By Tarek Ramchani
The Bathurst 12 Hour was a special race this year. Not only was it a stand alone international endurance event, but it was also round 1 of the 2013 Australia GT Championship.
The Australian GT segment consisted of the first 50 minutes of the Bathurst 12 Hour race. Three Audis were originally entered for round 1 of the Australian GT. A total of seven Audis were entered for the Bathurst 12 Hour which included the three Australian GT entered Audis, who were also entered for the 12 Hour. Great action on track with a full field of GT3 cars mixing local and international teams. The battles were so fierce that the safety car had to came out twice and regroup the pack during the first hour. At the end of the Australian GT race two Audi R8 LMS cars had entered the top 10. The #71 Minda Motorsport entry finished in fourth place, the Melbourne Performance Centre supported team debuting with the car. Rod Salmon with their #6 R8 LMS ultra ended in sixth place. The car was shared during the 12 hour race by Rod Salmon and V8 Supercars aces and Audi regulars, Craig Lowndes and Warren Luff. Victory in the Australian GT went to the VIP Petfoods Porsche GT3 R ahead of the Bello Rosso Ferrari 458 in second and the Trofeo Motorsport Corvette Z06 in third.
The next stop for the Australian GT will be at Adelaide. The series will support the famous Clipsal 500, the V8 Supercars season opener.
Photo credit: Bathurst 12 Hour
