Why the 2023 12-hour was one of the best yet
30 Dec
THE 2023 Bathurst 12 Hour was a record breaker.
From qualifying and the races, almost every aspect of Australia’s International enduro set new or improved benchmarks this year – with a record-smashing race finishing as the fastest enduro ever held at Mount Panorama.
Here’s a rundown of the key numbers behind an incredible 2023 Bathurst 12 Hour.
323 laps was the most completed in 12-Hour history, eclipsing the previous record of 314 (set in 2020).
With a total distance covered of 2006.79km, it’s the first time 2000km has been completed in a 12-Hour race at Mount Panorama, and just the third time in history.
The final 161 laps were completed in 5 Hours and 50 minutes, the fastest 1000km in Bathurst history.
The average speed of the entire race was 167km/hr, making this the fastest endurance race in Bathurst history.
The 4 Hours 45 minute green flag run to the finish is the longest stint without safety car interruption in 12 Hour history, eclipsing the previous best of 4 Hours 10 Minutes (2020).
The top three cars separated by 1.4 seconds is the closest finish by three cars in 12-Hour history.
This was Mercedes-AMGs third Bathurst 12 Hour win, equalling Audi and Mazda in all-time wins.
This is the first time a manufacturer has claimed back-to-back victories at the 12-Hour since Audi won in 2011 and 2012. It’s only the fourth time in history that has occurred.
It’s the first time an official entry has claimed back-to-back wins in the GT3 era. Though the team physically operating the SunEnergy1 car changed between 2022 (Triple Eight) and 2023 (AKKA Asp), the entrant – Kenny Habul / SunEnergy1 Racing – was the same. In 2011, the winning Audi was entered by Team Joest while in 2012 it was entered by Phoenix Racing.
Jules Gounon becomes the first driver to win the 12-hour on three occasions and also to claim three 12 Hour wins in a row.
The only other drivers to claim three major Bathurst enduro’s in a row are Peter Brock, Jim Richards, Larry Perkins, Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup.
Gounon is also the only driver to win the Daytona 24 Hour and Bathurst 12 Hour within the space of 7 days.
Kenny Habul and Luca Stolz are just the fifth and sixth drivers in B12hr history to win the race back-to-back.
They join an elite club of now 11 drivers to have won it on two occasions.
For the eighth time in the GT3 era, the winning car did not lead the most laps: The #75 SunEnergy1 car led 131 laps throughout the race.
GruppeM Racing’s #999 entry led 144 laps, the most of the race. It’s the most laps led by a car that didn’t win the race since 2014, when the #1 Erebus SLS AMG led 167 laps before ultimately finishing 7th.
Chaz Mostert claimed the fastest race lap for the second time in his career, equalling Shane van Gisbergen and Kelvin van der Linde.
It was Audi’s fifth fastest lap in 12-hour history, a record.
The fastest lap of the race (2m02.1683s) was the third best of all time, behind the 2016 lap record and Mostert’s effort in 2018. The winner has only set the race’s fastest lap on two occasions, in 2016 and 2017.
The five Safety Car interruptions – including the additional lap added at the commencement of the race – is equal to the race’s previous lowest, set in 2020.
However, the 16 laps completed behind the Mercedes AMG Safety Car were the fewest Safety Car laps in the GT3 era (2011-) and the second fewest overall.
The finishing rate was 71%, The best since 2018.
The three-day attendance of 53,446 is a record for the event, a 24 per cent increase on the previous three-day event record attendance and also larger than when the event ran over four days in 2019.
Maro Engel’s 2m00.8819s Pirelli Shootout lap was the quickest ever by an official GT3 car (confirming to Balance of Performance regulations) in Mount Panorama and in Bathurst 12 Hour history.
It’s also the first recorded lap below 121 seconds in 12-hour history.
Engel’s pole was the fourth for Mercedes-AMG in the race, a new record for any brand. It was the second for the AMG GT3 model, equalling the two pole positions claimed by its predecessor, the SLS AMG GT3, in 2013 and 2014.
This is the second consecutive year someone has scored their second Allan Simonsen Pole Award: Chaz Mostert claimed his second last year. It’s also the longest gap between scoring the pole award.
This was the fifth straight 12-Hour where the winner has not started on the front row. The last time that happened was when the Maranello Motorsport Ferrari won from pole in 2017.
At 37, Engel is the oldest B12hr polesitter in the GT3 era, eclipsing Toni Vilander, who was 36 when he qualified on pole in 2017.
This was the first time the race has been won from 4th on the grid in the GT3 era.
