As the endurance part of the weekend ticked over to the second hour, Maranello Motorsport had already felt the adrenalin of bated breath as Salo brushed the wall on the climb up the mountain, with Peter Edwards taking the hot seat, before handing over to Bathurst master Bowe, but sadly it would be an all-too-soon end to the weekend for the strong Ferrari team.
Upsetting the plans of the newly camouflaged entry, a spin into Hell Corner early in Edwards stint had the #88 Il Bello Rosso Ferrari sideways after a move up the inside went wrong, the leading car passing the stranded Ferrari to put Edwards a lap down in 12th position.
As the third safety car was called on lap 39 and the pit stops commenced, Edwards was elevated to tenth before Allan Simonsen took control, putting the #88 into the low 2:08 time bracket. The run over the brow of Mountain Straight had Simonsen pulling away from the pack and into eighth after a pass on the Huff Audi in the lead-up to Skyline. Soon closing in on the next victims while charging through traffic, it wasnt long until the Il Bello Rosso entry was right on the bumper of the next challenger, now circulating in the 2:07s as the race reached lap 50.
The hunt for the leading Mercedes continued as the #14 Audi and Simonsen pushed to regain that lost lap and join the lead lap classifications. In a bold move, Huff and Simonsen pushed their entries through under the Hackett Mercedes on the run down Conrod Straight before going side by side until the #88 Ferrari took seventh and had the leading Mercedes in sight.
Proven to be strong last year, the Ferraris were looking strong across the top of Mount Panorama, with the exotic entries looking well matched in top speed and performance on the long straights. Simonsen had a look under the leader through Reid Park, unwilling to take the chance as the pair started the run down the mountain. Into the pit lane for fuel and now removed from the pressure of the battle, with Simonsen remaining at the wheel in fifth as another safety car session unfolded.
Dropping to eighth, Simonsen brought the ll Bello Rosso racer once again to the pits, suspecting a puncture but was cleared to return to racing, however, the #88 would be back to the lane just one lap later, the crew directing the entry straight into the team garage with right front suspension failure. On track, it was again under yellow but as the time ticked by and the track returned to green, the Maranello Motorsport crew continued to work tirelessly to fix the eye-catching entry and return to the race.
John Bowe took over the drive, waiting in the cockpit minute after minute as the team made the final adjustments, giving the all clear for Bowe to start the engine on lap 94. The Il Bello Rosso Ferrari was back out in 35th position, 16 laps down from the leaders, but still racing and Bowe was out to regain those places. Guiding his way through the traffic, Bowe took the #88 to 28th by lap 120, only to have contact with a slower vehicle across the top of the mountain, sending the Ferrari into a spin, the rear heavily tagging the wall at 180-200km/h and leaving Bowe stranded on the circuit at Skyline, the Maranello Motorsport officially retired from the 2013 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour event.
Another challenging weekend for Australias premier Ferrari racing outfit may have come to an early close, but for the team, it was a weekend to learn and develop, with star drivers including Mika Salo and John Bowe, invaluable track time for Edwards, and yet another endurance event box ticked for Simonsen, the team may be leaving with a bent Ferrari 458 GT3, but they will also leave Mount Panorama with great pride in their commitment and strong performance, looking to make it a strong year in the Australian GT Championship presented by Pirelli, and ready to make 2014 the third time lucky at the mountain.
John BoweThe stint had been going really well with gaining back lost positions and the car felt good, but then I followed a medium paced car through over the top of the mountain and a damaged car is whats resulted so, honestly, its tough out there with so many varying standards of driving on a demanding track, and weve seen it bite so many times today.The car was really good. We chose to double stint the tyres, changed the pressures when I stopped for fuel, ad thought we had a good chance to make some real progress up the field over the second half of the day, but both incidents havent been on the car or team and thats something to walk away positively with.
Its (Maranello Motorsport) a great team and Ive driven with them many times. Mikas a terrific driver and its a strong team unit, its just disappointing, and I know motor sport is full of disappointments, Ive had plenty, but we honestly deserved a better finish.The thing about Bathurst is its unforgiving. I first raced here in 1985, and Ive been racing at this event since it started. Theres been great moments, theres been disappointing moments. Maranello Motorsport is a group of nice people, theyre friends, and being part of all this is awesome.You always leave Bathurst with a tale, its truly an emotional rollercoaster. Having had AF Corse in the next garage and our crew working with theirs whove come all the way from Italy to be here, its a testament to the race becoming a significant endurance event on the world stage.
Maranello Motorsports 2013 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour campaign is proudly supported by Il Bello Rosso Baby Roma Tomatoes, IVECO Trucks, Adtrans Truck Centre, General Pants Co and GPI Corporate, and is proudly in support of the Australian Defence Force.*ends*
