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McLaren’s 650S GT3 has won the Bathurst 12hrs

650S debuts at the legendary race, wins on first attempt. Nissan GT-R second

  • America’s Super Bowl may have stolen much of the sporting real estate over the weekend (check out the best ads here), but over in Australia, there was another epic worthy of your attention. The Bathurst 12 Hours.

    And, on its debut at the race, McLaren’s 650S GT3 driven by Alvaro Parente, Shane Van Gisbergen and Jonathon Webb, took overall victory. It also started from pole position. And managed to set a new lap record of 2m 01.567s.

    McLaren entered four 650S GT3s, and at various points any one of them could have taken victory. The honour eventually landed in the lap of McLaren’s customer team Tekno Autosports, in what turned out to be one of the hardest fought battles in the race’s history.

    A measure of just how close came in the details: Nissan’s GT-R GT3 racer piloted by Katsumasa Chiyo, Rick Kelly and Florian Strauss finished in second place, a mere 1.276s behind that winning McLaren. This, don’t forget, after twelve hours of racing. Forget endurance, that’s sprint pace.

    Third place went to Bentley Motorsport with the Continental GT3. Guy Smith, Steven Kane and Matt Bell completed 297 laps of the 6.2km circuit – and even led for an hour – in the M-Sport Conti racer, marking the team’s first podium finish in just its second year of racing at Mount Panorama.

    We’ve rounded up a few pics from the weekend’s race, and included an on-board video of the GT3 GT-R going flat out around the circuit at the end. GT3 cars just look the business, don’t they?

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  • America’s Super Bowl may have stolen much of the sporting real estate over the weekend (check out the best ads here), but over in Australia, there was another epic worthy of your attention. The Bathurst 12 Hours.

    And, on its debut at the race, McLaren’s 650S GT3 driven by Alvaro Parente, Shane Van Gisbergen and Jonathon Webb, took overall victory. It also started from pole position. And managed to set a new lap record of 2m 01.567s.

    McLaren entered four 650S GT3s, and at various points any one of them could have taken victory. The honour eventually landed in the lap of McLaren’s customer team Tekno Autosports, in what turned out to be one of the hardest fought battles in the race’s history.

    A measure of just how close came in the details: Nissan’s GT-R GT3 racer piloted by Katsumasa Chiyo, Rick Kelly and Florian Strauss finished in second place, a mere 1.276s behind that winning McLaren. This, don’t forget, after twelve hours of racing. Forget endurance, that’s sprint pace.

    Third place went to Bentley Motorsport with the Continental GT3. Guy Smith, Steven Kane and Matt Bell completed 297 laps of the 6.2km circuit – and even led for an hour – in the M-Sport Conti racer, marking the team’s first podium finish in just its second year of racing at Mount Panorama.

    We’ve rounded up a few pics from the weekend’s race, and included an on-board video of the GT3 GT-R going flat out around the circuit at the end. GT3 cars just look the business, don’t they?

  • America’s Super Bowl may have stolen much of the sporting real estate over the weekend (check out the best ads here), but over in Australia, there was another epic worthy of your attention. The Bathurst 12 Hours.

    And, on its debut at the race, McLaren’s 650S GT3 driven by Alvaro Parente, Shane Van Gisbergen and Jonathon Webb, took overall victory. It also started from pole position. And managed to set a new lap record of 2m 01.567s.

    McLaren entered four 650S GT3s, and at various points any one of them could have taken victory. The honour eventually landed in the lap of McLaren’s customer team Tekno Autosports, in what turned out to be one of the hardest fought battles in the race’s history.

    A measure of just how close came in the details: Nissan’s GT-R GT3 racer piloted by Katsumasa Chiyo, Rick Kelly and Florian Strauss finished in second place, a mere 1.276s behind that winning McLaren. This, don’t forget, after twelve hours of racing. Forget endurance, that’s sprint pace.

    Third place went to Bentley Motorsport with the Continental GT3. Guy Smith, Steven Kane and Matt Bell completed 297 laps of the 6.2km circuit – and even led for an hour – in the M-Sport Conti racer, marking the team’s first podium finish in just its second year of racing at Mount Panorama.

    We’ve rounded up a few pics from the weekend’s race, and included an on-board video of the GT3 GT-R going flat out around the circuit at the end. GT3 cars just look the business, don’t they?

    Advertisement - Page continues below
  • America’s Super Bowl may have stolen much of the sporting real estate over the weekend (check out the best ads here), but over in Australia, there was another epic worthy of your attention. The Bathurst 12 Hours.

    And, on its debut at the race, McLaren’s 650S GT3 driven by Alvaro Parente, Shane Van Gisbergen and Jonathon Webb, took overall victory. It also started from pole position. And managed to set a new lap record of 2m 01.567s.

    McLaren entered four 650S GT3s, and at various points any one of them could have taken victory. The honour eventually landed in the lap of McLaren’s customer team Tekno Autosports, in what turned out to be one of the hardest fought battles in the race’s history.

