Bathurst 12 hour

[Dicknose]

Yeah the race has less than 2 hours to go and this is the first post!

Close at the front with 1 pit stop to go, but the leader possibly has less fuel to take = quicker stop.

And damn these cars are fast. They are 2-3 seconds a lap faster than the v8 supercars. More aero and more power, but they are still vaguely production car based!

And the Nissans are doing well - sorry Bryan - dont mention the Nissans at Bathurst!

[Yobbo NZ]

Been watching it on and off since around 8am, love this class of racing.

[Rare White Ape]

“Vaguely” being the operative word :)

[dodint]

Watched a bunch as well. Might fall asleep thpugh, 912 lppks pretty secure.

[Dicknose]

912 down to 5th - the others didnt take tyres and when you cant fit tyres and refuel at the same time, that makes a big difference. Now fighting (pushing, bumping) up to 3rd.

Safety car - now a fight to the finish!
Porsche not the quickest, but freshest tyres.

[Dicknose]

I dont think Ive ever seen a move like that into the elbow, park it up the inside when there didnt seem to be room.

[dodint]

Officials really needed to make a call on the 912 during the SC, punting until after the race is just really bad form.

[Yobbo NZ]

Australian motorsport in general is pretty great, but damn, they shouldn't let the V8 knuckledragger "fans" comment on other forms of racing.
Some of the shit on facebook/speed cafe is pretty sad really.

[Dicknose]

Australian motorsport in general is pretty great, but damn, they shouldn't let the V8 knuckledragger "fans" comment on other forms of racing.
Some of the shit on facebook/speed cafe is pretty sad really.

You get fan-boy idiots in lots of areas. This one is no surprise (and been happening for 30+ years, since the group A days when Sierras replaced the Falcon, later the Super Touring Bathurst 1000)
They were raised on a form of motorsport where they identified with the cars, something they could buy (even if it was only a humble SS and not really anything like the silhouette car with different engine/gearbox) and this did help with the popularity. Now they feel threatened by cars that they see as "elitist". Very few people are ever going to own a Porsche, Aston, Ferrari etc.

But its not like its replaced the v8s... they should be happy that more racing means more opportunity. The v8 drivers get an extra gig, it keeps tracks affordable, keeps motorsport volunteers busy. We are not close to saturation, it helps keep a critical mass for the sport.

[Leon]

V8 fans is why I will never go to Bathurst.

[Rare White Ape]

Fucking A. They’re all cunts to a man.

You should hear the opinions from the Philip Island locals who have to endure the bogans when the V8s race, and how much they love the MotoGP fans by comparison.

[Dicknose]

And it’s pretty crazy if the motorbike fans make you look bad!

[Godson]

MotoGP races are a different breed though.

I've been to several and almost never any hooligans acting out.

[G'day Mate]

I'm a bit late to the party on this, but what sort of comments were they making?

It'd be interesting to throw the Supercars into the mix in a race like that - they must be quicker on the straights so if they can get in front then it's very hard to pass over the mountain.

[Dicknose]

The 12 hour cars are faster - their qualifiying (shotout) laps were low 2:03s, winner was 2:02.9
The supercars were 2:04 to low 2:05.

The top 8 class A 12 hour cars were all faster than the best supercar time...

oh just looked up 2018 supercars race laps - from natsoft site (http://racing.natsoft.com.au)
set a new race lap record 2:06.1

12 hour - fastest lap was 2:03.5, had several others in the 2:03, most of the rest 2:04.
The first car to finish and not have a fastest lap under 2:06 was a class B Porsche GT3 Cup
Seems they can get closer to qualifying times in the race (within 1s) while the supercars are 2s off.

the Supercars might be a bit quicker on the straights, but the winning Porsche showed that doesnt help.
twitter vid - click!
https://twitter.com/i/status/1091949103569723393
https://twitter.com/i/status/1091946787961659394

[Yobbo NZ]

Most of the comments were about Van Gisbergen and how he collapsed after the race, due to 70 degree cabin temps, no cool suit and cramp due to using both feet on the brakes to get the car to stop.
Things like, pussy should harden up etc.
Greatest of all, something about long haul truck drivers do more distance than they do in the race...Like really?? Great comparison.
Also some about the Porsche passing too aggressively etc.
I swear V8 fans just spout whatever first comes into their tiny brains.

[Godson]

I remember when that happened to the Corvette crew back in the early 2000s. I forgot who was driving, but it was Sebring, and the cabin temps were also around 160.


Those temperatures are not safe for the human body for very long.

[G'day Mate]

Ah I thought it was slightly closer than that between those cars.

[Rare White Ape]

I think 2-3 seconds a lap between very different categories of car is not bad. And while the GT3 cars are very carefully BoP’d, the Supercars have been getting gradually faster over the last decade.

But hey, I’d love to see the Supercars dropped entirely and replaced by a GT3 national category. Imagine if all the big local teams and drivers (and sponsorship money) was put to work in GT3. Overnight it would go from being the semi-professional gentleman driver series we have now, to become the strongest GT3 series in the world.

The wrinkle is the Bathurst 1000 though. It’s the ‘great race’ but only takes 6hrs to cover the 161 laps. Not quite the same league as the 12hr…

[Blerpa]

But hey, I’d love to see the Supercars dropped entirely and replaced by a GT3 national category. Imagine if all the big local teams and drivers (and sponsorship money) was put to work in GT3. Overnight it would go from being the semi-professional gentleman driver series we have now, to become the strongest GT3 series in the world.

I suspect that's exactly what Supercars' fans would NOT want.

[The359]

Keep in mind the fastest lap of Bathurst with an unrestricted GT3 car is under 2:00.

[G'day Mate]

I reckon a national GT3 series would be great too - they just need to homologise a farken ‘olden maaaaaate

[The359]

Bathurst 12 Hour is actually part of your national GT3 series - Australian GT Championship.

[G'day Mate]

Oh, I know we have one, what I meant is that when Supercars die their inevitable death it’d be good to see our top level of motorsport be an awesome GT3 series, and that perhaps homologising some kind of Holden could help that along.

[Dicknose]

Now if only Bryan had come out - instead of his car coming here to die...