BATHURST 12 HOUR FAST FACTS

PRESS RELEASE/Bathurst 12HR – Photo: Velocity Magazine (John Morris)

PORSCHE won the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour in a sensational finish to Australia’s International Enduro.

A record-breaking race was the fastest, most attended and most competitive in the history of the event.

Matt Campbell, Dirk Werner and Dennis Olsen won for Earl Bamber Motorsport, edging home the R-Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT3 driven by Jake Dennis, Mattieau Vaxiviere and Marvin Kirchoeffer for a remarkable victory. It was the best Bathurst finish for both brands.

Third was the Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM AMG GT3 of Maximilian Buhk, Maximilian Goetz and Raffaele Marciello.Campbell’s remarkable charge commenced on lap 290 when running fourth following the final round of pit stops.

He then passed Chaz Mostert in a contentious moment at the Chase on lap 298.

A final safety car the following lap saw him close the margin to the two leaders, pouncing on the No. 999 Mercedes-AMG on lap 304 with a bold move at turn one.He then sliced down the inside of Jake Dennis’ Aston at Forrest Elbow on lap 306, edging away in a tension-filled finale’ to take a stunning victory.

With the Aston Martin second, Raffaele Marciello just held out Shane van Gisbergen’s Team Vodafone entry by 0.2 seconds for third and fourth at the line.

The BMW Team Schnitzer M6 GT3 of Chaz Mostert, Martyn Tomczyk and Augusto Farfus led the most laps in the race before finishing fifth.

The AF Corse / Spirit of Race Ferrari won the Pro-Am Class, while Grove Racing sealed their record fourth 12-Hour class win by taking out class B.

Justin McMillan, Dean Lillie, Glenn Wood and Elliot Barbour delivered KTM their first GT4 class win while the Localsearch Marc II GT car driven by Aaron Hargraves, Daniel Jilesen and Steve Owen won the Invitational class.

BATHURST 12 HOUR FAST FACT FILE

• This was the first win for Porsche in the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour
• Porsche had four podium finishes prior to their first win.
• Porsche’s finished 3^rd in 2011, 2013 and 2018 and 2^nd in 2017.
• It was the first win for Matt Campbell, Dennis Olsen and Dirk Werner
• Porsche are the 10^th different brand to win the race, and the fifth different brand in five years to win.
• It is the fifth straight year that three different brands have been represented in the top 3 at the finish.
• The 312 Laps completed was a record for the event, eclipsing the previous best of 297 (2016). That equates to 1,938KM.
• The race was run at an average speed of 161km/hr – an event record.
• 7 cars on the lead lap at the finish equals the event record, set last year.
• The race featured 13 different leaders (a record) for a total of 30 lead changes at the line – equal to the record set last year.
• It was the 6^th time in the ‘GT era’ (2011-) that the winner has not led the most laps.
• The total attendance for the event was 49,495 – an increase of 15.9 per cent on 2018.

MATT CAMPBELL: ‘I KNEW IT WOULD BE TOUGH’

MATT CAMPBELL has opened up about his final stint in the 2019 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour which saw him move up a handful of spots to take the win in the dying moments.

The 23-year-old Australian pulled off a clinical finish to the race after being the only car in the lead pack to take on tyres in the final round of pit stops, using the extra speed to take the lead in the last ten minutes of the sprint to the flag.

Despite having a mountain to climb as he emerged from the pits 25 seconds down on Jake Dennis in the lead, he says he gave it his all in the final stint to hunt down his rivals and take advantage of the safety car period.

“I knew it was going to be tough, I didn’t know it was going to be that tough obviously with the other cars starting on older tyres when we had fresh tyres,” Campbell said.

“After a couple of laps, the team radioed in and said it was around 25 seconds or something like that; I knew we had good speed but I had to knuckle down and give it everything I had.

“It was an absolutely phenomenal race I was absolutely perfect towards the end.

“I can’t thank these two (Oulsen and Werner) enough, it’s just so awesome to send off the old car like this in its last ever race and also for Earl Bamber Motorsport.

“It’s his first race in GT3 and he did a fantastic job with the team, I really can’t thank them enough.”

Engaged in a long battle with the #42 Team Schnitzer BMW M6 of Chaz Mostert for third place, Campbell was cleared of any wrongdoing after making contact with his fellow Australian at the Chase, causing Mostert to run off the road.

“He (Mostert) certainly wasn’t making my life easy, moving over a little bit under brakes but I saw my opportunity,” he said.

“Their cars were really quick in a straight line and I had to maximise my exit, there weren’t many opportunities after that, I was using too much tyre and the engine was getting quite hot following him.”

After getting past Mostert, a safety car period brought leaders Jake Dennis and Raffaele Marciello into sight for Campbell who had to squeeze his Porsche past Dennis’ Aston Martin at Forrest Elbow for the win.

“I was really trying to find my time, their cars (Aston Martin) have been competitive all weekend and I knew that was probably going to be my only passing opportunity.

“I had to seize it then and there, I was struggling to follow him with the aero wash over the top. I went down the inside and there was just enough room, so hats off to Jake (Dennis) for the hard racing as well.”

In his sixth straight Bathurst 12 Hour, Campbell is now one of only six Australians to win the race in the GT3 era, joining John Bowe, Peter Edwards, Craig Lowndes, Jonathon Webb and Jamie Whincup on the list of local winners.

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