The 2015 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour was an endurance race for a variety of GT and touring car classes, including: GT3 cars, GT4 cars and Group 3E Series Production Cars. The event, which was staged at the Mount Panorama Circuit, near Bathurst, in New South Wales, Australia on 8 February 2015, was the thirteenth running of the Bathurst 12 Hour.

53 cars were entered for the race and 50 cars started the race, with two entries withdrawn following crashes in practice and the other due to drivers being injured in a road accident prior to the event. Katsumasa Chiyo, Wolfgang Reip and Florian Strauss won the event driving a Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3. Reip and Strauss had both come through the GT Academy programme.

The highlight of the race came in the closing laps. The Nissan had been racing conservatively all day, just staying on the lead lap and in touch with the leaders. Matt Bell led the field in one of the M-Sport Bentleys, ahead of Laurens Vanthoor in the Phoenix Racing Audi with Chiyo in third. Stefan Mucke and Dean Canto were also on the lead lap. There were a few late safety car periods, with the last leaving two laps of racing to the finish. Once racing began Chiyo took second at the first corner before taking the lead going up Mountain Straight. As Chiyo built a gap over his rivals, a battle developed for second place, with Bell ahead of Vanthoor and Mucke. Mucke passed Vanthoor for third going down Conrod Straight on the final lap before attempting to pass Bell at the final corner. Mucke made contact with Bell, sending him into a slide, while Vanthoor drove around the outside of both cars to take second place behind Chiyo. Mucke took third while Bell dropped to fourth.

Class structure Cars competed in the following five classes.Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour Official Event Programme, p. 42–43

Class A – GT3 Outright Class AP – GT3 Pro-Am, for driver combinations including one unseeded driver. Class AA – GT3 Am, for driver combinations including two or three unseeded drivers. Class B – GT3 Cup Cars Class C – GT4 Class D – Invitational (Production) Class I – Invitational (Non Production)

