PRODUCTION CAR stalwart Allan Shephard has done plenty of laps at Mount Panorama – in fact, potentially more in recent years than just about anyone else set to tackle the 2012 Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour.
The South Sydney-based driver will start his sixth consecutive 12 Hour race at Mount Panorama and – when you include two starts in the Bathurst 24 hour race in the early 2000s – is set to clock up more than 100 hours of on-track competition at Bathurst.
When he takes the start on Sunday morning of race day this year, Shephard should become the only driver to have started every 12 Hour since the Event’s return to the Australian motorsport landscape in 2007.
One of the biggest personalities in the game, ‘Shep’ is perhaps best known for an emotional TV appearance in 2008 when team mate and best friend Len Cave violently rolled the Mazda they were sharing mid-race – a crash that made the major news bulletins that night and has since been replayed regularly in highlight videos.
“We were the first to make the global debut of a Mazda 3 MPS in 2007 and then the following year we created a world first in how we destroyed it!” Shephard quipped.
“Since then I’ve raced the BMW with my current team and it’s been a fantastic experience. Any time you get to race at Bathurst you grab with both hands and take.”
The competitive racer has also tasted plenty of success, too – including a class victory in 2009 with his current team, GWS Motorsport, when sharing a BMW 130i with Peter O’Donnell and Christian D’Agostin.
Shephard will again drive the reliable and stealthily competitive BMW this year and will drive with 12 hour regular Kean Booker and Carl Oberhauser in the Production (Performance) class – again linking up with the Parkes-based GWS Motorsport team for which Bathurst is quite literally a ‘home’ race.
Naturally, he can’t contain his enthusiasm for his sixth 12 Hour start.
“I love being part of a team and working together to apply yourself and work your way into the race,” He said.
“It’s a fantastic challenge and I love the fact that it’s not just about being the fastest out there – it’s about the strategy and actually finishing the race. I like the fact that it’s about being smart about it and the smartest team at the end usually wins.”
Shephard also has four Nurburgring 24 hour starts on his CV and is a big proponent of the recent move to mix both production and GT vehicles together in the Bathurst version of the now-famous German Event – despite the fact it was contact from a faster car that ended his race twelve months ago.
“It was pretty disappointing to be taken out like that given I’ve been a big advocate of running everyone together!” he said.
“It’s about the only thing that worries us because when you are getting lapped by a slower car you are making decisions for both of you and it can all happen in the blink of an eye, like it did when (Co-driver) Paul Stubber was taken out last year.
“It is a real and massive challenge and you always hope the decision you make is the right one.”
Shephard is confident that he is again well placed for a strong result this year, and even joked about his ‘seniority’ status amongst the 2012 entry.
“I think only (Lamborghini driver) Teddy Huglin beats me on age,” he grinned.
“As long as I can keep doing it well and competitively I’ll keep going and as such I think we have a good shot this year. Our first mission is to beat our team mates and then see how we go against the other cars in the class.
“We’ve got a great team of good experienced blokes… We’re going to have a crack!”
The 2012 Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour will be broadcast live on SPEED – with Australia’s only 24/7 Motorsport network set to show the closing 90 minutes of the race live. The entire race will also be streamed live on the internet to a global audience via the Event website.
Good on Ya Allan. I loved the drive and experience of being on your team in 2009.
John De Veth. New Zealand