The 2002 Bathurst 24 Hour was an endurance motor race staged at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. The race, which was the first 24-hour event to be held at Mount Panorama, started at 4:00pm on 16 November and finished at 4:00pm on 17 November. It was the first 24 Hour race to be held in Australia since the 1954 Mount Druitt 24 Hours Road Race.

Layout of the Mount Panorama Circuit

The race was open to several classes of GT and other production based cars and was intended as a showcase for the racing categories promoted by PROCAR, which included Nations Cup, GT Performance and GT Production. While there was much speculation about the highly popular V8 Brute Utes class also being eligible there was resistance to the idea and they ran short sprint races as a support category. Ten classes were announced, but only five classes attracted entries.

The race was won by Garth Tander, Steven Richards, Nathan Pretty and Cameron McConville driving a Holden Monaro.

Group structure edit

The race was open to entries in ten Groups.[1]

Group 1 edit

For FIA N-GT, British GTO, All Japan GT and Nations Cup (Group 1) cars.[1] It featured the Ferrari 360 N-GT, Mosler MT900R, Porsche 996 GT3-RS, Porsche 996 GT3 Cup and the controversial Holden Monaro 427C which did not have a production counterpart.

Group 2 edit

For Porsche Supercup cars.[1] No entries were received.

Group 3 edit

For Nations Cup (Group 2) cars and Super Touring Cars.[1] Only three BMWs entered, Super Touring versions of the 318i and 320i and a modified Z3 M Coupe.

Group 4 edit

For FIA Super 2000 cars.[1] No entries were received.

Group 5 edit

For Australian GT Performance Cars.[1] The entry consisted of BMW ME Coupe, Ford Tickford T3 TE50, HSV Y Series GTS, Mazda RX-7 Series 8, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, Nissan 200SX, Nissan 350Z and Subaru Impreza WRX STi.

Group 6 edit

For FIA Group N cars (3001cc and over).[1] No entries were received.

Group 7 edit

For FIA Group N cars (2500cc-3000cc).[1] No entries were received.

Group 8 edit

For FIA Super Production cars and New Zealand Schedule S cars.[1] No entries were received.

Group 9 edit

For Australian GT Production Cars.[1] The entry consisted of BMW 323i, Holden VX Commodore, Honda S2000 and Toyota MR2 Bathurst.

Group 10 edit

For Invited cars including Future Tourers and Mirage series cars.[1] Entries included Future Tourer Holden Commodores and a Holden V8 engined Mitsubishi Magna, a pair of Nürburgring VLN series BMW M3s and Mitsubishi Mirages.

Top 10 Qualifiers edit

The top 10 qualifiers for the 2002 Bathurst 24 Hour were as follows:[2]

Pos No Team Driver Car Qual
Pole 888   Prancing Horse Racing Scuderia   Brad Jones Ferrari 360 N-GT 2:15.0742
2 427   Garry Rogers Motorsport   Garth Tander Holden Monaro 427C 2:16.8792
3 24   Cirtek Motorsport   David Brabham Porsche 996 GT3-RS 2:19.5861
4 11   Rollcentre Racing   Martin Short Mosler MT900R 2:21.4492
5 52   Seikel Motorsport   Tony Burgess Porsche 996 GT3-RS 2:22.7314
6 6   AD Holdings   Peter Floyd Porsche 996 GT3-RS 2:23.8472
7 33   Pro-Duct Motorsport   Bob Pearson Mazda RX-7 Twin Turbo 2:28.4775
8 19   Bruce Miles   Bruce Miles BMW 320i 2:28.7187
9 40   Compuware   Terry Bosnjak Mitsubishi Magna 2:28.8974
10 15   Duller Motorsport   Ian Donaldson BMW M3 2:29.0311

* During the first qualifying session, the #999 PHR Scuderia Porsche 996 GT3-RS driven by Jim Richards set a time of 2:20.4364 which would have placed the car 4th on the grid. However, later during that same qualifying session, Peter Fitzgerald crashed on the top of the mountain which damaged the car beyond immediate repair. PHR were then forced to substitute team owner Maher Algadrie's Porsche 996 GT3 Cup car in the race. Due to having to substitute cars, the original lap time did not count and the GT3 Cup car eventually qualified in 14th place.

