Great pics Tenrocca. How good must it have been to be able to watch those beautiful cars in such a relaxed and uncrowded setting.
The race was marred by the number of safety car incidents. Did I hear it was a record for the number of stoppages and also the second fewest laps completed in the history of the race? Nevertheless the finish was a cracker. Pity the Bentley couldn't hold on.
It was interesting to hear that the V8 Supercars are slightly quicker down Conrod but the GTs are so much faster from the Cutting to Forrest Elbow, accounting for their 5-6 seconds quicker laps. At one stage today the first sixteen cars were all under the V8 lap record.
I was disappointed but not particularly surprised at the dog-in-the-manger stance taken by the V8 heirarchy and Channel 10 in the lengths they went to to prevent Lowndes Kelly and Van Gisbergen (and probably others) from competing at Bathurst. These guys were so keen to drive that they were prepared to do the morning test then chopper out to Bathurst so they could do the middle stint of the race and then come back for the afternoon test session. Sure, I get the corporate BS that goes on between competing TV channels but to firstly deliberately set the V8 testing date to clash with the 12 Hour and then to change testing from a one to a two day event and then to insist that all V8 drivers be in attendance at Eastern Creek for the entire weekend was in my mind just pathetic. Why couldn't the one day format (Saturday) have been adhered to and then let our guys run the 12 Hour on the Sunday? Yes I know it was on rival Channel 7, but .... so what?
Our V8 drivers are big fish in a small pond. They would have loved the opportunity of competing in an international endurance event, piloting world class machinery for a change against some of the finest drivers in the world, testing themselves on the world stage infront of a huge international TV audience, but because of the deplorable approach of the V8 and Channel 10 honchos they were denied the chance. Shane Van Gisbergen's drive in the McLaren last year was nothing short of sensational, Craig Lowndes regularly competes at Le Mans, and how good would it be to see Jamie Whincup at the mountain in one of the Aston Martins or R8s? A V8 test day at Eastern Creek or the opening round of the world endurance series, the Bathurst 12 Hour GT race? I know where I'd rather be! Let's hope the small minded V8 and Channel 10 mob can grow up a bit for next year. As fans we deserve to have our best drivers out there mixing it with the big boys!
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