Bathurst 12 Hour

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The Bathurst 12 Hour is an endurance event for production racing cars held at the Mount Panorama Circuit, near Bathurst, Australia. The event was inspired by the long running Bathurst 1000 touring car race, which began in the early 1960's as a race for cars with minimal modifications. As the Bathurst 1000 evolved the touring cars that raced moved further and further away from the minimal modifications of the original race. The Bathurst 12 Hour was re-created the original feel of the Bathurst 1000, while providing a unique test in the longer distance, rather than replicating the 1000 kilometre event.

The original race was run by Vince Tesorieo's (himself a previous Bathurst 1000 competitor) Forcefield marketing and utilised the Group E production car regulations then in use in the Australian Production Car Championship, or APCC. In the early 1990's the APCC was limited to passenger sedans, with turbo charged cars and V8 engined cars banned after the 1989 season. The Bathurst 12 Hour opened up the regulations and while mid-engined exotic sportscars and GTs were not allowed to enter, a wider range of vehicles than what was eligible for the APCC was.

The first race saw just 24 cars entered, spread over six different classes dependant on engine capacity and sporting specification. Despite the events length the competitors proved extremely reliable with 20 making the finish. The first race was won by Allan Grice, Peter Fitzgerald and Nigel Arkell racing Fitzgerald's 1989 APCC specification Toyota Supra. Second place was taken by the Ford Laser TX3 turbo of Ken Douglas and brothers Kent and Brett Youlden.

For the 1992 event the car manufacturers started to enter large teams with Mazda, Holden, Citroen and Peugeot each funding large teams. The Mazda team grew to dominate the event with their Mazda RX-7s, winning the event right up to the final race held in 1995, despite prominent teams using Honda NSX, Nissan Skyline GT-R, Maserati Shamal, BMW M5, Lotus Esprit and a factory-supported team of Porsche 968s which ran in 1993 and 1994, upgrading to Porsche 993s for the final race in 1995.

Facing rising costs the race was moved from Bathurst at Easter to Eastern Creek Raceway in November for the 1995 race but the event did not survive into 1996. The race was successfully revived in 2007 and was won by the BMW 335i of Gary Holt, Paul Morris and Craig Baird. The race had been previously revived in 2002, with a more open vehicle eligibility list as the Bathurst 24 Hour.

[edit] Races

Year	Outright Winners	Vehicle	Class Winners	Vehicle
1991	Allan Grice Peter Fitzgerald Nigel Arkell	Toyota Supra Turbo	Class D: Warren Cullen, Gary Cooke & Glenn Cullen	Holden Commodore SS
			Class C: Peter Brock, Neil Crompton & Peter McKay	Holden Commodore S
			Class S: Colin Bond, John Smith & Bruce Stewart	Toyota MR2
			Class A: Mark Brame, Henry Draper & Geoff Forshaw	Suzuki Swift GTi
			Class B: Neal Bates, Rick Bates & Geoff Morgan	Toyota Celica
1992	Garry Waldon Charlie O'Brien Mark Gibbs	Mazda RX-7
			Class C: Tony Longhurst, Alan Jones & Neville Crichton	BMW M5
			Class D: Warren Cullen, Glenn Cullen & Kim Jane	Holden Commodore SS
			Class S: Rick Bates, Keith Carling & Geoff Morgan	Toyota MR2
			Class B: Peter Dane, Peter McLeod & Peter Janson	Citroën BX16
			Class A: Mark Brame, Henry Draper & Clyde Lee	Suzuki Swift GTi
1993	Garry Waldon Alan Jones	Mazda RX-7
			Class C: Wayne Gardner, Ian Palmer & Ross Palmer	Honda NSX
			Class S: Rick Bates, Juan Manuel Fangio II & Peter McKay	Toyota MR2
			Class D: Peter Brock, Wayne Park & Tony Scott	Holden Commodore SS
			Class A: Mark Brame, Henry Draper & Barry Devlin	Suzuki Swift GTi
			Class B: Murray Carter, Damon Beck & Brian Wilshire	Nissan Pulsar SSS
1994	Gregg Hansford Neil Crompton	Mazda RX-7
			Class S: Neal Bates, Rick Bates & Juan Manuel Fangio II	Toyota MR2
			Class V: Dick Johnson, Steven Johnson & Danny Osbourne	Ford Falcon XR6
			Class T: John Bourke, Matthew Martin & Wayne Park	Subaru Impreza WRX
			Class A: Mark Brame, Henry Draper & Barry Devlin	Suzuki Swift GTi
			Class B: Phil Morriss, Craig Lowndes & John Morriss	Nissan Pulsar SSS
1995	John Bowe Dick Johnson	Mazda RX-7
			Class T: Greg Hurst, Liz Hurst & Andrew Leithhead	Subaru Impreza WRX
			Class B: Harry Bargwanna, David Simpson & Chris Symonds	Nissan Pulsar SSS
			Class A: Mark Brame & Darren Palmer	Suzuki Swift GTi
			Class V: John Cowley, Tony Longhurst & Wayne Park	Ford Falcon XR6
			Class S: no finishers
1996-2001	not contested
2002-2003	refer Bathurst 24 Hour
2004-2006	not contested
2007	Garry Holt Paul Morris Craig Baird	BMW 335i
			Class B: Chris Atkinson, Cody Crocker & Dean Herridge	Subaru Impreza WRX STi Spec C
			Class C: Andrew Moffat, Drew Russell & Shaun Juniper	BMW 130i
			Class D: Chris Delfsma, John Bowe & Jack Elsegood	Ford Falcon XR8
			Class E: Colin Osborne, Neal Bates & John Roecken	Toyota Celica
			Class F: Iain Sherrin, Grant Sherrin, Stuart Jones & J.Wallace	BMW 120i
			Class G: Kean Booker, Rocco Rinaldo & David Stone	Alfa Romeo 159 2.4 JTD
2008	Rod Salmon Damien White Graham Alexander	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
			Class B: Garry Holt, Paul Morris & Craig Baird	BMW 335i
			Class C: Luke Searle & Peter Kelly	BMW 130i
			Class D: Brian Walden, Garth Walden & M. Auld	Holden Commodore SS
			Class E: Colin Osborne, Neal Bates & John Roecken	Toyota Celica
			Class F: R. Buckingham, J.Augustine, Brett Youlden & G.Sticker	Hyundai Sonata
			Class H: D.Filipetto, N.Gotch & Wayne Vinckx	Alfa Romeo 159 2.4 JTD