Official results edit

Results as follows[3]

Pos Group No Team Drivers Chassis Laps Qual
Pos
Engine
1 1 427   Garry Rogers Motorsport   Garth Tander
  Steven Richards
  Nathan Pretty
  Cameron McConville
Holden Monaro 427C 532 2
Chevrolet LS6 7.0L V8
2 1 11   Rollcentre Racing   Martin Short
  Mark Pashley
  Charles Lamb
  Dilantha Malagamuwa
Mosler MT900R 509 4
Chevrolet LS1 5.7L V8
3 10 16   Duller Motorsport   Howard Redhouse
  Peter Hannen
  Domenic Beninca
BMW M3 505 12
BMW M52 3.2L I6
4 10 15   Duller Motorsport   Ian Donaldson
  Robert Brooks
  Rob Wilson
  Andrew Donaldson
BMW M3 497 10
BMW M52 3.2L I6
5 3 35   Sterling Motorsport   VJ Angelo
  Ric Shaw
  Mathew Marsh
  Ross Buckingham
BMW M Coupe 496 16
BMW M54 3.2L I6
6 5 71   Peter Boylan   Peter Boylan
  Damien White
  Peter McKay
BMW M3 491 15
BMW M54 3.2L I6
7 5 23   Peters Racing   Brett Peters
  Gary Deane
  Robert Rubis
  John Falk
Subaru Impreza WRX STi 482 17
Subaru EJ 2.0L Turbo Flat-4
8 5 60   Protecnica Racing   Scott Anderson
  Wayne Boatwright
  Ross Almond
  Ross Halliday
Subaru Impreza WRX STi 475 23
Subaru EJ 2.0L Turbo Flat-4
9 5 17   Trevor Haines   Trevor Haines
  Mark King
  Trevor Sheumack
  James Phillip
Ford Tickford T3 TE50 474 24
Ford Windsor 5.6L V8
10 9 62   Scott Loadsman   Scott Loadsman
  Ian Luff
  Ray Lintott
  David Russell
Holden Commodore VX SS 463 34
Chevrolet LS1 5.7L V8
11 10 44   Mal Rose   Gary Young
  Gary Quartly
  Anthony Robson
Mitsubishi Mirage 459 30
Mitsubishi 1.5L I4
12 10 14   David Borg   David Borg
  Allan Shepherd
  Jack Elsegood
Mitsubishi Mirage 457 31
Mitsubishi 1.5L I4
13 9 26   Novocastrian Motorsport   Wayne Moore
  Roger Townshend
  Klark Quinn
  Tony Blanche
BMW 323i 455 35
BMW M52 2.5L I4
14 9 29   Ross Palmer Motorsport   Peter Hansen
  Hermann Tilke
  Melinda Price
Honda S2000 451 32
Honda F20C 2.0L I4
15 1 99   Prancing Horse Racing Scuderia   Jim Richards
  Matt Weiland
  Maher Algadrie
  Peter Fitzgerald
Porsche 996 GT3 R 451 14
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
16 5 200   Haysom Motorsport   Greg Haysom
  Craig Dean
  Paul Stubber
  Chris Smith
Nissan 200SX Spec-R 448 33
Nissan SR20DET 2.0L Turbo I4
17 10 32   Steve Williams   Steve Williams
  Graham Moore
  Mike Kilpatrick
Holden Commodore VX 438 13
Holden 5.0L V8
18 5 220   Haysom Motorsport   Tony Quinn
  Tony Alford
  John Grounds
  Grant Denyer
Nissan 200SX Spec-R 426 27
Nissan SR engine 2.0L Turbo I4
19 10 28   Mal Rose   Mal Rose
  Peter Leemhuis
  Shane Brangwin
Mitsubishi Mirage 425 29
Mitsubishi 1.5L I4
20 5 45   Allan Walls   Allan Walls
  Dennis Cribbin
  Roland Hill
HSV GTS 300kW 424 20
Chevrolet LS1 5.7L V8
21 5 222   Haysom Motorsport   Ray Ayton
  Rodney Woods
  Hugh Harrison
  Michael Robinson
