The Epic “adventures of Jess” are on full flight this year and I got to experience another fantastic event called Bathurst 12Hr! I went up for the 4 days to help out one of the supporting categories – Improved Production with the Awesome Street Brothers, Peter & John!! I also had friends running Teams in the 12hr and John Walker was competing in the HQ category. The line up of races was going to be sensational with a bit of everything on display. Categories running on the mountain were Group N, HQ’s, Improved Production, Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge (Dam!! They were nice), Saloon Cars and of course the 12hr Teams!!!

I drove up to Bathurst on the Thursday morning to help Peter Street sign all the IPRA entrants in and collect there paperwork. This was my first time experiencing an event at Mt Panorama and I was excited! I arrived on the mountain and started to take in the “wonder”. This place truly is magical and the facilities are second to none.
The IPRA had set up marquee garages in the paddock behind the main pits. Which came in much need with the incredible weather we were about to face for the 4 days! We had 37 Improved Production cars entered in the race and was so good to see all the different types of cars going head to head against each other. I was jealous that they got to try and conquer the mountain. But I got to cut many laps of the carpark going backwards and forwards from the Control Tower and Paddock. I got a workout that’s for sure but it’s the best way to bump into everyone and see it all. It was amazing to hear and see and smell the race cars going around the track from the infield. To me it felt like something out of “Days of Thunder” haha. The guys had practice and qualifying on Friday and races on Saturday and got one dry run. The HQ’s seems to be the best category to get the dry laps every time there went out. The IPRA guys did extremely well with the conditions and a lot of the entrants it was there first time on the mountain. There were a few thrills and spills with Evos coming off the track but mostly was some clean racing and great battles between the packs.

John Walker in the HQ was having some thrills and spills on the track and exchanged paint with a certain tyre wall and had a great story to tell when he came into the pits. John stayed mid packed through his races as the HQ was better downhill than up but he held his place through out the race and did very well fighting off a few of the HQs trying to claim is spot. His best time was a 3:11!
I was “wowed” by the level of professionalism this event had. The teams were all kitted out as if it was the V8 Supercars and I got to be part of the 12hr Walden, Walden & Auld Team as a data entry assistant for the event on the Sunday. This is to keep track of lap times and fuel consumption through out the race. I woke up at 4am to get ready and prepped for the 6:30am start. I have never seen a more glorified sight than that level of race cars gridding up at the crack of dawn on the start line. The Walden Team had to start from rear due to a discrepancy in Qualifying but Garth just carved up the field the minute the light went out to try and gain the places back. By 3rd lap he was back where he qualified in 12th position and fighting strong. There were unbelievable conditions out on the track going from wet to dry then steamy back to torrential rain. On the 68 lap the car was overheating and came in to the pits. To my devastation the car had blown a head gasket. I was quite upset as the Walden team was going so well and had a real chance to finish in the top 5. The 12hr is a battle of wills and the tables can turn so quickly with driver error and different styles with a team of 3 drivers in the cars. A lot of teams fell out of the competition due to mechanical malfunctions and the weather was so fierce the safety car was out on the track for at least 6 hours of the race and even took chequered flag at the end but before that at about 1pm a tree fell down on to the circuit at forest elbow and took about an hour to clear the cars where stuck up the top on skyline. I tell you what it all happens at Bathurst!

Alan East is a SSCC member and also had a 12hr team with his Mitsubishi Evo 9 GSR the team did very well with Wall, Wall & Symonds driving it. They did a total of 202 laps and best time of 2:31 which is seriously moving. They came 2nd behind Holt, Morris & Bowe and very impressive with Crompton, Seton & King coming in 3rd in there Evo 10.
Bathurst 12hr is definitely worth the trip up to experience I had the best time and couldn’t believe how much you got to see. You don’t get that close at the V8’s and it feels just the same. I learnt a lot with helping out the IPRA category and doing data entry and have been invited back to do it all again for 2011. I just hope I get to compete at the mighty mountain one day and see what its like from the other side of the fence.