Bathurst. The Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 was unable to
finish the Bathurst 12 Hour (AUS), the opening round of the
Intercontinental GT Challenge. One week after their highly-acclaimed
class victory at the 24 Hours of Daytona (USA), drivers Augusto
Farfus (BRA), Chaz Mostert (AUS), and their team-mate Nick Catsburg
(NED) were struck by misfortune this time. An unfortunate collision
with a kangaroo initially required a long stop for repairs and
forced the team to retire from the race later.
The accident occurred roughly three hours into the race, shortly
after Catsburg had replaced start driver Mostert behind the wheel. The
animal jumped on the track right in front of the car. It was
impossible to avoid a collision. This forced the #34 BMW M6 GT3 into
the pits for lengthy repairs. By this point in the race, Mostert and
Catsburg had already fought their way into seventh place after
starting 15th.
Farfus climbed into the driver’s seat in 24th place after the
unscheduled stop, after which the team initially set about trying to
make up ground again and score valuable championship points.
Ultimately, however, they were forced to retire from the race with
temperature issues resulting from the incident.
The BMW M4 GT4, run by the RHC Jorgensen / Strom team, with drivers
Daren E. Jorgensen (USA), Brett Strom (USA) and Danny van Dongen
(NED), achieved a top result. The trio took victory in the GT4 class.
Quotes after the race in Bathurst.
Nick Königbauer, Team Manager Walkenhorst Motorsport:
“We are very disappointed, as this is now the third time in a row that
Bathurst has not proved to be our friend. We did make it further this
year than in the past two years, but unfortunately our hard work once
again went unrewarded. Thank you to the whole team for their effort,
and to our fantastic drivers. We fielded a very strong team here and
hope to come back stronger in the coming races. Generally we love to
race in Australia. Having hit a kangaroo so badly this time makes us
feel very sorry.”
Augusto Farfus: “On the whole, that was a difficult
weekend for us. We were not quite able to match the pace of the
front-runners. Despite that, we gave it our all until the very
unfortunate incident with the kangaroo cost us the race. I’d like to
say a big thank you to BMW Motorsport and the Walkenhorst team for the
great job they have done. The BMW M6 GT3 had no technical issues.
There are more big races to come for us.”
Nick Catsburg: “I feel very sorry for the team that
we were again unable to complete the Bathurst race in what was, after
2019, our second attempt together. Of course it is really sad to have
hit an animal so badly. After my collision with the kangaroo, the car
was so badly damaged that we were afraid of causing more damage if we
continued. We knew that we were slightly lacking the pace to run at
the very front of the field. However, at an endurance race, the top
priority is always to complete the full distance and get a good
result. It is a real shame that we were unable to do that.”
Chaz Mostert: “That was a tough race for our car and
the whole Walkenhorst team – from a sporting perspective as well as
because of the incident with the kangaroo. It just wasn’t meant to be.
Despite that, it is always a very special moment for me when I line up
in my home race in Bathurst, and particularly to drive the spectacular
first stint as the sun rises. Thank you very much to BMW Motorsport
and the Walkenhorst team for allowing me to be here, and for all the
hard work. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for the next race now.”