2002 Bathurst 24 Hour

Layout of the Mount Panorama Circuit

The 2002 Bathurst 24 Hour was an endurance motor race staged at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. The race, which was the first 24-hour event to be held at Mount Panorama, started at 4:00pm on 16 November and finished at 4:00pm on 17 November. It was the first 24 Hour race to be held in Australia since the 1954 Mount Druitt 24 Hours Road Race.

The race was open to several classes of GT and other production based cars and was intended as a showcase for the racing categories promoted by PROCAR, which included Nations Cup, GT Performance and GT Production. While there was much speculation about the highly popular V8 Brute Utes class also being eligible there was resistance to the idea and they ran short sprint races as a support category. Ten classes were announced, but only five classes attracted entries.

The race was won by Garth Tander, Steven Richards, Nathan Pretty and Cameron McConville driving a Holden Monaro.

Group structure

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The race was open to entries in ten Groups.[1]

Group 1

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For FIA N-GT, British GTO, All Japan GT and Nations Cup (Group 1) cars.[1] It featured the Ferrari 360 N-GT, Mosler MT900R, Porsche 996 GT3-RS, Porsche 996 GT3 Cup and the controversial Holden Monaro 427C which did not have a production counterpart.

Group 2

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For Porsche Supercup cars.[1] No entries were received.

Group 3

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For Nations Cup (Group 2) cars and Super Touring Cars.[1] Only three BMWs entered, Super Touring versions of the 318i and 320i and a modified Z3 M Coupe.

Group 4

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For FIA Super 2000 cars.[1] No entries were received.

Group 5

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For Australian GT Performance Cars.[1] The entry consisted of BMW ME Coupe, Ford Tickford T3 TE50, HSV Y Series GTS, Mazda RX-7 Series 8, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, Nissan 200SX, Nissan 350Z and Subaru Impreza WRX STi.

Group 6

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For FIA Group N cars (3001cc and over).[1] No entries were received.

Group 7

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For FIA Group N cars (2500cc-3000cc).[1] No entries were received.

Group 8

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For FIA Super Production cars and New Zealand Schedule S cars.[1] No entries were received.

Group 9

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For Australian GT Production Cars.[1] The entry consisted of BMW 323i, Holden VX Commodore, Honda S2000 and Toyota MR2 Bathurst.

Group 10

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For Invited cars including Future Tourers and Mirage series cars.[1] Entries included Future Tourer Holden Commodores and a Holden V8 engined Mitsubishi Magna, a pair of Nürburgring VLN series BMW M3s and Mitsubishi Mirages.

Top 10 Qualifiers

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The top 10 qualifiers for the 2002 Bathurst 24 Hour were as follows:[2]

Pos No Team Driver Car Qual
Pole 888 Australia Prancing Horse Racing Scuderia Australia Brad Jones Ferrari 360 N-GT 2:15.0742
2 427 Australia Garry Rogers Motorsport Australia Garth Tander Holden Monaro 427C 2:16.8792
3 24 United Kingdom Cirtek Motorsport Australia David Brabham Porsche 996 GT3-RS 2:19.5861
4 11 United Kingdom Rollcentre Racing United Kingdom Martin Short Mosler MT900R 2:21.4492
5 52 Germany Seikel Motorsport Canada Tony Burgess Porsche 996 GT3-RS 2:22.7314
6 6 United Kingdom AD Holdings Australia Peter Floyd Porsche 996 GT3-RS 2:23.8472
7 33 Australia Pro-Duct Motorsport Australia Bob Pearson Mazda RX-7 Twin Turbo 2:28.4775
8 19 New Zealand Bruce Miles New Zealand Bruce Miles BMW 320i 2:28.7187
9 40 Australia Compuware Australia Terry Bosnjak Mitsubishi Magna 2:28.8974
10 15 Germany Duller Motorsport United Kingdom Ian Donaldson BMW M3 2:29.0311

* During the first qualifying session, the #999 PHR Scuderia Porsche 996 GT3-RS driven by Jim Richards set a time of 2:20.4364 which would have placed the car 4th on the grid. However, later during that same qualifying session, Peter Fitzgerald crashed on the top of the mountain which damaged the car beyond immediate repair. PHR were then forced to substitute team owner Maher Algadrie's Porsche 996 GT3 Cup car in the race. Due to having to substitute cars, the original lap time did not count and the GT3 Cup car eventually qualified in 14th place.

