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The 2018 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour class-winning BMW M4 GT4 of Tony Longhurst is set to join the 2023 Monochrome GT4 Australia Championship field.
The Class C winning BMW M4 GT4 steered by the two-time Bathurst 1000 winner, as well as Matthew Brabham and Aaron Seton is set to join the category in the hands of production car driver Steve Jukes.
“I think the GT4 class is incredible, so I thought it would be good to let it go to a good home and it might help get the GT4 Championship up and going,” Longhurst told Speedcafe.com.
“The car is strong and reliable, in the race we kept our noses clean and got a good result.
“It’s a great car easy to drive, very rewarding and is probably one of the nicest race cars have ever driven.
“Since the race, it’s been in air-conditioned comfort, it’s as it’s since it finished the race, it’s a very low mileage race car.”
The deal came about after Jukes discussed entering the category with his Australian Production Cars co-driver and GT4 Australia Championship co-owner Karl Begg.
“Discussions about entering the category came up last year, when I was co-driving with Karl Begg in the Australian Production Cars in his M4 that he will be running in the Bathurst 6 Hour,” Jukes told Speedcafe.com.
“We were talking about the future of Australian motorsport and the potential opportunities that GT4 creates for amateur drivers to sort of come through and the pathways that might create given it’s an international category and it’s backed by about 12 manufacturers or so.
“After seeing a potential gap in the motorsports scene here to consolidate that, it certainly increased my interest in the category.
“I think the concept of Karl and the team working with ARG to me made a lot of sense and the combination of GT4 and APC this year should hopefully yield some great racing.”
Through a known contact, Jukes acquired the car from Longhurst, after the car was displayed in race-winning condition in the latter’s car and bike display at Garage 25 on the Gold Coast.
“I think the car’s got a great history, albeit it only really ran one race and won that race,” Jukes added.
“The car has only done a couple of test days, plus the 12 hour itself and up until a week or so ago it had been on display at Tony’s Garage 25 at The Boat Works.
“I would like to thank Tony for putting the car for sale and being so great through that sale process.”
The 2016 Improved Production Queensland Championship Over 2 Litre runner-up first drove the BMW M4 at the inaugural test day for the GT4 Australia Championship category at Queensland Raceway.
“I think for me, knowing BMWs and having raced an M4, there was a high degree of comfort with what I’d be starting with,” Jukes remarked.
“It feels very comfortable, very predictable, it was smooth, compliant and feels great.
“I can’t wait to get stuck into the season.”
The 2023 Monochrome GT4 Australia Championship season will commence at the Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour on April 7-9.
Stan Sport’s live, ad-free, and on-demand coverage of the Bathurst 6 Hour event commences on Saturday, April 8 at 12:00 local time/AEST, before continuing on Sunday, April 9 at 09:00 local time/AEST.
