The Boat Works will be supporting an outright favourite entry for February 3-5’s Bathurst 12 Hour when the owner of the leading Gold Coast marine business, Tony Longhurst rekindles relationships with BMW, Castrol and fellow Bathurst winners, Mark Skaife, Russell Ingall and Steven Richards.
Longhurst will join with six times Bathurst Champion Skaife (who he won the Great Race with in 2001) and fellow two time winner Ingall - combining 10 Bathurst wins in one car.
Richards - who has four Bathurst 1000 wins to his credit - will be preparing the cars under the BMW Team SRM banner and will spearhead the line-up of a second BMW M6 GT3.
Joining The Boat Works and Castrol in supporting the two car effort is international telecommunications giant, Vodafone.
For Gold Coast based Longhurst it is a return home in many respects to BMW and with Castrol - two brands that he has been heavily aligned with throughout his motorsport career:
“I started my career back in 1984 in a BMW with Jim Richards, and this will be my last time at The Mountain with Steve Richards. That’s pretty neat,” Longhurst reflected at today’s launch.
“And to do it with BMW, that’s very special for me.
“The best moments of my career have been in BMWs, but what a difference between the M6 GT3 and the 635 that I drove in 1984. It’s an amazing journey.
“It’s a 12 Hour race, and it’s going to be a full field. For the next four months, we have to plan to be very comfortable in the car and make no mistakes. Twelve hours around Mount Panorama is a huge ask.
“We’ve got a trick team. We’re very, very fortunate to have Mark and Russell on board, and Steve and this team. We’ve got the cream of the crop. We’ve got the right people around us, no egos, it’s nice and calm.”
The driving line-up gets Skaife and Ingall together for the first time. Whilst both are expert analysts on Fox Sports Supercars coverage, throughout their Supercars careers, the pair were arch rivals and created one of the most spectacular moments in Australian motorsport history - when the pair came together in 2003 at Eastern Creek, resulting in Skaife remonstrating with Ingall as he drove by.
“Who would have thought I’d have a teammate like Russell Ingall at some stage?” Skaife laughed.
“We won’t go there and not do a good job. You can’t go to a place like Bathurst and have the tiger by the tail, you have to go there and be able to drive the car properly. I wouldn’t do it if I couldn’t.
“It is a very exciting project. It is one of those things that came out of nowhere really.”
Ingall is just as excited.
“Who would have thought that myself and Mark Skaife would be pairing up together to do an endurance race? I would say nobody,” said Ingall in agreeance with Skaife. “When you look at someone like Tony Longhurst, who has been integral in putting this whole program together, along with the Bathurst wins between the three of us, this is people who know how to win Bathurst and are very passionate about racing.
“It’s going to be fantastic.
“Make no mistake, we are taking this seriously. We’re going there to try and win the race.
“I’m looking forward to getting to Bathurst and having a big swing at it.”
The Bathurst 12 Hour has quickly become one of the great GT3 Sports Car Endurance races around the world and will feature many of the world’s leading marques battling with The Boat Works backed BMW for 12 hours at the iconic 6.213 kilometre circuit.
A feast of Australian motor sports talent will combine in the Castrol-backed BMW at February’s Bathurst 12 Hour with a truly legendary line-up. Mark Skaife, Russell Ingall and Tony Longhurst will take on Mount Panorama and some of the world’s best drivers as part of a two-car M6 GT3....
watch the video release : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qYuIdsVECM&feature=youtu.be
