A.Cindric/S.Hodge	Mercedes SLS AMG GT3	AA	2:05.2240
20	52	compareinsurance.com.au	P.Storey/B.Gower/G.Shedden	Aston Martin Vantage	AA	2:05.5749
21	11	Bentley Team M-Sport	A.Soucek/M.Buhk/H.Primat	Bentley Continental	AP	2:05.6215
22	99	Craft Bamboo Racing	F.Yu/J.Venter/J.Merlin	Aston Martin Vantage	AA	2:05.6923
23	5	Skwirk	Oliver Gavin (GBR)	Audi R8-LMS Ultra 20	AA	2:05.9794
24	75	Jamec Pem	James Winslow (NSW)	Audi R8-LMS Ultra 20	AA	2:06.8791
25	29	PIRELLI	J.Manolios/R.Miller/I.Capelli	Ferrari F458 GT3 201	AA	2:06.8949
26	7	VodkaO	A.Samadi/M.Twigg	Mercedes SLS AMG GT3	AA	2:08.7356
27	47	Supabarn Supermarkets	T.Koundouris/M.Marshall	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	B	2:09.9110
28	4	Grove Group	Benjamin Barker (GBR)	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	B	2:10.2412
29	66	GT3 Endurance / Mobil 1	C.van der Drift/M.Lyons	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	B	2:12.2661
30	93	MARC Cars Australia	G.Jacobson/B.Gersekowski	MARC Focus V8	I	2:12.4389
31	65	Daytona Sports Cars	Ben Shoots (VIC)	Daytona Sportscar Co	D	2:12.5967
32	14	Peter Conroy Motorsport	A.Bates/G.Denyer	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	B	2:13.5952
33	64	Motorsport Services	Timothy Macrow (VIC)	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	B	2:13.9177
34	6	SAFE-T-STOP	M.Hector/G.Duffy	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	B	2:15.1716
35	21	Motorsport Services / Team Fre	S.Fillmore/D.Stutterd/R.Lilley	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	B	2:15.6371
36	42	Hallmark Homes	Anthony Gilbertson (QLD)	BMW E46 GTR	D	2:17.1356
37	91	MARC Cars Australia	Ivo Breukers (NED)	MARC Mazda 3 V8	I	2:17.8942
38	50	Team LHI	Nicholas Cresswell (QLD)	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	B	2:18.4460
39	54	Donut King	M.O'Connor/P.Leemhuis	Lotus Exige Cup R	C	2:20.9507
40	68	Motorsport Services	A.Chapel/M.Whyman	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	B	2:21.0626
41	92	MARC Cars Australia	M.Benton/H.Morrall/T.Miles	MARC Focus V8	I	2:23.2755
42	55	Kintyre Racing	G.Crimp/S.Kostera/M.Cherry	Audi TT RS 2.5 Turbo	D	2:24.2918
43	76	Aston Martin Saint Gallen	Florian Kamelger (SUI)	Aston Martin Vantage	C	2:24.7093
44	23	Bruce Lynton BMW	Beric Lynton (QLD)	BMW M Coupe (1 Serie	D	0:25.1846
45	43	Stawell CARTage	S.Woodman/S.Bradford	Mazda RX8 GT	I	2:26.5860
46	73	Traffid.Bar.Venue	M.Hovey/R.Hackwood	Ginetta G50 GT4 2012	C	2:28.0544
47	28	GWS Personnel	R.Shaw/J.Williams/M.Chahda/S.Devjak	BMW 335i E90	D	2:28.3873
48	18	Sherrin Rentals	M.Sherrin/G.Sherrin/I.Sherrin	BMW 135i E82	D	2:28.8112
49	41	Stawell CARTage	M.King/J.Walsh	Mazda RX8 GT	I	2:53.3462
50	49	Vicious Rumour Racing	Benny Simonsen (DEN)	Ferrari F458 Italia	AA	No time

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Post by n7thGear™ on Feb 7, 2015 10:51:28 GMT -6

Post by n7thGear™ on Feb 7, 2015 12:26:50 GMT -6

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