Official results

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Results as follows[3]

Pos Group No Team Drivers Chassis Laps Qual
Pos
Engine
1 1 427 Australia Garry Rogers Motorsport Australia Garth Tander
New Zealand Steven Richards
Australia Nathan Pretty
Australia Cameron McConville
Holden Monaro 427C 532 2
Chevrolet LS6 7.0L V8
2 1 11 United Kingdom Rollcentre Racing United Kingdom Martin Short
United Kingdom Mark Pashley
United Kingdom Charles Lamb
Sri Lanka Dilantha Malagamuwa
Mosler MT900R 509 4
Chevrolet LS1 5.7L V8
3 10 16 Germany Duller Motorsport United Kingdom Howard Redhouse
United Kingdom Peter Hannen
Australia Domenic Beninca
BMW M3 505 12
BMW M52 3.2L I6
4 10 15 Germany Duller Motorsport United Kingdom Ian Donaldson
United Kingdom Robert Brooks
New Zealand Rob Wilson
United Kingdom Andrew Donaldson
BMW M3 497 10
BMW M52 3.2L I6
5 3 35 United Kingdom Sterling Motorsport Australia VJ Angelo
Australia Ric Shaw
United Kingdom Mathew Marsh
Australia Ross Buckingham
BMW M Coupe 496 16
BMW M54 3.2L I6
6 5 71 Australia Peter Boylan Australia Peter Boylan
Australia Damien White
Australia Peter McKay
BMW M3 491 15
BMW M54 3.2L I6
7 5 23 Australia Peters Racing Australia Brett Peters
Australia Gary Deane
Australia Robert Rubis
Australia John Falk
Subaru Impreza WRX STi 482 17
Subaru EJ 2.0L Turbo Flat-4
8 5 60 Australia Protecnica Racing Australia Scott Anderson
Australia Wayne Boatwright
Australia Ross Almond
Australia Ross Halliday
Subaru Impreza WRX STi 475 23
Subaru EJ 2.0L Turbo Flat-4
9 5 17 Australia Trevor Haines Australia Trevor Haines
Australia Mark King
Australia Trevor Sheumack
Australia James Phillip
Ford Tickford T3 TE50 474 24
Ford Windsor 5.6L V8
10 9 62 Australia Scott Loadsman Australia Scott Loadsman
Australia Ian Luff
Australia Ray Lintott
Australia David Russell
Holden Commodore VX SS 463 34
Chevrolet LS1 5.7L V8
11 10 44 Australia Mal Rose Australia Gary Young
Australia Gary Quartly
Australia Anthony Robson
Mitsubishi Mirage 459 30
Mitsubishi 1.5L I4
12 10 14 Australia David Borg Australia David Borg
Australia Allan Shepherd
Australia Jack Elsegood
Mitsubishi Mirage 457 31
Mitsubishi 1.5L I4
13 9 26 Australia Novocastrian Motorsport Australia Wayne Moore
Australia Roger Townshend
Australia Klark Quinn
Australia Tony Blanche
BMW 323i 455 35
BMW M52 2.5L I4
14 9 29 Australia Ross Palmer Motorsport Australia Peter Hansen
Germany Hermann Tilke
Australia Melinda Price
Honda S2000 451 32
Honda F20C 2.0L I4
15 1 99 Australia Prancing Horse Racing Scuderia New Zealand Jim Richards
Australia Matt Weiland
Indonesia Maher Algadrie
Australia Peter Fitzgerald
Porsche 996 GT3 R 451 14
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
16 5 200 Australia Haysom Motorsport Australia Greg Haysom
Australia Craig Dean
Australia Paul Stubber
Australia Chris Smith
Nissan 200SX Spec-R 448 33
Nissan SR20DET 2.0L Turbo I4
17 10 32 Australia Steve Williams Australia Steve Williams
Australia Graham Moore
Australia Mike Kilpatrick
Holden Commodore VX 438 13
Holden 5.0L V8
18 5 220 Australia Haysom Motorsport United Kingdom Tony Quinn
Australia Tony Alford
Australia John Grounds
Australia Grant Denyer
Nissan 200SX Spec-R 426 27
Nissan SR engine 2.0L Turbo I4
19 10 28 Australia Mal Rose Australia Mal Rose
Australia Peter Leemhuis
Australia Shane Brangwin
Mitsubishi Mirage 425 29
Mitsubishi 1.5L I4
20 5 45 Australia Allan Walls Australia Allan Walls
Australia Dennis Cribbin
Australia Roland Hill
HSV GTS 300kW 424 20
Chevrolet LS1 5.7L V8
21 5 222 Australia Haysom Motorsport Australia Ray Ayton
Australia Rodney Woods
