The 2012 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 was an Australian touring car motor race for V8 Supercars, the twenty-first race of the 2012 International V8 Supercars Championship. It was held on Sunday, 7 October 2012 at the Mount Panorama Circuit on the outskirts of Bathurst, New South Wales, in Australia.
The Ford Performance Racing duo of Will Davison and John McIntyre started the race from pole position. Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell won the race, ahead of David Reynolds and Dean Canto in second place, and Craig Lowndes and Warren Luff completing the podium. Whincup and Dumbrell's race time of six hours, sixteen minutes and one-point-three seconds was the second-fastest race time in the history of the event.
Background The 2012 race was the sixteenth running of the Australian 1000 race, which was first held after the organisational split between the Australian Racing Drivers Club and V8 Supercars Australia that saw the Bathurst race run twice in 1997 and 1998, with one race open to V8 Supercar entries, and the other open to Super Touring cars. The schism was repaired in time for the 1999 race, with the race being open exclusively to V8 Supercars.
The 2012 race was also the 55th race for which the lineage can be traced back to the 1960 Armstrong 500 – held at Phillip Island – and the 52nd to be held at Mount Panorama; the two separate races of 1997 and 1998 are recognised as four individual runnings of the event. Race organisers planned to use this race to celebrate the 50th year since the race first moved from Phillip Island to Mount Panorama in 1963, though it was not until 1973 that the race was run over ; from 1963 to 1972, the race was run over .
The Holden Racing Team drivers Garth Tander and Nick Percat were the defending race winners.
Entries All twenty-eight cars which contest the regular V8 Supercar season took part in the race, plus one "wildcard" entry—a car that is only entered in the endurance races—prepared by Minda Motorsport and operated by Kelly Racing. Each car was driven by its regular driver, who contests the full International V8 Supercar Championship, and a guest driver, who only took part in the Bathurst race and its prologue, the Sandown 500. These guest drivers were recruited from a variety of racing categories, including the Dunlop Development Series (such as Nick Percat, partnering Garth Tander), the V8 Ute Racing Series (such as Chris Pither, partnering David Wall), and the New Zealand-based V8 SuperTourer Series (such as John McIntyre, partnering Will Davison), among others. Each driver was required to complete at least 54 laps of the race, with the teams given the freedom to allocate those laps as they see fit.
The only exception to this applied specifically to the Kelly Racing—Minda Motorsport "wildcard" entry. This car was driven by Cam Waters and Jesse Dixon, both of whom won the opportunity to drive as part of the Shannons Supercar Showdown, a reality television programme created by Kelly Racing. Waters, who won the 2011 competition, was a late entry to the grid; the car was originally scheduled to be driven by Dixon, the 2012 winner, and Australian television personality Grant Denyer. However, Denyer was forced to withdraw two weeks before the race due to injury, and Waters was drafted in to replace him. Together, Waters (18) and Dixon (19) formed the youngest driver line-up to enter the race in its fifty-year history.
Entry list Drivers Team (Sponsor) Car Drivers Team (Sponsor) Car 1 Jamie Whincup Paul Dumbrell Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden Commodore VE 19 Jonathon Webb Scott McLaughlin Tekno Autosports Holden Commodore VE 2 Garth Tander Nick Percat Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VE 21 David Wall Chris Pither Britek Motorsport Holden Commodore VE 3 Tony D'Alberto Dale Wood Tony D'Alberto Racing Ford Falcon FG 22 James Courtney Cameron McConville Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VE 4 Lee Holdsworth Craig Baird Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon FG 23 Cam Waters Jesse DixonHolden Commodore VE 5 Mark Winterbottom Steven Richards Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon FG 30 Taz Douglas Scott Pye Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport Holden Commodore VE 6 Will Davison John McIntyre Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon FG 33 Alexandre Prémat Jack Perkins Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore VE 7 Todd Kelly Tim Blanchard Kelly Racing Holden Commodore VE 34 Michael Caruso Greg Ritter Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore VE 8 Jason Bright Andrew Jones Brad Jones Racing Holden Commodore VE 47 Tim Slade Andrew Thompson James Rosenberg Racing Ford Falcon FG 9 Shane van Gisbergen Luke Youlden Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon FG 49 Steve Owen Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Ford Falcon FG 11 Karl Reindler Daniel Gaunt Kelly Racing Holden Commodore VE 51 Greg Murphy Owen Kelly Kelly Racing Holden Commodore VE 12 Dean Fiore Matt Halliday Triple F Racing Ford Falcon FG 52 David Reynolds Dean Canto Rod Nash Racing Ford Falcon FG 14 Fabian Coulthard David Besnard Brad Jones Racing Holden Commodore VE 66 Russell Ingall Christian Klien Walkinshaw Racing Holden Commodore VE 15 Rick Kelly David Russell Kelly Racing Holden Commodore VE 91 Michael Patrizi Jonny Reid Tekno Autosports Holden Commodore VE 17 James Moffat Alex Davison Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon FG 888 Craig Lowndes Warren Luff Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden Commodore VE 18 Steven Johnson Allan Simonsen Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon FG Entries with a grey background were Wildcard Entries which do not compete in the full championship season.
