Competition Motorsports Gears Up for Bathurst 12H

With the start of practice for the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour less than one week away, the final pieces are quickly falling into place for competitor tackling Mount Panorama.

Competition Motorsports is the latest team to finalize its efforts, announcing Friday the addition of IceBreak, a popular Australian iced coffee beverage, as the title sponsor for its Porsche 997 GT3 Cup to be driven by David Calvert-Jones, Patrick Long and Alex Davison.

Run as a collaborative effort between Australian Porsche Carrera Cup outfit McElrea Racing and California-based Competition Motorsports, it’s the only entry in the 40-plus car field that will be run under the U.S. banner.

“I fulfilled a dream last year by racing at Mount Panorama, but this year I will be looking to fulfill my dream of finishing the race and winning our class,” said U.S.-based Australian expat Calvert-Jones.

“We have a great shot of doing so with Alex and Pat in our driver line-up and having the support of McElrea Racing during the event will be a real advantage.

“Bob Faieta and the team at Competition Motorsports have done a great job of preparing our 997 Cup Car and we are very excited and appreciative to be partnered by IceBreak for the event.”

Calvert-Jones, Alex and his cousin James Davison had scored Class B pole and were comfortably out front of last year’s race until the car was taken out by a back marker in the 9th hour.

This time around, the focus is clearly on bringing home the former American Le Mans Series GTC Porsche home for the win, in what’s become an increasingly competitive category. Class B features more than a dozen entries including two 2011-spec Audi R8 LMS cars.

“From a personal perspective, I couldn’t be racing in a better team,” Alex Davison said. “CJ was very fast last year on his first visit to the Mountain and I got along really well with him.

“I am stoked to be driving with my good mate Patrick Long who I lived with and raced against in Europe over a decade ago but have never shared a car with.”

Long, who was originally scheduled to be driving with CJ and Davison last year, will be making his much-anticipated Bathurst debut next weekend in the IceBreak-sponsored Porsche.

“The race has massive momentum going and this year looks to be the best turn out of cars in the recent running of the race,” Long said.

“I am under no illusion about how tough the track is to learn, but I know I have one of the best that has ever driven a Porsche at Bathurst as a coach and team-mate in Alex, having raced against him in Porsche Carrera Cup Germany in 2003.

“Also, CJ and I are part of a small group of LA-based Porsche racers and we also have some mutual friends away from the Porsche scene, so it’s very cool to be joining two good friends on this journey.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John