Australia Hugh Harrison
Australia Michael Robinson
Nissan 200SX Spec-R 424 28
Nissan SR engine 2.0L Turbo I4
22 10 40 Australia Palmer Promotions Australia Terry Bosnjak
Australia Warren Luff
Australia Ian Palmer
Australia Ray Sidebottom
Mitsubishi Magna 420 9
Holden 5.0L V8
23 5 33 Australia Pro-Duct Motorsport Australia Bob Pearson
Australia Mark Brame
Australia Bruce Stewart
Australia Peter Roma
Mazda RX-7 Twin Turbo 364 7
Mazda 13B-REW 1.3L Rotary
24 9 13 Australia Osborne Motorsport Australia Colin Osborne
Australia John Roecken
Australia Ron Masing
Toyota MR2 Bathurst 324 36
Toyota 3S-GE 2.0L I4
25 9 31 Australia Osborne Motorsport Australia Trevor Keene
Australia Scott Fleming
Australia Andrew Leithhead
Toyota MR2 Bathurst 196 37
Toyota S engine 2.0L I4
DNF 1 24 United Kingdom Cirtek Motorsport Australia David Brabham
Austria Manfred Jurasz
Australia Allan Grice
Australia Darren Palmer
Porsche 996 GT3-RS 488 3
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
DNF 5 77 Australia Nathan Pilkington Australia Nathan Pilkington
Australia Ian Mitchell
Australia Mark Williamson
Australia Elton Goonan
Nissan 350Z 436 25
Nissan VQ35DE 3.5L V6
DNF 5 9 Australia Anton Mechtler Australia Anton Mechtler
Australia Wayne Park
New Zealand Kevin Bell
Australia Bob Hughes
Mitsubishi Lancer RS-E Evo VII 387 26
Mitsubishi 4G63 2.0L Turbo I4
DNF 5 27 Australia Novocastrian Motorsport Australia Wayne Russell
Australia Steve Cramp
Australia Garry Holt
Australia Darren Edwards
BMW M Coupe 384 21
BMW M54 3.2L I6
DNF 10 41 Australia Geoffrey Parker Australia Geoff Parker
Australia Jeff Watters
Australia David Sala
Australia Peter Gazzard
Holden Commodore VY 348 11
Holden 5.0L V8
DNF 3 19 New Zealand Bruce Miles New Zealand Bruce Miles
New Zealand Murray Cleland
New Zealand Gary Geeves
BMW 320i 263 8
BMW S14 2.0L I4
DNF 5 5 Australia Graham Alexander Australia Graham Alexander
Australia John Woodberry
Australia Barry Morcom
Mitsubishi Lancer RS-E Evo VII 230 19
Mitsubishi Sirius engine 2.0L Turbo I4
DNF 1 6 United Kingdom AD Holdings Australia Peter Floyd
United Kingdom Chris Maries
Australia Rod Wilson
Australia Gary MacDonald
Porsche 996 GT3-RS 195 6
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
DNF 3 22 New Zealand DCH Motorsport New Zealand Dennis Chapman
New Zealand Debbie Chapman
New Zealand Lindsay O'Donnell
New Zealand Scott O'Donnell
BMW 318i 126 22
BMW S14 2.0L I4
DNF 1 888 Australia Prancing Horse Racing Scuderia Australia John Bowe
Australia Brad Jones
Australia Paul Morris
Australia John Teulan
Ferrari 360 N-GT 96 1
Ferrari 3.6L V8
DNF 1 52 Germany Seikel Motorsport Canada Tony Burgess
New Zealand Andrew Bagnall
United States John Lloyd
Germany Jürgen Alzen
Porsche 996 GT3-RS 58 5
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
DNS 1 999 Australia Prancing Horse Racing Scuderia New Zealand Jim Richards
Australia Matt Weiland
Indonesia Maher Algadrie
Australia Peter Fitzgerald
Porsche 996 GT3-RS 4*
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6

* #999 PHR Scuderia Porsche 996 GT3-RS had set 4th fastest qualifying time. However, due to a practice crash the car was withdrawn and replaced by the teams 996 GT3 Cup car. As the RS was withdrawn the original time was not counted for grid position.

References

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Statistics

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  • Pole Position - #888 Brad Jones - 2:15.0742
  • Fastest Lap - #427 Garth Tander - 2:14.3267 (lap 359)
  • Average Speed - 138 km/h
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