CAMS stewards have declared Tony Quinn's Porsche GT3-R legal to race in Sunday's Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour following a prolonged debate over its eligibility.
The car's 2013 specification upgrade – consisting mainly of a more aggressive aerodynamic kit – has proven a contentious issue since teams arrived at Bathurst mid-week, leading to a joint protest from the Melbourne Performance Centre Audi and Erebus Mercedes teams.
While the VIP Petfoods outfit received approval from Bathurst 12 Hour organisers last month to run in 2013 specification, a formal request was never put to CAMS, meaning the model was never officially added to the eligible vehicles list.
A CAMS Stewards' report confirming the car's approval to race was issued following a lengthy hearing at the circuit this evening.
Read the report in part: “We consider that, if requested, CAMS, in all probability would have approved the request and therefore the vehicle would have been added to the eligibility list as allowed for under Supplementary Regulation Appendix 1 “Notes for classes A,B & C” item 4. which states “Vehicles not on the Eligibility List will be considered upon application and be subject to approval by the Event Organiser and CAMS. Any vehicle accepted and approved may be subject to balance of performance measures”.
“We therefore add the vehicle as described to the Class A eligibility list and find the change not proven.”
Teams will be able to appeal the decision at any time until the race gets underway at 0700.
The Tony Quinn/Klark Quinn/Shane van Gisbergen driven Porsche is set to start the race from eighth place, although Tony will complete the first 50 minutes in his Aston Martin in order to score Australian GT Championship points.
UPDATE: The decision of the CAMS Stewards has been appealed ahead of the race start, leaving the car to race under a cloud.
See below for the full starting line-up
1 | 63 | Erebus Motorsport | Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 | A | 2:06.2730 | |
2 | 88 | Il Bello Rosso | Ferrari F458 GT3 | A | 2:06.4839 | 0:00.2109 |
3 | 33 | Clearwater Racing | Ferrari F458 GT3 | A | 2:06.8857 | 0:00.6127 |
4 | 11 | JBS Swift | Lamborghini GT3 LP56 | A | 2:06.9615 | 0:00.6885 |
5 | 9 | Network Clothing / Hallmarc | Audi R8 LMS Ultra GT | A | 2:06.9835 | 0:00.7105 |
6 | 36 | Erebus Motorsport | Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 | A | 2:07.2389 | 0:00.9659 |
7 | 1 | Phoenix Racing | Audi R8 LMS Ultra GT | A | 2:07.5672 | 0:01.2942 |
8 | 5 | VIP Petfoods | Porsche 911 GT3 R | A | 2:07.6015 | 0:01.3285 |
9 | 48 | GB Galvanizing | Lamborghini GT3 LP56 | A | 2:07.6838 | 0:01.4108 |
10 | 58 | AF Corse SRL | Ferrari F458 GT3 | A | 2:07.9320 | 0:01.6590 |
11 | 29 | Trofeo Motorsport / Pirelli | Chevrolet Corvette Z | A | 2:08.6714 | 0:02.3984 |
12 | 6 | Skwirk / Oneworld Bar | Audi R8 LMS Ultra GT | A | 2:08.7569 | 0:02.4839 |
13 | 71 | Equity-One Mortgage Fund | Audi R8 LMS Ultra GT | A | 2:08.8931 | 0:02.6201 |
14 | 23 | United Autosports | Audi R8 LMS Ultra GT | A | 2:08.9790 | 0:02.7060 |
