THE ARMOR ALL BATHURST 12 HOUR will once again support a great cause after today announcing the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia as the official charity for 2011.

The February 4-6 event will see competitors from around the world racing to support the charity that funds research into the cause, diagnosis, prevention and treatment of prostate cancer.

“We are very excited to again be involved with Yeehah Events and the Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour,” said Wendy Farrow, the New South Wales State Manager of the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

“The event is a great opportunity for us to raise awareness of prostate cancer, in particular the need for men to talk to their doctor about what they should be doing.

“We urge all men over 50, and men over 40 if they have a family history of prostate cancer, to talk to their doctor about a prostate cancer test.

“Men are good at putting their car in for a service but they just need to remember to check in with the doctor as well.

“We encourage people to check out our website, www.prostate.org.au, for more information.”

Last year the event, in conjunction with the Bathurst Regional Council, created a Guinness world record by laying more than 6,500 ties around the length of the 6.213km Mount Panorama circuit to raise awareness for the foundation.

Event Director James O’Brien said the Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour was pleased to once again be supporting this important cause.

“The Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour represents a fantastic platform to promote the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and we are pleased to support them once again,” he said.

“We are looking forward to promoting their message to the thousands of drivers, officials and fans who will be at the circuit for the Event, and the many more who will be tuning in online and via our ONE HD television coverage following the race.”

Vehicles from the Australian GT Championship will join with vehicles from the Australian Production Car Championship totalling 31 manufacturers eligible to compete in the around-the-clock Enduro at Mount Panorama on 4 to 6 February 2011.

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RACE FANS attending the 2011 Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour endurance race will once again have the rare opportunity to experience a thrilling hot lap of the world-renowned Mount Panorama circuit.

Former V8 Supercar endurance specialist and Bathurst 24-hour winner Nathan Pretty will again be offering rides as part of his ‘Pretty Roar V8 Experience’, a unique opportunity for fans to tackle the mountain at speed in a V8 Commodore ride car.

The ‘Pretty Roar’ V8 Experience cars – that seat three people – are powered by 6.0 litre LS2 V8 engines, topped with a PWR Supercharger, producing a V8 Supercar-like 450kW and 650Nm of torque.

Several hundred people have experienced the ride of their life in the Pretty Roar V8 cars at Bathurst, with Nathan Pretty suggesting each and every one of them came away from the experience grinning.

“In the years of offering rides at Bathurst we have never had anyone get out of the car and say it was ‘OK’! They are usually either speechless or can’t stop talking about it. It’s great fun to see their reaction!” Pretty said.

“We always love coming to Mount Panorama for the Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour, it’s a rare opportunity to get laps there 60km/hr, let alone at racing speeds.

“The chance to experience a hot lap of Mount Panorama in the passenger seat of a V8 Commodore is a once in a lifetime kind of thing – and we get a pretty big buzz out of it as well!”

The Pretty Roar V8 Experience will run one day only over the weekend from 11am, Saturday, 5th February 2011 and costs $400, which includes Corporate Hospitality tickets to the 12 Hour Club, a certificate and commemorative photo, entry to the circuit and corporate suite for Saturday, 5 February 2011. More information can be found on the event website.

The 2011 Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour is set to be the best yet following confirmation of the Event’s date and a broader vehicle eligibility list.

Vehicles from the Australian GT Championship will join with vehicles from the Australian Production Car Championship totalling 31 manufacturers eligible to compete in the around-the-clock Enduro at Mount Panorama on 4 to 6 February 2011.

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BATHURST REGIONAL COUNCILLOR WARREN AUBIN has hailed a promotional trip to Malaysia as a massive step forward in growing the Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour endurance race next year.

Cr Aubin and Event Director James O’Brien made the trip to the annual Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race (MMER) at Sepang last weekend as a marketing initiative to drive overseas interest in the Bathurst race.

The two events now share similar rules packages following the addition of GT vehicles to the eligibility list for the 2011 Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour.

The trip literally paid off as one team signed up to enter the race on the spot, whilst several others expressed serious intent to race and are likely to commit when entries officially open on September 1.

Team Porsche Club Singapore owner Mok Weng Sun was the first to put pen to paper, confirming that he would bring a Porsche 911 GT3 R to Bathurst next year.

At Sepang the PCS outfit had Queensland-based Kiwi Craig Baird sharing the driving duties.

“James and I went to Sepang with the intention of spreading the word about Bathurst and the 2011 Armor All Bathurst 12 hour – to say we were blown away by the response we received is an understatement,” Cr Aubin said.

“Our goal was to have at least one team confirm that they would attend and the enthusiastic response Mok Weng Sun and his team had to our Event ensured we achieved our goal . That alone ensured that the trip more than covered its costs but the overall benefit will be much more substantial.

“I didn’t have one team say to me ‘no, we’re not coming’. Everyone was very positive and genuinely interested in the opportunity to race at Mount Panorama.”

Other teams to express a strong desire to compete include the two-car Petronas BMW Z4 outfit and the works-supported Audi Team Joest squad, who have returned to Germany to pencil in Bathurst on their 2011 calendar for one of their stunning R8 supercars.

Cr Aubin said the economic benefits derived from the international participants proved the value in the Event opening up its class structure to GT vehicles from both here and abroad.

“Audi were very enthusiastic and told us they would go back to Germany and ask to include the Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour in their budget for 2011.

“We’re talking about one of the best GT teams in the world, so to have them even interested in racing in our Event is a massive coup. Petronas BMW were equally enthusiastic about bringing two cars down in February, plus a team of more than thirty people.

“That alone would be a massive injection into the local economy via accommodation, restaurants and local services. Bathurst could be a very full town in February, 2011.”

Whilst in Malaysia the Bathurst ‘party’ handed out Event Information packs about both the Race and the Bathurst region, ensuring teams had all the information they required to consider competing in 2011.

A meeting with the Sepang Circuit CEO also discussed cross promotional initiatives between the Events including an invitation for a Malaysian party to visit Bathurst next February.

“The benefits in exposure for the Bathurst region are going to be substantial,” Cr Aubin said.

“The 2011 Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour will be held on February 4-6, 2011, and will be broadcast online around the world and in a three-hour highlights package on ONE HD across Australia.

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