Nissan 200SX Spec-R 424 28
Nissan SR engine 2.0L Turbo I4
22 10 40   Palmer Promotions   Terry Bosnjak
  Warren Luff
  Ian Palmer
  Ray Sidebottom
Mitsubishi Magna 420 9
Holden 5.0L V8
23 5 33   Pro-Duct Motorsport   Bob Pearson
  Mark Brame
  Bruce Stewart
  Peter Roma
Mazda RX-7 Twin Turbo 364 7
Mazda 13B-REW 1.3L Rotary
24 9 13   Osborne Motorsport   Colin Osborne
  John Roecken
  Ron Masing
Toyota MR2 Bathurst 324 36
Toyota 3S-GE 2.0L I4
25 9 31   Osborne Motorsport   Trevor Keene
  Scott Fleming
  Andrew Leithhead
Toyota MR2 Bathurst 196 37
Toyota S engine 2.0L I4
DNF 1 24   Cirtek Motorsport   David Brabham
  Manfred Jurasz
  Allan Grice
  Darren Palmer
Porsche 996 GT3-RS 488 3
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
DNF 5 77   Nathan Pilkington   Nathan Pilkington
  Ian Mitchell
  Mark Williamson
  Elton Goonan
Nissan 350Z 436 25
Nissan VQ35DE 3.5L V6
DNF 5 9   Anton Mechtler   Anton Mechtler
  Wayne Park
  Kevin Bell
  Bob Hughes
Mitsubishi Lancer RS-E Evo VII 387 26
Mitsubishi 4G63 2.0L Turbo I4
DNF 5 27   Novocastrian Motorsport   Wayne Russell
  Steve Cramp
  Garry Holt
  Darren Edwards
BMW M Coupe 384 21
BMW M54 3.2L I6
DNF 10 41   Geoffrey Parker   Geoff Parker
  Jeff Watters
  David Sala
  Peter Gazzard
Holden Commodore VY 348 11
Holden 5.0L V8
DNF 3 19   Bruce Miles   Bruce Miles
  Murray Cleland
  Gary Geeves
BMW 320i 263 8
BMW S14 2.0L I4
DNF 5 5   Graham Alexander   Graham Alexander
  John Woodberry
  Barry Morcom
Mitsubishi Lancer RS-E Evo VII 230 19
Mitsubishi Sirius engine 2.0L Turbo I4
DNF 1 6   AD Holdings   Peter Floyd
  Chris Maries
  Rod Wilson
  Gary MacDonald
Porsche 996 GT3-RS 195 6
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
DNF 3 22   DCH Motorsport   Dennis Chapman
  Debbie Chapman
  Lindsay O'Donnell
  Scott O'Donnell
BMW 318i 126 22
BMW S14 2.0L I4
DNF 1 888   Prancing Horse Racing Scuderia   John Bowe
  Brad Jones
  Paul Morris
  John Teulan
Ferrari 360 N-GT 96 1
Ferrari 3.6L V8
DNF 1 52   Seikel Motorsport   Tony Burgess
  Andrew Bagnall
  John Lloyd
  Jürgen Alzen
Porsche 996 GT3-RS 58 5
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
DNS 1 999   Prancing Horse Racing Scuderia   Jim Richards
  Matt Weiland
  Maher Algadrie
  Peter Fitzgerald
Porsche 996 GT3-RS 4*
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6

* #999 PHR Scuderia Porsche 996 GT3-RS had set 4th fastest qualifying time. However, due to a practice crash the car was withdrawn and replaced by the teams 996 GT3 Cup car. As the RS was withdrawn the original time was not counted for grid position.

References edit

Statistics edit

  • Pole Position - #888 Brad Jones - 2:15.0742
  • Fastest Lap - #427 Garth Tander - 2:14.3267 (lap 359)
  • Average Speed - 138 km/h

External links edit