This past weekend the McLaren 650S GT3 experienced what must have been the coolest moment in its short Motorsport life. The race car of customer team Tekno Autosports won the fearsome Bathurst 12 Hour race after a hard fight that it survived by the skin of its teeth!
Tekno’s McLaren 650S GT3 was on a roll at Bathurst as it started the race from Pole Position, having done record-breaking qualifying laps. Four examples of the 650S GT3 actually qualified within the top six spots on the grid. But it wasn’t just excellent starting position that gave the boys of Tekno team – Alvaro Parente, Shane Van Gisbergen and Jonathon Webb – the edge, but clever pit stop strategy, and perseverance in the face of unfortunate events such as an electrical systems reset.
Jonathon Webb, Team Owner, Tekno Autosports: ’Winners of the Bathurst 12 Hour – that is something that will take a little while to sink in. It is a great result for McLaren and massive for Tekno, especially as it was our debut outing together. We faced some real challenges over the course of the weekend, but we pulled together and I am really proud of the guys who have worked faultlessly to achieve this result. Any endurance race is a true challenge, and it is not an easy race to win first time out – you just have to look at the quality of the competition and how close the racing was from the first to the last minute.’
Here’s some cool photos of the McLaren 650S GT3 at Bathurst: