Coinspot’s quantity 65 was not spared setbacks both: Chaz Mostert/Fraser Ross/Liam Talbot misplaced ten laps after a restore of the gearshifting actuator. The crew determined to withdraw the automotive shortly earlier than the tip of the eighth hour of racing after Ross touched a wall. Kelvin van der Linde, who managed the quickest race lap, subsequently led the competitors. However, the crew incurred a two-minute time penalty as a result of teammate Brad Schumacher had exceeded his most permitted driving time. As a consequence, van der Linde, Schumacher and Audi Sport driver Nathanaël Berthon have been not on the identical race lap because the chief and solely completed fourth. The sister automotive of Ricardo Feller/Yasser Shahin/Markus Winkelhock with automotive quantity 777, which had been within the lead after 4 hours of racing, obtained two penalties in the midst of the race and misplaced further time because of a puncture. In the tip, the motive force trio was left with solely seventh place general. The second-best Audi crew at the end was the Hallmarc squad. Long-time Audi buyer Marc Cini, collectively together with his teammates Dean Fiore and Lee Holdsworth, managed the space with out making any errors with the quantity 9 automotive and crossed the end line in sixth place.
The story of the weekend, nevertheless, was written by Team Supabarn. After non-public driver Theo Koundouris with the quantity 47 hit a concrete wall with pressure in free follow, the crew needed to handle a “race before the race”: The Melbourne Performance Centre introduced a spare chassis to Bathurst in a single day from the crew’s base virtually 800 kilometers away, which was up to date to the present specification on website. Even although there was little time for set-up and Theo Koundouris was unable to begin, his brother James and his teammates Dave Russell and Paul Stokell drove to Am class victory and completed ninth general. A sixth Audi R8 LMS completed with the quantity 24 automotive. The automotive of Tony Bates/Dave Reynolds/Cam Waters drove to eleventh place.
“Congratulations to Team Supabarn and the Melbourne Performance Centre entry team on this well-deserved class win,” stated Chris Reinke, Head of Audi Sport buyer racing. “Our privateer drivers mastered a great effort in particularly difficult conditions. Hats off to this performance. At the end, there were five Audi cars in the top ten but we would have loved to fight for our fourth victory here. We had the pace for it.”
While a very powerful endurance race within the southern hemisphere is behind Audi Sport buyer racing, the world’s largest endurance race is on the calendar in two weeks already. In the competitors for the model’s sixth general victory, seven Audi R8 LMS vehicles will contest the Nürburgring 24 Hours from May 26 to 29.
