The Audi R8 LMS GT3 race car wins the 12 hours of Bathurst for the second consecutive year.
The Australians are probably regretting letting the Europeans take over their most famous race, especially the R8 which tends to win every race it takes part in, regardless of the competition.The Bathurst win marked as much as the 119th win in the three-year career of Audi’s successful customer race car.
As if the Bathurst track is not scary enough, the 2012 race was made harder thanks to the bad weather with rain and dense fog at times, which caused numerous crashes. The first four hours of the race alone saw the three different vehicles take turns in leading the race. After that though, the two R8s took the lead. The R8 always comes to its own in the rain.
Only one of the cars made it to the podium and took the win. The other was not so lucky, being hit by penalties and a massive crash.
Audi has now won four major endurance races within twelve months, having recorded two successes at the Bathurst 12 Hours and one victory each at the 24-hour races on the Belgian circuits at Spa and Zolder, plus GT3 class victory at the Nürburgring 24 Hours.
The German car maker’s motorsport division is definitely one of the finest in business. They know how to make race-winning cars, from the days of the original Quattro rally car, to the present time with the R8 and the diesel-powered LMP1 cars that have got the Le Mans locked down for the past decade pretty much.
Race results
1 Jöns/Mies/O’Young (Audi R8 LMS), 270 laps in 12h 03m 31.375s
2 Slade/Bleekemolen/Hackett/Curtis (Mercedes) + 1m 13.284s
3 Sun/Baird/Griffin (Ferrari) – 2 laps
4 Tinkler/Johnson/Richards (Porsche) – 16 laps
5 O’Donnell/Niall/McLennon (Porsche) – 26 laps
6 Alford/Leemhuis/Beechey (Porsche) – 33 laps
7 Pye/Barbour/Pither (Holden) – 39 laps
8 Thomlinson/Dippie/Maddren (Porsche) – 42 laps
9 Thomson/Klien/Harley (Lotus) – 43 laps
10 Newman/Lillie/Atkinson (Holden) – 48 laps
