Race winning pass ‘on the edge’ of fair
The pass that sealed the Bathurst 12 Hour victory for Porsche was “on the edge” of fair, according to former GP3 driver Jake Dennis.
The Brit had been leading the race in the #62 Aston Martin with a little over 10 minutes to go, only to be run down by a hard-charging Matt Campbell on fresher tyres due to a late safety car.
The race-defining move came at Forrest’s Elbow as Campbell surprised Dennis by nosing up the inside and running the Vantage wide to get the advantage down Conrod Straight.
The #912 EBM Porsche that Campbell shared with Dirk Werner and Dennis Olsen also survived a post-race investigation after Campbell made contact with Chaz Mostert’s BMW M6 GT3 in the final stint.
“I’ve had my fair share of contact over the years, trying to get passed people and stuff,” said Dennis.
“It was on the edge, it really was. We squeezed each other quite hard. If the contact wasn’t made, he wouldn’t have got by.
“It was a shame to lose it like that but I can’t do anything about it.”
In qualifying Dennis had the Allan Simonsen Trophy for pole position taken away after a technical breach rendered his shootout lap illegal. He already had a two-place grid penalty for speeding in the pitlane.
Three-time British Touring Car champions Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden were unable to even take part in the event after the Audi R8 LMS they were sharing with Pete Storey was damaged at The Chase during practice.