RICHARD GARTNER CONFIRMS LAMBORGHINI BATHURST 12 HOUR ENTRY

Richard Gartner has confirmed the entry of his Lamborghini in the Bathurst 12 Hour – Photo: Supplied

Richard Gartner has confirmed the entry of his Lamborghini Gallardo LP560 GT3 in the Bathurst 12 Hour after gaining valuable experience in the car in this year’s Australian GT Trophy Series.

The Sydney-based driver upgraded to the Lamborghini from a Porsche GT3 Cup Car that he raced in the 2017 event, where he finished fourth in class. He also finished on the class podium the previous year and also recorded several class wins during the race’s period as a Production Car-based enduro.

Gartner won the most recent round of the Australian GT Trophy Series presented by Pirelli at Queensland Raceway and currently sits third in the championship, with two rounds to go.

“It’s exciting!” Gartner said.

“I couldn’t be happier with how it’s going. I wasn’t sure how I would enjoy driving a car with traction control and ABS because it was all just new to me, I’d never done it before. But I love the car and I think it will be very competitive at Bathurst.

“We’ve had a look at the BoP (Balance of Performance) and even with our car being older, a 2011-specification car, we think the car will be very competitive.

“Bathurst is all about being fast up and down the hill and that suits the car and similar model Lamborghini’s to mine have been very fast there before.”

Lamborghini’s have an up-and-down record on the Mountain with the best result for the Italian brand a sixth place – scored this year by Roger Lago, David Russell and Steve Owen in Lago’s JBS Racing Gallardo R-EX.

The cars have shown prodigious pace in qualifying, however: Lago’s entry qualifying fourth in 2014 and second outright a year later.

Wall Racing will prepare and run the car at Bathurst next February, competing for the ‘AM’ class trophy.

“We’ve got a very good relationship with Wall Racing, they do a great job,” Gartner said.

“We haven’t had a chance to test yet, it’s only been the racing, so we’re going testing for the first time next week and it will be good to make some changes to the car and better understand what it likes.

“We haven’t unlocked everything in the car yet so there is more to come!”

Gartner is a multiple class winner in previous 12-hour iterations, winning multiple times in the Production Car era before tackling the last several races in his Porsche.

“We’ll be going for the ‘AM’ class at Bathurst in the Lamborghini. It will be a big challenge and exciting to be part of!

“I am really enjoying the car and it will only get better and better as the year goes on. By Bathurst it should be great!”

We’ve got more from the Australian GT Trophy series in the current issue of Auto Action magazine, on sale now. In the mean time follow us on social media Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for all the latest updates between issues.