Last weekend’s Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour finished in typically thrilling and nailbiting style, with the Tekno Autosports McLaren of Shane van Gisbergen, Jonathan Webb and Portugese driver Alvaro Parente emerging victorious after a record 1845km of racing.
Tekno Autosports, who are proud partners of Sydney Motorsport Park and the ARDC as our official Safety Car supplier, has danced around a Bathurst race victory for several years; the infamous circuit forcing more bad luck than good on the team during their V8 Supercars racing in years past.
This year, the luck was on their side for the debut of the team’s new McLaren 650S GT3; despite 13 pit lane stops, a drive-through penalty during the final stint, and a scary mechanical hiccup that forced Parente to stop and re-set the car on the main straight before resuming the race.
The team beat home the 2015 defending champions Katsumasa Chiyo, Rick Kelly and Florian Strauss in their Nissan GT-R, with Bentley Team M-Sport’s Matt Bell, Steven Kane and Guy Smith came home third.
Only 20 contenders from 37 finished the mammoth race, which saw a record 297 laps completed after the flag fall at 12 hours, with 29 lead changes – another record.
Van Gisbergen also recorded a new outright lap record of the Bathurst circuit with a 2m01.567s, and the team also took pole position and claimed the fastest race lap.
The ARDC congratulates the drivers and team of Tekno Autosports – well done to all!