    A measure of just how close came in the details: Nissan’s GT-R GT3 racer piloted by Katsumasa Chiyo, Rick Kelly and Florian Strauss finished in second place, a mere 1.276s behind that winning McLaren. This, don’t forget, after twelve hours of racing. Forget endurance, that’s sprint pace.

    Third place went to Bentley Motorsport with the Continental GT3. Guy Smith, Steven Kane and Matt Bell completed 297 laps of the 6.2km circuit – and even led for an hour – in the M-Sport Conti racer, marking the team’s first podium finish in just its second year of racing at Mount Panorama.

    We’ve rounded up a few pics from the weekend’s race, and included an on-board video of the GT3 GT-R going flat out around the circuit at the end. GT3 cars just look the business, don’t they?

  • America’s Super Bowl may have stolen much of the sporting real estate over the weekend (check out the best ads here), but over in Australia, there was another epic worthy of your attention. The Bathurst 12 Hours.

    And, on its debut at the race, McLaren’s 650S GT3 driven by Alvaro Parente, Shane Van Gisbergen and Jonathon Webb, took overall victory. It also started from pole position. And managed to set a new lap record of 2m 01.567s.

    McLaren entered four 650S GT3s, and at various points any one of them could have taken victory. The honour eventually landed in the lap of McLaren’s customer team Tekno Autosports, in what turned out to be one of the hardest fought battles in the race’s history.

    A measure of just how close came in the details: Nissan’s GT-R GT3 racer piloted by Katsumasa Chiyo, Rick Kelly and Florian Strauss finished in second place, a mere 1.276s behind that winning McLaren. This, don’t forget, after twelve hours of racing. Forget endurance, that’s sprint pace.

    Third place went to Bentley Motorsport with the Continental GT3. Guy Smith, Steven Kane and Matt Bell completed 297 laps of the 6.2km circuit – and even led for an hour – in the M-Sport Conti racer, marking the team’s first podium finish in just its second year of racing at Mount Panorama.

    We’ve rounded up a few pics from the weekend’s race, and included an on-board video of the GT3 GT-R going flat out around the circuit at the end. GT3 cars just look the business, don’t they?

  • America’s Super Bowl may have stolen much of the sporting real estate over the weekend (check out the best ads here), but over in Australia, there was another epic worthy of your attention. The Bathurst 12 Hours.

    And, on its debut at the race, McLaren’s 650S GT3 driven by Alvaro Parente, Shane Van Gisbergen and Jonathon Webb, took overall victory. It also started from pole position. And managed to set a new lap record of 2m 01.567s.

    McLaren entered four 650S GT3s, and at various points any one of them could have taken victory. The honour eventually landed in the lap of McLaren’s customer team Tekno Autosports, in what turned out to be one of the hardest fought battles in the race’s history.

    A measure of just how close came in the details: Nissan’s GT-R GT3 racer piloted by Katsumasa Chiyo, Rick Kelly and Florian Strauss finished in second place, a mere 1.276s behind that winning McLaren. This, don’t forget, after twelve hours of racing. Forget endurance, that’s sprint pace.

    Third place went to Bentley Motorsport with the Continental GT3. Guy Smith, Steven Kane and Matt Bell completed 297 laps of the 6.2km circuit – and even led for an hour – in the M-Sport Conti racer, marking the team’s first podium finish in just its second year of racing at Mount Panorama.

    We’ve rounded up a few pics from the weekend’s race, and included an on-board video of the GT3 GT-R going flat out around the circuit at the end. GT3 cars just look the business, don’t they?

  • America’s Super Bowl may have stolen much of the sporting real estate over the weekend (check out the best ads here), but over in Australia, there was another epic worthy of your attention. The Bathurst 12 Hours.

    And, on its debut at the race, McLaren’s 650S GT3 driven by Alvaro Parente, Shane Van Gisbergen and Jonathon Webb, took overall victory. It also started from pole position. And managed to set a new lap record of 2m 01.567s.

    McLaren entered four 650S GT3s, and at various points any one of them could have taken victory. The honour eventually landed in the lap of McLaren’s customer team Tekno Autosports, in what turned out to be one of the hardest fought battles in the race’s history.

    A measure of just how close came in the details: Nissan’s GT-R GT3 racer piloted by Katsumasa Chiyo, Rick Kelly and Florian Strauss finished in second place, a mere 1.276s behind that winning McLaren. This, don’t forget, after twelve hours of racing. Forget endurance, that’s sprint pace.

    Third place went to Bentley Motorsport with the Continental GT3. Guy Smith, Steven Kane and Matt Bell completed 297 laps of the 6.2km circuit – and even led for an hour – in the M-Sport Conti racer, marking the team’s first podium finish in just its second year of racing at Mount Panorama.

    We’ve rounded up a few pics from the weekend’s race, and included an on-board video of the GT3 GT-R going flat out around the circuit at the end. GT3 cars just look the business, don’t they?

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    Ride onboard as Rick Kelly takes you on a circuit tour in the GT3 GT-R...

     

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