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At the twelve-hour race on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, the
The thrilling showdown of the long distance classic on the storied racetrack 200 kilometres west of Sydney was packed with drama. With 47 minutes left on the clock, Frédéric Makowiecki (France) was running in the lead in Manthey-Racing’s 911 GT3 R. The team then decided on an early pit stop, however, this strategy was foiled when the race was red-flagged. Ultimately, the Frenchman and his teammates Dirk Werner (Germany) and Romain Dumas (France) finished sixth – one position behind the world endurance champion and Le Mans winner Earl Bamber (New Zealand), who shared driving duties in the Manthey-Racing 911 GT3 R with Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium) and Kévin Estre (France). At the wheel of the 911 GT3 R fielded by Competition Motorsports, Patrick Long (USA),
The twelve-hour race in the Blue Mountains is traditionally an event for early risers. When the 49 vehicles headed off into the season-opening round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge on the tradition-steeped circuit west of Sydney, it was just 5.45 in the morning and pitch black. Nevertheless, the
As the current World Challenge champion, Patrick Long was very familiar with the 911 GT3 R and hence was the first
Grove Motorsports triumphed in the B Class. The cockpit of the 911 GT3 Cup was shared by Ben Barker (Great Britain), the father-son duo from Australia Stephen and Brenton Grove as well as Daniel Gaunt.
Round two of the Intercontinental GT Challenge is the 24-hour race in Spa-Francorchamps/Belgium contested on 28/29 July.
Comments on the race
Dr Frank-Steffen Walliser, Vice President Motorsport and GT Cars: “That was an extremely exciting race characterised by many safety car phases. This made it all the more astonishing that we got all four 911 GT3 R to the finish of this red-flagged race without any problems whatsoever. Four
Marc Lieb (911 GT3 R #540): “This race was typical of Bathurst. Lots of accidents, lots of drama. We did exactly what we set out to do, and that’s to get through without any problems and bring the car home in one piece. We succeeded. We may not have been the fastest
Timothy Pappas (911 GT3 R #540): “That was a fantastic race. We travelled all the way from the USA and we really enjoyed Bathurst. To win the Pro-Am class and to stand on the podium in third overall is one of the biggest successes in my career. I’d like to also thank
Jeroen Bleekemolen (911 GT3 R #540): “What an incredible race. The drivers and teams didn’t make one mistake, and that’s not easy in Bathurst. We didn’t expect to climb the podium in third overall. It’s a dream.”
Luca Stolz (911 GT3 R #540): “First, thank you to the team. That was my first race on this fantastic racetrack and my first race with the 911 GT3 R. Initially it was difficult, but then I got used to it and I had a lot of fun.”
Patrick Long (911 GT3 R #12): “A great team result for
Matt Campbell (911 GT3 R #12): “During my last stint I drove one qualifying lap after the other. In the end we had the speed to be up the front, however the red flag thwarted those plans. Thanks to the team. Hopefully we’ll be back next year and then we’ll go for victory again.”
Kévin Estre (911 GT3 R #991): “If it hadn’t been for the early termination of the race, our strategy would have worked and we would have made it through to the flag. Then perhaps victory would have been on the cards.”
Frédéric Makowiecki (911 GT3 R #911): “We knew that we first had to bond as a team. We’ve never raced together before, and now we’re contesting the Intercontinental GT Challenge together. Bathurst was completely uncharted territory for us. We managed to improve step by step from the first practice, and towards the end of the race our 911 GT3 R was running better than it had over the entire weekend. We started from 26th on the grid and came sixth – we can be proud of this team effort.”
Ben Barker (911 GT3 Cup #4): “What an incredible, dramatic and crazy race. We scored the class win, that’s a fantastic result for this great team. Brenton Grove contested his first ever endurance race next to his father. It’s great how he performed on this difficult racetrack.”
Race result
Overall
1. Frijns/Leonard/D. Vanthoor (NL/GB/B), Audi R8, 271 laps
2. Habul/Vautier/Whincup/Marciello (AUS/F/AUS/I), Mercedes GT3, 271
3. Pappas/Lieb/Bleekemolen/Stolz (USA/D/NL/D),
4. Long/Campbell/Calvert-Jones/Davison (USA/AUS/AUS/AUS),
5. Bamber/Estre/Vanthoor (NZ/F/B),
6. Dumas/Werner/Makowiecki (F/D/F),
7. Leventis/Williamson/Waters/Fumaneli (GB/GB/AUS/I), Mercedes GT3, 271
8. Manolios/Millier/Capelli/Canto (AUS/AUS/I/I), Lamborghini, 271
9. Richards/Glock/Eng (NZ/D/A), BMW M6, 270
10. Koundoris/KoundorisWalsh/Padayachee (AUS/AUS/AUS/GB), Audi R8, 269
Class A GT3 Pro-Am
1. Lieb/Campbell/Calvert-Jones/Davison (D/AUS/AUS/AUS),
Class B GT3
1. Barker/Grove/Grove/Gaunt (GB/AUS/AUS/AUS),
All results and points standings for the Intercontinental GT Challenge can be found on www.intercontinentalgtchallenge.com.
This is the Intercontinental GT Challenge
The Intercontinental GT Challenge is the world’s first racing series run for GT3 vehicles. It was founded in 2016 by the SRO Motorsports Group led by Stéphane Ratel.
All reports on the previous season can be found in our archive.