It was a weekend that will be remembered for the final stages of drama and entertaining action, as the 2019 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour proved itself as one of the best in recent times.
In Sunday’s main event, Matt Campbell won the hearts of the motor sport world with his heroic final laps sealing German manufacturer Porsche’s first victory at the international endurance race.
While the Queenslander’s memorable eight laps were the unanimous highlight of the weekend, the event also offered a plenty of other memorable moments and results throughout the four-days in the support categories.
THE MAIN EVENT CLASS WINNERS
In the main event’s other classes, a sensational performance from The Spirit of Race's Ferrari 488 GT3 saw Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy and Mathias Lauda finish ninth outright and the PA class winners.
Fresh from their International GT charge last year, Brenton and Stephen Grove were back to winning ways, the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup pilots claiming the B class alongside British driver Benjamin Barker.
In what was an all Australian affair in Class I and C as Adam Hargraves, Daniel Jilesen and Steve Owen took out the former in their Marc II V8, while the latter was won by M Motorsport, with Justin McMillan, Glen Wood Dean Lillie and Elliott Barbour all getting behind the wheel throughout the 12-hour event.
THE RADICALS
In the first race of the Radical Australia Cup, safety car interventions and a host of penalties handed to drivers saw former rookies of the year Brad and Mitchell Neilson claim victory in their first appearance on the iconic circuit.
In the second race, it was no surprise to see category legend, Peter Paddon return to the podium’s top step, claiming an emphatic victory over CAMS PAYCE Australian F4 Championship graduate Aaron Love and eventual third placed Neale Muston.
While Paddon’s return to the winners’ circle was a highlight of the weekend, it was local star Brad Shiels who’s name was etched in the history book, breaking the official Radical SR3 lap record at Mount Panorama Circuit by seven tenths of a second.
THE SPORTS SEDANS
More than 50 cars across four categories were entered into the Skye Sands Combined Sedans as Queenslander Geoffrey Taunton dominated the category to win all three categories and the outright round.
Taunton also managed to secure the Spaceframe Sports Sedan class ahead of Tony Groves, who was in his own battle for outright second place against eventual TA2 class winner and George Miedeck.
In the field’s biggest class of 28 cars, the Chassis class, Andrew Butcher claimed a thrilling victory over John Ford despite not winning one race as Butcher’s consistency was enough to secure the round by one sole point.
It was the same fate in the V8 Touring Car class, David Murphy’s opening race retirement allowed Stephen Coe to take out the round, despite not claiming a race win.
THE CLASSICS
Despite there being no shortage of talent and action in the Group S Classic Sports Cars, it was the Chevrolet Corvette S driven by Victorian Paul Blackie who came away as the round winner, claiming wins in all three races.
Finishing behind Blackie in every race was New South Welshmen Geoffrey Morgan in his Porsche 911 Carrera, while a fellow Carrera pilot in Stan Adler rounded out the podium.
While the Porsches occupied a lot of the podium, other memorable cars took part in the races including a variety of Austin Healeys, Datsuns, De Tomaso Pantersa and Shelby GT 350s.
FORMULA FORDS
It was a case of final lap heartbreak for Jayden Ojeda, who was in the hunt for an outright victory in his debut round, before hitting the wall and ending his chances.
Ojeda finished third in the opening race and runner-up in the second race before finding himself in a tight battle against Thomas Hamlett in the final race, when disaster struck, he hit the wall on one of the final turns and broke his suspension.
Capatalising on Ojeda’s shock exit was eventual round winner Joshua Buchan, who finished the race in second, backing up his earlier two race victories.
Click here to view results full results from the weekend.