Leading cars withdrawn from Challenge Bathurst

Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes will begin their Bathurst 12 Hour preparations next year after being ruled out of this week’s test event at Mount Panorama.

The Triple Eight duo had been expected to join up with Maranello Motorsport for the Challenge Bathurst event to clock laps in the Ferrari 488 GT3 they will share with factory ace Toni Vilander at the February 3-5 endurance race.

However, given the proximity of Challenge Bathurst to next week’s Supercars Coates Hire Sydney 500 season finale, Lowndes and Whincup are unable to commit to the event.

As a result, Maranello Motorsport has withdrawn its entry from the James O’Brien promoted sprint meeting (November 24-27).

The team has instead locked in a two-day hit out at Phillip Island from January 16-17 for Lowndes and Whincup to learn the car.

Neither have driven the latest specification Ferrari although Lowndes has experience of its 458 GT3 predecessor which he drove to Bathurst 12 Hour glory in 2014 with Maranello Motorsport.

Whincup has scant GT3 experience having only driven an Audi R8 and McLaren 650 briefly with the 12 Hour set to be his first GT race.

“We might get another day other than that Phillip Island test but I think that is all they will need,” Maranello Motorsport boss Mark Coffey told Speedcafe.com.

“I’m not worried about Jamie getting up to speed. I think he will like car.

“If it is required we will do another test but two days should be fine.

“Not doing the (Challenge Bathurst) event fits in better with our rebuild schedule for the car.”

The withdrawal is the third high profile car set to miss the event joining the Walkinshaw Racing Porsche and the #100 Steven Richards Motorsport BMW M6 GT3.

Both cars sustained heavy damage in the final round of the Australian GT Championship at New Zealand’s Highlands Park.

The SRM BMW M6 was airfreighted back to Australia for a swift repair with the squad hopeful it will appear at a private test planned on Monday.

Meanwhile, the Walkinshaw Porsche will not return to the workshop until December 5, but will be repaired before Christmas.

The event will however see Erebus Motorsport debut a new Mercedes AMG GT3 for Mark Griffith.