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Welcoming The World

Few events in the world compete with the ferocity of Australia’s Liqui-Moly’s 12 Hour GT3 endurance race.

Taking place at Mt Panorama, Bathurst, in rural New South Wales, race conditions are often harsh and demanding. The 6.2km-long (4-mile) circuit is inherently dangerous and unforgiving; the road course is very fast but very narrow in places, and the majority of the corners have absolutely no run off. Throw 50-plus cars into the mix and it becomes even more challenging.

Most people associate Mount Panorama with ‘The Great Race’, the annual 1000km endurance where Holden has long battled Ford for bragging rights, and where the legend of Godzilla was born – then banned. This is hallowed ground; Australia’s official home of motorsport is one entrenched in the nation’s history.

But in recent times, it’s Liqui-Moly’s popular GT3 event that’s been pivotal in the circuit’s ascent to truly international status.





An ever-expanding field of international teams and drivers have made it difficult to keep up with the explosion of interest the race has seen over the past three or four years. It’s reassuring for local race fans worried about an uncertain future for racing in the country too; with the end of locally-produced Australian cars, a GT3-type category is a serious contender to take a the role of our next mainstream race series. Without my crystal ball it’s hard to say what the future holds, so let’s focus on the here and now.

Rising Stars

Mixed class racing adds a whole new dimension to the game. The majority of us only consider the challenge presented to the top-tier cars of defending and moving the field while also having to weave through a constant wave of traffic, not to dissimilar to the traffic one experiences while late for work. But what a lot of people forget to consider is how that faster traffic affects the lower tier cars. Drivers are constantly having to scan their rear-view mirrors for fast-approaching traffic, as well as having to deal with what ever obstacle, car or corner they’re hurtling towards.

Over the course of the weekend I made sure to check in with a trio of upcoming stars, namely Nathan Antunes, Elliot Barbour and Greg Taylor in their Pro-Amateur Audi R8. Don’t let the ‘Amateur’ in the class title fool you though; while it’s fair to say they lack the same resources as the major players in the GT3 ranks, the approach taken by the team for the event was 100 percent professional. Behind all their smiles and lighthearted banter is a very strong sense of competition. These guys were hungry for victory – hungrier than others I spent time with over the weekend.





The trio had recently taken ownership of the new Audi R8 LMS GT, which is a rather special machine. Where the 2007 R8 was originally built as a road car and modified to race, Audi designed the new chassis as a GT car first and foremost. The end result is a super-rigid chassis that handles speed with ease.

After only a few minor adjustments during practice, the car was running like a rocket ship and the guys knew they had a real shot at class victory.



From the team’s first shakedown with the new chassis at Phillip Island, through to the strong result in Friday’s qualifying, things were looking good. But could this luck last all weekend?

Nathan Antunes was responsible for starting the 12-hour endurance and opted to kick off with a double stint behind the wheel. After two and a half hours of racing, he’d managed to move up to third outright and first in class after starting in ninth spot on the morning grid, but it wasn’t without drama though. A light tap to the rear had bent the R8’s exhaust system, restricting power and putting the pressure on to maintain position on the longer straight sections of the circuit.