ENDURO RACING AIN’T EASY

For those who have never seen the hard graft of endurance racing in the flesh, let us tell you that, for even the most-seasoned of drivers, it’s not a walk in the park. Shane Van Gisbergen (SVG) and his Team Triple Eight showed us exactly why it can be so tough at the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour in the No. 888 Mercedes-AMG GT3, over 1–3 February.

The team had been fighting a braking issue all weekend; SVG was involved with an “unavoidable” crash during practice; and, during the main event, co-driver Craig Lowndes reported that the helmet fan had stopped. Rising temperatures and the need for two-foot braking, combined with a hard push from seventh back to fourth, saw SVG collapse on the ground following his solid final stint to end the race.

“We obviously have been struggling with the car all week, and then Craig [Lowndes] reported that the helmet fan stopped, and then Jamie [Whincup] in his stint just kept going on about how hot it was,” says Shane. “As soon as I crossed the line, you just obviously give up and just the pain set in and how hot — you just realize how hot you were … I just started cramping. Just the brake pressure, just the cramp in my legs. I’ve never, ever driven a car where the brakes are that bad. So it was tough,” he said.

Porsche-backed Kiwi operation Earl Bamber Motorsport took top honours in the team’s No. 912 Porsche 911 GT3 R, with Matt Campbell (Australia), Dirk Werner (Germany), and Dennis Olsen (Norway) behind the wheel. SVG and the Triple Eight crew missed out on a podium finish by just 0.2 seconds.