15 | 14 | Peter Conroy Motorsport | Audi R8 LMS GT | A | 2:09.8581 | 0:03.5851 |
16 | 77 | VIP Petfoods | Aston Martin | GT | 2:10.6374 | 0:04.3644 |
17 | 81 | DragonSpeed | Audi R8 LMS Ultra GT | A | 2:11.0050 | 0:04.7320 |
18 | 12 | ASM/BRM Motorsports | Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | B | 2:11.7360 | 0:05.4630 |
19 | 51 | IMAK / KWIKMIT | Mosler MT900 GT3 | A | 2:13.1292 | 0:06.8562 |
20 | 16 | Liqui Moly | BMW Z4 GT3 | A | 2:13.9285 | 0:07.6555 |
21 | 30 | Hunter Sports Group | Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | B | 2:13.9314 | 0:07.6584 |
22 | 4 | Grove Group | Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | B | 2:14.2955 | 0:08.0225 |
23 | 44 | Mal Rose Racing | Holden VY Commodore | I3 | 2:15.8420 | 0:09.5690 |
24 | 65 | Daytona Sports Cars Pty Ltd | Daytona Coupe | I3 | 2:16.2340 | 0:09.9610 |
25 | 45 | Rentcorp Forklifts | Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | B | 2:16.6129 | 0:10.3399 |
26 | 10 | Simply Sports Cars | Lotus Exige | C | 2:21.6981 | 0:15.4251 |
27 | 8 | We Are Legend | Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | B | 2:22.0879 | 0:15.8149 |
28 | 54 | Donut King | Nissan R35 GTR | C | 2:22.6052 | 0:16.3322 |
29 | 69 | Motorsport Services | Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | B | 2:22.6187 | 0:16.3457 |
30 | 67 | Motorsport Services | Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | B | 2:24.0454 | 0:17.7724 |
31 | 76 | Aston Martin St. Gallen | Aston Martin Vantage | C | 2:25.0950 | 0:18.8220 |
32 | 35 | Sennheiser/ Ric Shaw Racing | Mazda RX-7 | I2 | 2:25.9253 | 0:19.6523 |
33 | 20 | Team Peugeot RCZ | Peugeot RCZ Cup | I1 | 2:26.5056 | 0:20.2326 |
34 | 55 | Motorsport Services | Seat Leon Supercopa | I2 | 2:26.6948 | 0:20.4218 |
35 | 56 | Motorsport Services | Seat Leon Supercopa | I2 | 2:27.0011 | 0:20.7281 |
36 | 21 | Team Peugeot RCZ | Peugeot RCZ Cup | I1 | 2:27.6536 | 0:21.3806 |
37 | 40 | Motor School | Porsche 996 GT3 Cup | GT | 2:27.6843 | 0:21.4113 |
38 | 62 | nurburgring.com.au | Lotus Exige S | C | 2:27.7740 | 0:21.5010 |
39 | 2 | Racer Industries | Holden Astra HSV VXR | I2 | 2:27.8507 | 0:21.5777 |
40 | 60 | 1Cover Motionsport | Lotus Elise | I1 | 2:28.0710 | 0:21.7980 |
41 | 68 | Motorsport Services | Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | B | 2:28.2472 | 0:21.9742 |
42 | 19 | Sherrin Rentals | BMW 135i | D | 2:28.4451 | 0:22.1721 |
43 | 7 | Maximum Motorsport | Subaru Impreza WRX S | D | 2:29.0967 | 0:22.8237 |
44 | 73 | ES Australia | Ginetta G50 G4 | GT | 2:30.9941 | 0:24.7211 |
45 | 13 | Bruce Lynton BMW | BMW E46 | I3 | 2:31.4765 | 0:25.2035 |
46 | 22 | Cootes Transport | Ford FPV GT | D | 2:33.3710 | 0:27.0980 |
47 | 3 | Racer Industries | Holden Astra HSV VXR | E | 2:38.9062 | 0:32.6332 |
48 | 27 | The Shire Conveyancer | BMW 130i | E | 2:40.6276 | 0:34.3546 |
49 | 70 | Motorsport Services | Seat Leon Supercopa | I2 | 2:40.6653 | 0:34.3923 |
50 | 26 | GWS Personnel | BMW 130i | E | 2:41.5339 | 0:35.2609 |
51 | 17 | Showershop (NZ) | Subaru Impreza WRX S | I2 | 2:43.9006 | 0:37.6276 |
52 | 24 | GWS Personnel | BMW 335i | D | 5:06.7677 | 3:00.4947 |