REPORT – 2020 Bathurst 12 Hour
For the first time since the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12-Hour was opened to GT3 cars, Bentley has won the once-around-the-clock event at Mount Panorama.
Against a high-quality field that included winning cars and drivers from previous years, Bentley won on their sixth attempt, with the #7 Team M-Sport Bentley Continental GT3, piloted by Jules Gounon (France), Maxime Soulet (Belgium) and Jordan Pepper (South Africa), holding the race lead off and on for almost seven hours. As there were up to eight cars on the lead lap at certain stages, pitstops saw the lead see-saw back and forth in the second half of the race, while a pitlane speed infringement by the leading 59Racing/EMA Racing McLaren 720S GT3 late in the race helped cement the Bentley win.
One of two Bentleys entered by Team M-Sport, the #7 car benefitted from early accidents and mechanical dramas from other entrants, including two of the three Audi Sport Team Valvoline R8 LMS GT3s, one of which crashed in the third hour with Garth Tander at the wheel, with the other out of contention after a hydraulic problem. The #7 Bentley had some luck, too, including blowing a tyre on its in-lap for a pit stop with just an hour to go.
Other early retirements included the Aston Martin Vantage of Garage 59, which completed only 37 laps before losing control at Skyline, leading to a heavy crash at the Dipper. The Wall Racing Lamborghini Huracan was out soon after with a crash at almost the same position. Two of the three MARC II Mustangs (which were in the Invitational class) also failed to finish, including the #95 car which was hampered by two separate pit lane fires.
The second Team M-Sport Bentley, the #8 car driven by Alex Buncombe, Oliver Jarvis and Sebastian Morris, was out after 225 laps with drivetrain failure.
Despite these dramas, large sections of the race were incident-free, with a 4-hour and 10-minute stint without safety car intervention the longest in the race’s history. That long stint of uninterrupted racing meant this year’s Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12-Hour was the longest, too, with the winning Bentley completing 314 laps.
Six other cars were on the same lap at the finish, including the Team Triple Eight #888 Mercedes-AMG GT3 that had Shane van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup in the driver lineup, the Absolute Racing #911 Porsche GT3 R that secured fastest time in qualifying, (then pole in the Pirelli Top-10 Shootout with Matt Campbell at the wheel), and the 59 Racing/EMA Racing #60 McLaren 720S GT3 that featured Ben Barnicoat, Tom Blomqvist and Bathurst rookie Alvaro Parente.
Last year’s 12-Hour winner, Earl Bamber Motorsport (Porsche GT3 R) was in the leading pack for most of the race and was holding fifth place before the #1 Porsche lost time in the closing stages with brake problems and ultimately finished two laps down in ninth.
In the final hour, the #7 Bentley held a small margin over the field, but light rain was starting to fall and a major storm front was approaching Bathurst, which could have really impacted the race. However, in a case of timing perfection, the heavens opened just as the winning Bentley crossed the finish line.
As well as breaking Bentley’s drought and covering the greatest race distance in 12-Hour history, the #7 car set another record in winning from the lowest starting position - eleventh on the grid.
Second place went to the #60 McLaren 720S GT3, with the podium completed by the #888 Mercedes-AMG GT3, but reflecting how close the finish was, a 30-second penalty for the #999 GruppeM Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 dropped it from second at the flag to sixth.
GT Pro entrants filled seven of the top ten places, with the best-placed of the second-tier GT Silver class being the 59 Racing #59 McLaren 720S GT3 in eighth place overall and one lap down on the winner, while the best of the GT Pro-Am entrants was the Team Australia Grove Racing #4 Porsche GT3 R in tenth overall and two laps down.
The first of the Invitational MARC II Mustangs across the line was the Scandia Racing Industries #91 car that was 15th overall, while the two-way fight in GT4 went the way of the JET Battery Services #13 BMW M4 GT4 in 22nd overall and 12 laps ahead of the usedtrucks.com.au #19 Mercedes-AMG GT4.
B12 supports bushfire relief
Prior to the 2020 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour, the Lions Club of Bathurst Macquarie launched a bushfire appeal that drew widespread support at the race.
The campaign was boosted significantly by SRO (promoters of the Intercontinental GT Challenge), who pledged to donate $5 for every race lap completed by Intercontinental GT Challenge entries. That commitment alone generated $25,200.
Motor Active (Australian distributors of Liqui-Moly) matched that donation dollar-for-dollar, taking the total to over $50,000.
The victorious Team Bentley M-Sport got into the spirit and held an impromptu auction of damaged body panels after the race that raised more than $4,000.
Finally, donations at Mount Panorama and through a GoFundMe page contributed a further $10,000 to bring the total to more than $74,000.
All money raised will go to the Australian Lions Foundation National Bushfire Appeal for distribution to bushfire-affected communities and wildlife rescue services.
2020 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour – Top 10 finishers
Pos. Team/ Drivers Car Laps
- Bentley Team M-Sport Bentley Continental GT3 #7 314
J.Gounon/M.Soulet/J.Pepper - 59Racing/EMA Racing McLaren 720S GT3 #60 314
A.Parente/B.Barnicoat/T.Blomqvist - Mercedes-AMG Team Triple Eight Mercedes AMG GT3 #888 314
S.van Gisbergen/J.Whincup/M.Goetz - Absolute Racing Porsche GT3 R #911 314
M.Jaminet/P.Pilet/M.Campbell - Mercedes-AMG Craft-Bamboo Mercedes AMG GT3 #77 314
M.Engel/L.Stolz/Y.Buurman - Mercedes-AMG GruppeM Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 #999 314
F.Fraga/M.Buhk/R.Marciello - Absolute Racing Porsche GT3 R #912 314
D.Werner/M.Cairoli/T.Preining - 59Racing McLaren 720S GT3 #59 313
D.Storey/F.Ross/M.Kodric - Earl Bamber Motorsport Porsche GT3 R #1 312
E.Bamber/L.Vanthoor/C.Lowndes - Team Australia Grove Racing Porsche GT3 R #4 312
S.Grove/B.Grove/B.Barker
