Sports Racers set for 12-Hour debut

Australian Sports Racer Series competitors Adam Cranston, Josh Cranston and Aaron Steer will join with experienced campaigner James Winslow to field a 991 Porsche in the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour next February

Adam Cranston is importing a Porsche 911 from experienced UK Carrera Cup outfit Brookspeed, with the machine set to arrive in two to three weeks.

It will be fielded with the support of Synep – of which Cranston is a major shareholder – and its subsidiaries, in Class B.

“Aaron Steer and I went through and worked out what kind of car we wanted to take, and we were looking at the 997 Porsche GT3 Cup Car, but I was adamant that I wanted on the 991 – I have one myself and I love to drive it,” said Cranston.

“We had some work to do initially to see if the gearbox would make it through on the 991, but we did eventually to go with that and decided to get one from the UK.

“It is being shipped over as we speak from Brookspeed in the UK – it is a very low kilometre car, and very well looked after. It is pretty much immaculate and I am very excited to get in it and do some testing.”

Winslow – who has raced in the ASRS in the past – will coach the ASRS competitors as they look to come to convert their sprint-based experience into success on The Mountain.

“James is a very experienced race car driver, he understands the track, has done a 12 hour before and also the 24 hours of Le Mans and more; he is very well accustomed to the endurance style of racing,” said Adam Cranston.

“The three of us are not, as in the Sports Racers it is very much sprint racing; you go out hard for 10 or 12 laps and hope the car survives!

“Obviously when it comes to endurance racing it is a different philosophy – you get the car off the line, you sit in your position and just relax, and try not ruin your tyres, burn your fuel, destroy the car, or crash!

“In this kind of racing you don’t just have yourself to let down – you have your entire team, three other drivers and an entire crew. If you put it into the wall at turn one or blow a gearbox, it isn’t just you missing out, it is all of them.

“Having James on-deck to help us get to that level will be really great.

“We are in Class B, and I wouldn’t say it is the easiest category there. But at the same time, James is a really good driver, Aaron is a good driver, Josh is a good driver, and I consider myself a fairly decent driver as well.

“With James’ training and plenty of testing and practice, we are going to try and do our best to win the category. It is certainly a step-up, and time in the car will be key to get to the point of being confident in the car, and also when it comes to the things like strategy, pit stops and so on which we haven’t done before. It is going to be exciting I think and hopefully we can come away with a good result.”

At this stage, only Josh Cranston has had the pleasure of driving the car, when an incident in round three of the Australian Sports Racer Series precluded Adam from joining his brother on a trip to the UK to check it out.

“It is pretty funny story actually – on the Sunday of the QR round we were set to fly out that night to go and see the car, take it for a test run and so on before deciding to buy it,” explained Adam Cranston.

“But then I went and had my accident, so Josh went on his own with a mate of mine instead and tested it out. He was happy with it, sent me a heap of photos, and now it is on its way.

“Having not yet driven it I am keen to do some testing – we will be running it at Mallala as soon as possible and taking it to Sydney Motorsport Park to work on some more high-speed stuff. It is unfortunate we can’t shut down Bathurst to test it out,” he laughed.

For the Cranston brothers, like many kids in Australia, the upcoming Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour campaign is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.

“We have loved Bathurst since we were kids, we grew up watching it, it is what got us into the sport, and we have always wanted to race there. I went to Uni in Bathurst, and I see it as the epitome of motorsport, the pinnacle, and this is probably the only chance I am going to get in life to race it and tick it off the bucket list,” said Adam Cranston.

The entry will be supported by Synep and its subsidiaries Synep Limited, Clamenz Lawyers, Rush Recruitment and Los Vida; with all companies to be represented on the race livery.

(Team News)