Official results

Class Team / Entrant Drivers Car Laps Time/Retired Engine 1 AA 35 NISMO Athlete Global Team Katsumasa Chiyo Wolfgang Reip Florian Strauss Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 269 12:00:11.0280 3.8 L Nissan VR38DETT twin-turbo V6 2 AP 15 Phoenix Racing Marco Mapelli Laurens Vanthoor Markus Winkelhock Audi R8 LMS Ultra 269 +2.4529 5.2 L FSI 2×DOHC Audi V10 3 AP 97 Craft-Bamboo Racing Alex MacDowall Stefan Mücke Darryl O'Young Aston Martin Vantage GT3 269 +2.8016 6.0 L Aston Martin V12 4 AP 10 Bentley Team M-Sport Matt Bell Steven Kane Guy Smith Bentley Continental GT3 269 +3.7821 4.0 L Volkswagen twin-turbo V8 5 AP 36 Erebus Motorsport Dean Canto Jack Le Brocq Richard Muscat Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG 269 +3.9430 6.2 L Mercedes-Benz M159 V8 6 AA 49 Vicious Rumour Racing Renato Loberto Andrea Montermini Benny Simonsen Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 268 +1 lap 4.5 L Ferrari F142 V8 7 AP 32 Lago Racing Roger Lago Steve Owen David Russell Lamborghini Gallardo LP600 268 +1 lap 5.2 L Lamborghini V10 8 AP 33 Clearwater Racing Matt Griffin Weng Sun Mok Toni Vilander Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 268 +1 lap 4.5 L Ferrari F142 V8 9 AP 16 Phoenix Racing Felix Baumgartner Christopher Haase Stéphane Ortelli Audi R8 LMS Ultra 268 +1 lap 5.2 L FSI 2×DOHC Audi V10 10 AA 9 Hallmarc Racing Marc Cini Mark Eddy Christopher Mies Audi R8 LMS Ultra 267 +2 laps 5.2 L FSI 2×DOHC Audi V10 11 AP 12 Competition Motorsports David Calvert-Jones Patrick Long Chris Pither Porsche 997 GT3-R 267 +2 laps 4.0 L Porsche H6 12 AA 75 Jamec Pem Racing Dean Koutsoumidis Steve McLaughlin James Winslow Audi R8 LMS Ultra 265 +4 laps 5.2 L FSI 2×DOHC Audi V10 13 AA 74 Jamec Pem Racing Greg Crick Alessandro Latif Warren Luff Audi R8 LMS Ultra 265 +4 laps 5.2 L FSI 2×DOHC Audi V10 14 AA 2 Fitzgerald Racing Michael Almond Peter Fitzgerald Matt Halliday Audi R8 LMS Ultra 264 +5 laps 5.2 L FSI 2×DOHC Audi V10 15 I 93 MARC Cars Australia Ben Gersekowski Adam Gowans Garry Jacobson MARC Ford Focus GTC 262 +7 laps 5.0 L Ford Coyote V8 16 B 47 Supabarn Supermarkets Racing James Koundouris Theo Koundouris Marcus Marshall Sam Power Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S 261 +8 laps 3.8 L Porsche H6 17 B 4 Grove Motorsport Ben Barker Stephen Grove Luke Youlden Porsche 997 GT3 Cup 259 +10 laps 3.8 L Porsche H6 18 B 64 Motorsport Services Tim Macrow Devon Modell Peter Rullo Porsche 997 GT3 Cup 257 +12 laps 3.8 L Porsche H6 19 B 21 Motorsport Services Sam Fillmore Ross Lilley Danny Stutterd Porsche 997 GT3 Cup 256 +13 laps 3.8 L Porsche H6 20 B 68 Motorsport Services Angus Chapel Xavier West Mark Whyman Porsche 997 GT3 Cup 252 +17 laps 3.8 L Porsche H6 21 AA 63 Erebus Motorsport Austin Cindric Simon Hodge Nathan Morcom Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG 251 +18 laps 6.2 L Mercedes-Benz M159 V8 22 B 50 Team LHI Jeff Bobik Nick Cresswell John Goodacre Terry Knight Porsche 997 GT3 Cup 251 +18 laps 3.8 L Porsche H6 23 AA 52 Motionsport Ben Gower Gordon Shedden Pete Storey Aston Martin Vantage GT3 250 +19 laps 6.0 L Aston Martin V12 24 C 54 Donut King Racing Tony Alford Peter Leemhuis Mark O'Connor Lotus Exige Cup R 249 +20 laps 3.5 L Toyota 2GR-FE supercharged V6 25 AA 99 Craft-Bamboo Racing Jean-Marc Merlin Jonathon Venter Frank Yu Aston Martin Vantage GT3 248 +21 laps 6.0 L Aston Martin V12 26 C 76 Aston Martin Saint Gallen Andreas Baenziger Florian Kamelger Christopher Porritt Aston Martin Vantage GT4 245 +24 laps 4.7 L Aston Martin V8 27 D 23 Bruce Lynton BMW Beric Lynton John Modystach Rob Thomson BMW 1M 242 +27 laps 3.0 L BMW N54 twin-turbo I6 28 D 28 GWS Personnel Motorsport Matt Chahda Steve Devjak Ric Shaw Jake Williams BMW 335i 239 +30 laps 3.0 L BMW N55 twin-turbo I6 29 I 43 Stawell Cartage Shane Bradford Phil Crompton