Weather or not at Bathurst for the Armor All 12 Hour
The forecast is for great racing, great weather and a fantastic atmosphere, with the first half of day one completed at the 2011 Bathurst 12 Hour.
Australia’s Holden HQs have had a solid practice session, with the quickest cars, running the 202ci engine, banking a 3 minute lap time for the 6.213 km circuit. Gary Bonwick and Jamie Furness cracked the 3:03 barrier, posting 02.10 and 02.77 respectively.
The Formula Vees showed why they are so highly regarded as a development class, with Ryan Simpson leading both practice and gaining pole in his Parramatta Smash Repairs Sabre, with times in the 2:43 bracket. Darryl Hansen from Western Australia lead the way for the Group N group, piloting his popular 1969 Mustang to a 2:38.01, a considerable 2.10 seconds ahead of Cam Worner in his highly fancied Falcon. A form of history resurfaced for the Group A and C, with a Holden trio of Commodores finding 1,2,3 in practice. Troy Stapleton laid down a 2:33.00, with Garry Collins and Ed Singleton in his VH in the 34s and 36s respectively.
Rick Newman came out in qualifying and grabbed pole after 4th in practice while Graeme Watts improved from 7th to place second in qualifying.
Honours in the main game went to the Australian trio of Luff, Eddy and Lowndes in the Audi R8, a mere eyeblink of 0.07 seconds ahead of Marc Cini, David Reynolds and Dean Fiore, with a sensation 2:12.44 auguring well for the second practice, scheduled for around 1.30pm Sydney time.
