Mitsubishi Lancers have dominated the annual Bathurst 12 hour production car race at the famous Mount Panorama. Defending race champions Damien White & Rod Salmon were joined in their win by two time  Bathurst 1000 winner Tony Longhurst.

Second place went to the Western Australian team of Sports Sedan star Tony Ricciardello and his fellow Western Australian team-mates Stuart Kostera and Glyn Crimp.

“After four 1000km races, this was my first 12 Hour race and it was a great experience. Reliability wasn’t an issue all weekend and everything ran like clockwork,” said Ricciardello who normally pilots a 700 BHP V8 powered Alfa Romeo in the Australian Sports Sedan Championship.

The final spot on the podium went to a late charging Jason Bargwanna for his ProDuct Motorsport team-mate Brad Jones with only a fuel issue in his final pit stop robbing him of what could have been a last minute attempt at second place after he fought to regain a lead lap position.

The pair completed 19 pit stops throughout the race due to a fuel issue with their Mitsubishi Lancer, however, using all of their strategic experience to ensure they stayed in contention for the event.
“We just continued to circulate all day, stayed out of trouble, had 19 pit stops due to a fuel pick up problem, also had some boost and electrical dramas, so all in all it is very busy race but it was pleasing to get up here on the podium at Bathurst,” said Bargwanna.

Race pole-sitter Steve Owen leading the field away as the 47-car field headed up the Mountain for the 6.30 am start, but his race came to a premature end when his Mitsubishi Lancer endured gearbox problems in the second hour of the race.

This frantic paced continued throughout the morning with plenty of action throughout the field, especially with Klark Quinn charging through the field after being forced to start from pit lane when he wasn’t prepared to climb into his VIP Petfoods Lancer prior to pit lane closing. 

“He was in the toilet” said father and co-driver Tony.

46 Cars blast of at 6.30 am for the Bathurst 1000. Klark Quinn was in the toilet

 The team endured mechanical dramas shortly after which dropped them down the order when Grant Denyer, competing in his first race since suffering a serious back injury, had a hairy moment when his car blew a tyre at over 200 km/h on lap 77.

“I really wanted it to be the fairytale return but unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be,” said Denyer.
“Although our race ended early at least I can say that I’m fully functional and can tick that box with the knowledge that I’ve completed that stage of my life.” 

Mitsubishi’s filled the first four places in the event with the BMW 335i of Barry Morcom, Luke Searle and Paul Stubber the first non Mitsubishi home in fifth place.

First of the Aussie V8’s home was the Briffa, Zukanovic and Sipp   Commodore R8 Clubsport in eighth position.

Australian actor and Victorian State Series regular Eric Bana, who shared the driving duties with Orange resident Tim Leahey and good friend Peter Hill, finished in tenth spot in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X.

The trio endured some mechanical gremlins during the early running but showed true grit to claw their way back from a low of 35th place to record an impressive top ten result.
Bana rated the weekend’s experience of competing at Australia’s ‘holy grail’ of motorsport as a dream come true.

“Just to compete here at Bathurst has been a bit of a dream for me, and then to top it all off we finished inside the top ten outright,” said Bana.

Bana indicated post race that he is keen to expand his motorsport exploits into the future when time permits.

“I’ll always do as much racing as my schedule allows and this year was a bit of test for both myself and the team. After being a part of this year’s Event I’d love to come back next year and do it all again,” said Bana. 

Almost 30,000 spectators came through the gates over the three days of the 2009 WPS Bathurst 12 Hour Showroom Enduro which after a slow start is quickly developing into a must see feature of the Australian Motorsport landscape.

2009 WPS Bathurst 12 Hour Showroom Enduro Class Winners 

Class A – Penrite High Performance Rear Wheel Drive
#11 B. Morcom/L. Searle/P. Stubber – BMW 335i

Class B – Armor All High Performance Sports
#10 M. O’Connor/R. Buttrose/S. Hogg – Lotus Exige

Class C – Carshowroom.com All Wheel Drive (Outright)
#1 R. Salmon/T. Longhurst/D. White – Mitsubishi Evo X

Class D – Aunger Hot Hatch Performance
#27 A. Shepherd/P. O’Donnell/C. D’Agostin – BMW 130i

Class E – Disc Brakes Australia Production Sedans
#24 G. Walden/B. Walden/M. Auld – Holden SS VZ

Class F – Century Batteries Production Sports
#14 P. Conroy/C. Schembri/R. Gartner – Honda Integra Type S

Class G – Racer Industries Micro Sedans and Hatches
#88 M. Windsor/S. Sheils/P. Newman – Subaru Impreza 2.5

Glass H – Supe charge Eco Diesel Over 3.5 Litre
#76 K. Booker/R. Rinaldo/D. Stone – Alfa Romeo 159 JTD

Class I – DHL Eco Diesel 3.5 Litre and Under
#77 D.Filipetto/N. Gotch/W. Vinckx – Alfa Romeo 147 JTD