Report
Free practice The first free practice session took place on the Thursday morning before the race, taking the form of a fifty-minute timed session open to all drivers, though most teams elected to run only their primary drivers. The session passed without incident, and Michael Caruso – driving for Garry Rogers Motorsport – finished the session fastest, one-tenth of a second ahead of championship leader Jamie Whincup and the Ford Falcon of Shane van Gisbergen. Cam Waters, driving the Kelly Racing / Minda Motorsport wildcard entry, finished in twenty-ninth and last place, five and a half seconds behind Caruso, and two and a half seconds behind the sister Kelly Racing car of Karl Reindler and Daniel Gaunt in twenty-eighth place.
The second forty-five-minute free practice session early on Thursday afternoon was limited to co-drivers. Britek Motorsport's Chris Pither became the first driver to crash when he locked up one of his front wheels at the end of Mountain Straight, understeering into the tyre wall on the outside of Griffins' Bend. Although the damage was minor, the session was suspended for thirteen minutes to allow the circuit to be cleared, and the car was retired to the garage for the remainder of the session. Warren Luff – partner to Craig Lowndes in the #888 Triple Eight Race Engineering Commodore – finished fastest, ahead of Andrew Jones and Steven Richards. In his first appearance in a V8 Supercar, Jesse Dixon finished twenty-ninth, the Kelly Racing / Minda Motorsport setting a fastest lap that was five seconds slower than Luff's time. Stone Brothers Racing driver Lee Holdsworth also took part in the session, despite being a primary driver rather than a co-driver, testing Ford's "Car of the Future" prototype to gather data on tyre performance for tyre supplier Dunlop. Holdsworth also drove the car in two of the Dunlop V8 Supercar Series support race practice sessions.
The first day of running ended with a fifty-minute session late on Thursday afternoon. Like the first session, it ran without incident, though drivers were cautioned when kangaroos were spotted on Conrod Straight. Jamie Whincup ended the session on top, half a second faster than Will Davison. Whincup's final flying lap was nearly a second faster than Davison, who subsequently narrowed the margin with his own final lap. After Pither's accident sidelined the Britek Motorsports car for most of the second session, the car was repaired and its regular driver, David Wall was able to complete the session, finishing twenty-third overall.
Practice resumed on Friday morning, with a second session open only to co-drivers. The session was incident-free, and at the end of fifty minutes, Scott McLaughlin – partnering Tekno Autosports' Jonathon Webb – was fastest, a tenth of a second quicker than Jamie Whincup's partner, Paul Dumbrell. Once again, Jesse Dixon finished the session last in the Kelly Racing / Minda Motorsport wildcard entry, but improved his best time from the second practice session by two seconds, but was shown the bad sportsmanship flag for abusing the limits of the circuit while going through The Esses.
The Triple Eight Race Engineering pair of Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes topped the final free practice session before qualifying, with Whincup half a second faster than his teammate. The session was suspended twice due to incidents; the first came when Tony D'Alberto made contact with the wall at McPhillamy Park, damaging his front tyre and elected to stop on the circuit rather than risk further damage to the car ahead of qualifying. The second interruption came shortly after D'Alberto's car was cleared from the circuit when Tim Slade got caught in the gravel trap on the outside of Murray's Corner.
Mark Winterbottom set the fastest time in the final practice session, held on Saturday morning. Garth Tander was second-fastest, three tenths of a second behind Winterbottom, while Winterbottom's teammate, Will Davison was third-fastest. Dick Johnson Racing's James Moffat finished the session in twenty-ninth, some thirty-six seconds off Winterbottom's time after his car broke a tailshaft that ripped an oil line free from underneath the car, causing enough damage to sideline the #17 entry for the remainder of the session.
Summary Session Driver Team Car Fastest lap Weather Thursday Practice 1 10:40 34 Michael Caruso Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden VE Commodore 2:08.4081 Dry, sunny Practice 2 12:25 888 Warren Luff Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden VE Commodore 2:09.1794 Dry, sunny Practice 3 15:05 1 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden VE Commodore 2:07.3565 Dry, sunny Friday Practice 4 09:25 19 Scott McLaughlin Tekno Autosports Holden VE Commodore 2:08.9697 Dry, sunny Practice 5 11:00 1 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden VE Commodore 2:07.5000 Dry, sunny Saturday Practice 6 10:25 5 Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing Ford FG Falcon 2:07.7370 Dry, overcast
Qualifying The forty-minute qualifying session was held on Friday afternoon. It decided positions eleven through to twenty-nine on the grid, with the top ten drivers advancing to the Top 10 Shootout, to be held on the Saturday afternoon. During the Friday session, drivers were free to complete as much running as necessary to set a competitive lap time, but with the knowledge that their tyre allocation for the weekend was limited and that they would have to qualify on tyres that they would later use the race, the drivers had to balance their desire to set a fast time against the need to preserve as many tyres as possible for Sunday's race.
The session was red-flagged and suspended almost as soon as the circuit was open, when Holden Racing Team driver Garth Tander locked one of his tyres up at the end of Mountain Straight and understeered into the barrier on the outside of Griffins' Bend, in an incident similar to the one Chris Pither experienced in free practice. Tander was able to extricate himself from wall with largely cosmetic damage, and he limped back around the circuit to the pits while safety crews cleared away the fluids spilled by his Commodore in the accident. Tander's team were able to patch up the damage with sheets of tape, and while he was later heard on the radio complaining of his inability to stop the car and seen spinning at Hell Corner, he would ultimately set a lap time that would prove fast enough for a place in the Top 10 Shootout.