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Intercontinental GT Challenge

Bathurst Post-Race Notebook

John Dagys’ post-race notebook from Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour…

Photo: Jarrod Moore

***Both Ash Walsh and John Martin were transported to hospitals following the massive accident that brought the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour to an early end. While having initially climbed from the car under his own power, it’s suspected that Walsh sustained broken ribs and a punctured lung in an accident last year.

***Walsh, however, was in good spirits in the hospital, having posted to Instagram a picture of the Class A Am-winning trophy. He and co-drivers Duvashen Padayachee and James and Theo Koundouris were credited with the class victory as the results reverted to the last completed lap prior to the red.

***Martin, meanwhile, was evaluated and released from Bathurst Hospital late Sunday following precautionary x-rays.

***The No. 991 Craft-Bamboo Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R was handed a 30-second post-race penalty for a maximum drive time violation for Laurens Vanthoor, which dropped the car from third to fifth in the overall results and denied the all-Porsche-crewed entry a podium finish.

***Team director Darryl O’Young said he believed the error came through a software glitch, which saw Vanthoor’s time exceed the 280-minute maximum by just two minutes. 

***Head of Porsche Motorsport Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser believes they could have had a full lockout of the overall podium had the race run green to the end. All of the Porsches were “good to go” on fuel whereas the race-winning No. 37 WRT Audi R8 LMS and second-place finishing No. 75 SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 both would have to pit for a splash. “Four Porsche in the top six – but unfortunately not in the positions we had aimed for,” Walliser said.

***Chaz Mostert was given a $1000 AUD fine for triggering a four-car accident that brought his day to an early end in the tenth hour. The BMW Team SRM attempted to to pass a Class B Porsche and Steven Kane’s Bentley Continental GT3 on the outside at Forrest’s Elbow, which resulted in contact from all three cars.

***While Mostert’s pole-sitting BMW M6 GT3 was retired, the No. 17 Bentley lost six laps in the garage for repairs and finished 16th, after leading at multiple stages.

***The sister No. 18 Bentley had a dreadful race, with a lengthy gearbox change followed by a race-ending right-front tire issue for Maxime Soulet that left the car stranded in the gravel trap in the fourth hour.

***The No. 100 Team SRM BMW fell off the lead lap after it changed brakes in the 10th hour. It was the only GT3 contender reported to completed the extended service, with Steven Richards, Phillip Eng and Timo Glock finishing 9th as a result.

***Both BMW GT3s showed a significant pace advantage in the opening hours, with Mostert stretching out to a 50-plus second lead prior to the deluge of full course cautions. The German manufacturer’s performance is understood to have caught the attention of SRO and other GT3 manufacturers, with the cars not able to match the lap times later in the race.

***A starter motor issue dashed hopes of a top-five finish for the No. 11 Objective Racing McLaren 650S GT3. The car was handed a black flag in the closing hour as it had completed a bump start in its final scheduled pit stop and was unable to re-fire under its own power during the penalty stop, forcing it to retire.

***The race’s 16 full course cautions was the second most in event history. The 2014 race still holds the outright record at 20 yellows. Forty seven of the 271 laps in this year’s race were run behind the safety car.

***A record seven cars, however, finished on the lead lap.

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

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