The Nissan GT-R has taken another significant victory at Mount Panorama after scoring a dramatic victory in the 2015 Bathurst 12 Hour yesterday.
After a race full of drama, crashes and Safety Cars, Japanese driver Katsumasa Chiyo passed an Audi R8 and a Bentley Continental GT on the penultimate lap to secure a remarkable win for the Nismo Athlete Global Team.
The victory for Chiyo and GT Academy winners Wolfgang Reip and Florian Strauss is the first time that the Nissan GT-R has won at Mount Panorama since the R32 Nissan GT-R took back-to-back Bathurst 1000 wins in 1991 and 1992, earning its nickname ‘Godzilla’.
The crowd at the top of the Mount Panorama roared as Chiyo put the Nissan into the lead, a fairytale story after the car was damaged in a qualifying crash on Saturday, with repairs to the #35 Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 only completed at 4:30am local time on Sunday morning.
Strauss was especially ecstatic to take victory, as he was a late recruit to the event when Alex Buncombe was unable to attend the event due to the birth of his first child. The young German driver has only been a racing driver for 18 months following his win in GT Academy in 2013.
“It is just unbelievable because I couldn’t imagine that end of the race, with a strong Audi and Bentley and we are still in the amateur class,” said Chiyo after the race.
“The car is very good, it is very strong on the straight. I tried to imagine, it was just amazing, we couldn’t know what would happen in this race, but we just tried our best in the moment and then I had a chance in the final restart. It was just awesome. The car was amazing, and so was the team.”
2015 Bathurst 12 Hour race result
Pos | Competitor/ Team | Drivers | Vehicle | Race Time | Fastest Lap Time |
1 | NISMO Athlete Global Team | F.Strauss/ K.Chiyo/ W.Reip | Nissan GT-R NISMO GT | 12:00:11.0280 | 2:03.9769 |
2 | Phoenix Racing | M.Mapelli/ L.Vanthoor/ M.Winkelhock | Audi R8-LMS Ultra 20 | 12:00:13.4809 | 2:03.3091R |
3 | Craft Bamboo Racing | D.O’Young/ A.MacDowall/ S.Mucke | Aston Martin Vantage | 12:00:13.8296 | 2:04.4514 |
4 | Bentley Team M-Sport | G.Smith/ S.Kane/ M.Bell | Bentley Continental | 12:00:14.8101 | 2:05.1808 |
5 | Erebus Motorsport | J.LeBrocq/ R.Muscat/ D.Canto | Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 | 12:00:14.9710 | 2:04.5607 |
6 | Vicious Rumour Racing | B.Simonsen/ A.Montermini/ R.Loberto | Ferrari F458 Italia | 12:00:14.7389 | 2:05.5603 |
7 | JBS Australia | R.Lago/ D.Russell/ S.Owen | Lamborghini Gallardo | 12:00:15.8879 | 2:04.8101 |
8 | Clearwater Racing | WS Mok/ T.Vilander/ M.Griffin | Ferrari F458 Italia | 12:00:17.9999 | 2:04.8706 |
9 | Phoenix Racing | F.Baumgartner/ C.Haase/ S.Ortelli | Audi R8-LMS Ultra 20 | 12:00:22.7640 | 2:05.0164 |
10 | Hallmarc / Network Clothing | M.Cini/ M.Eddy/ C.Mies | Audi R8-LMS Ultra 20 | 12:00:20.6153 | 2:05.0948 |