Audi takes one-two in Bathurst 12 Hour

Team Joest has produced a commanding one-two finish for Audi in the 2011 Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour.

Imports Darryl O’Young, Marc Basseng and Christopher Mies led home the local team of Craig Lowndes, Warren Luff and Mark Eddy after 292 laps of racing.

The race was decided in the final hour when Lowndes was called in for his 12^th compulsory pitstop. While the #7 entry had already completed 12 stops, one of those could not be counted as a CPS, having been completed within 10 laps of a prior stop.

The race had earlier appeared to swing in Lowndes’s favour when he passed O’Young at pit exit at the end of Hour 11.

A late ‘splash-and-dash’ pitstop for O’Young allowed Lowndes to close up on car #8, with the final winning margin recorded at less than a second.

The VIP Petfoods Porsche GT3 R of Tony Quinn/Klark Quinn/Craig Baird rounded out the podium in third place, one lap behind the Audis.

The David Wall/Greg Crick/Barton Mawer Porsche GT3 Cup S was fourth – the first of the 2009-spec GT3 cars home.

Fifth outright for the Roger Lago/Matt Kingsley/David Russell Porsche GT3 Cup entry was enough to give the trio the Class B victory.

Winners of Class C were Beric Lynton, Mathew Mackeldon and John Modystach in Lynton’s aging BMW M3 – finishing 11th outright despite suffering two punctures during the race.

The Peter Conroy/Anthony Robson/Mark Brame Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X took out Class D with ninth outright, while Class E went to the BMW 130i of Barry Thomlinson/Geoff Fontaine/Richard Gartner.

See below for the full results