Armor All 12 Hours Of Bathurst – Qualifying Report
Back To Back Poles For Phoenix Racing

The #1 Audi of Phoenix Racing took the pole position after two hours of qualifying at the 2012 Bathurst 12 Hours.

The Audi R8 LMS squad beat out the Maranello Motorsport Ferrari and the Clearwater Racing Ferrari, despite Craig Baird going under the benchmark time and Allan Simonsen having the fastest legal overall time.

The Phoenix Racing Audi’s combined time was 6:28.65 which was just under a second faster than the Ferraris.  The two Ferraris were only separated by two hundredths – 6:29.61 versus 6:29.63.

The Phoenix Audi squad was pleased with their efforts; “Pole position for us is great, but it’s 12 Hours of racing,” said Darryl O’Young. “That is the key point, the pole is a bonus. Our preparation is great; it is the first time here for Phoenix Racing and the car has been perfect since we pulled it out of the box. It’s very comfortable to driver, the key point for us. Hopefully we can give Audi a good result here.”

The two Ferraris feel that they are well placed for the race, given that they out-qualified the second Phoenix Audi, the two Mercedes and the Lamborghinis.

There have been some question marks about the Ferrari’s reliability, but Clearwater’s Matt Griffin is confident that the car will last the distance; “We have a great team – Clearwater Racing is a great team.  We came and we were fortunate as the car was pretty much where we wanted it; I just had to get used to the track.

“In the race, we will get more and more comfortable and get even quicker.”

“I am confident for the race.  The car is quick and it has proved it has been reliable in various 24 hour races.”

The Hunter Sports Group Porsche will lead Class B after qualifying eighth overall – and ahead of the Black Falcon Mercedes.

It wasn’t all plain sailing, however, with the Consolidated Chemicals Lamborghini hitting the barriers at turn one.

The impact was severe, throwing driver Ted Huglin around the car.  The car has been withdrawn with rumoured damage to the engine mounts.  In any case, a wheel was ripped off the car.

Huglin was taken away by the medical team but has since been released.

Peter Kox, the star driver in the car was disappointed to withdraw but was glad that Huglin was ok; “It is fortunate that Ted Huglin is ok as it was a severe impact.

“Looking at the footage, as far as I can see he was carrying quite some speed into the corner so I don’t think it was a technical issue.  We had a fast car and were looking forward to the race.

“It is a long way to come to do three laps!”

The race will commence at 6:15am local time on Sunday.

Sam Tickell