Michael Robinson Shane Woodman Mazda RX-8 234 +35 laps 2.0 L Mazda 3-rotor 30 B 6 Wall Racing Garth Duffy Richard Gartner Michael Hector Aaron Zerefos Porsche 997 GT3 Cup 206 +63 laps 3.6 L Porsche H6 31 D 18 Sherrin Rentals Racing Grant Sherrin Iain Sherrin Mike Sherrin BMW 135i 203 +66 laps 3.0 L BMW N55 twin-turbo I6 32 B 66 Motorsport Services Chris van der Drift Frank Lyons Michael Lyons Scott O'Donnell Hayden Knighton Porsche 997 GT3 Cup 192 +77 laps 3.8 L Porsche H6 33 D 65 Daytona Sports Cars Jamie Augustine Ray Hislop Benjamin Schoots Daytona Sportscar 173 +96 laps 6.0 L GM LS1 V8 34 I 41 Stawell Cartage Ian Cowley Bruce Henley Mark King Jason Walsh Mazda RX-8 149 +120 laps 2.0 L Mazda 3-rotor AA 8 Flying B Motorsport John Bowe David Brabham Peter Edwards Bentley Continental GT3 254 Crash 4.0 L Volkswagen twin-turbo V8 DNF AP 11 Bentley Team M-Sport Maximilian Buhk Harold Primat Andy Soucek Bentley Continental GT3 245 Drivetrain 4.0 L Volkswagen twin-turbo V8 DNF AA 27 Trass Family Motorsport Jono Lester John McIntyre Graeme Smyth Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 221 Overheating 4.5 L Ferrari F142 V8 DNF I 91 MARC Cars Australia Ivo Breukers Jake Camilleri Keith Kassulke MARC Mazda3 GTC 203 Crash 5.0 L Ford Coyote V8 DNF AA 7 Garth Walden Racing Dean Grant Ash Samadi Max Twigg Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG 171 Crash 6.2 L Mercedes-Benz M159 V8 DNF AA 77 AF Corse Michele Rugolo Steve Wyatt Davide Rigon Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 163 Crash 4.5 L Ferrari F142 V8 DNF AP 48 M Motorsport Craig Baird Justin McMillan Steven Richards Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 129 Gearbox 5.2 L Lamborghini V10 DNF AA 29 Trofeo Motorsport Ivan Capelli Jim Manolios Ryan Millier Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 114 Crash 4.5 L Ferrari F142 V8 DNF C 73 TM Motorsports Grant Bromley Robert Hackwood Michael Hovey Tony Martin Ginetta G50 GT4 112 Bellhousing failure 3.5 L Ford Cyclone V6 DNF I 92 MARC Cars Australia Michael Benton Tim Miles Hadrian Morrall MARC Ford Focus GTC 106 Crash 5.0 L Ford Coyote V8 DNF AA 5 Rod Salmon Racing Nathan Antunes Oliver Gavin Rod Salmon Audi R8 LMS Ultra 103 Crash 5.2 L FSI 2×DOHC Audi V10 DNF D 55 Kintyre Racing Matthew Cherry Glyn Crimp Stuart Kostera Audi TT RS 85 Crash 2.5 L R5 TFSI Audi I5 DNF AA 59 Keltic Racing Kévin Estre Klark Quinn Tony Quinn McLaren MP4-12C GT3 80 Spun off 3.8 L McLaren M838T twin-turbo V8 DNF AA 51 AMAC Motorsport Matt Campbell Andrew Macpherson Bradley Shiels Porsche 997 GT3-R 41 Crash 4.0 L Porsche H6 DNF B 14 Peter Conroy Motorsport Tony Bates Peter Conroy Grant Denyer Porsche 997 GT3 Cup 36 Crash 3.8 L Porsche H6 DNF D 42 Hallmark Homes Karl Begg Jason Clements Anthony Gilbertson BMW M3 GTR 5 Hit Kangaroo 4.0 L BMW P60B40 V8 DNS B 38 Wall Racing Daniel Bilski Matt Kingsley Paul Tresidder Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S Crash in Practice 2 3.8 L Porsche H6 DNS AP 88 Maranello Motorsport Ben Collins Tony D'Alberto Mika Salo Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 Crash in Practice 1 4.5 L Ferrari F142 V8 DNS B 69 Motorsport Services Frank Lyons Phil Mauger Lindsay O'Donnell Porsche 997 GT3 Cup Road Accident 3.8 L Porsche H6 Sources:Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour, racing.natsoft.com.au, as archived at web.archive.org

– Scott O'Donnell, Phil Mauger, Lindsay O'Donnell & Hayden Knighton were unable to drive in the race following a car accident on the Thursday. Knighton & Scott O'Donnell were replaced by Frank Lyons (who moved from the withdrawn #69 car) and Chris van der Drift.

Note: Class winners are shown in bold. Race time of winning car: 12:00:11.0280 Fastest race lap: 2:03.3091 – Markus Winkelhock

References

External links

Speedcafe's Ultimate Bathurst 12 Hour Guide, speedcafe.com