Godzilla smashes Bathurst speed record
Reminiscent of the domination of the Nissan Skyline in 1992, Brad Sherriff stunned observers with his Nissan Skyline GTS-T R32’s speed on Conrod Straight in the Combined Sedans races at the Bathurst 12 Hour.
With 1170 horsepower (872.5 kilowatts) at the rear wheels the 2WD chassis sports sedan with its Bullet Billet RB26 engine, clocked 327 km/h through the timing loop which isn’t at the fastest point on the straight.
It was around 30 km/h faster than the top spaceframe sports sedans competing and easily eclipsed any speeds set in the past by a Group 3-type racing sedan.
Even with the amazing straight-line speed, Sherriff was unable to collect any wins having retired from race 1 due to a mechanical issue and race 3 after a heavy crash at Reid Park.
He stormed from last to second in the Saturday morning race, but was demoted one position to third after breaking the pre-regulated minimum lap time of 2:09.0s.
To see more about the Nissan and watch it on track click HERE
The moment in question was recorded on lap 7 of the second race when he was clocked at 2:08.8336s.
Previous registered speeds include 313 from Angus Fogg’s NZ Central Muscle Car Ford Mustang, 300 plus from the 12 Hour Dodge Viper and Daytona while Glenn Seton hit 304 km/h in his Ford Credit EL Falcon.
It was only Sherriff’s second time on the track and the Tasmanian engine tuning specialist said he leaned on an experience from a previous trip to The Mountain.
“We came up in November for a look at Challenge Bathurst where we shared the sister car,” he said.
Brad Sherrif’s speed was untouchable in the Combined Supports category at the Bathurst 12 Hour. Image: Riccardo Benvenuti
“I did seven laps over the two days which gave us an bit of insight to which way the rack we went. We since found that the undulations were a bigger problem, with the horsepower we are putting down, than we thought. We have to get the car to look after its tyres better.”
Sherriff plans to contest rounds of the Precision International Australian Sports Sedan Series and said that his outing at Sandown in the sister car (driven by Liam Hooper at Bathurst) late last year proved that it is fast.
He cited Queensland Raceway as a track that would really suit his car but was apprehensive to its suitability to Winton. It currently holds the outright track record at Baskerville Raceway by a car with a roof on it with lap time of 51.4048s.
Sports Sedans will be at this year’s Bathurst 1000 where Sherriff believes there will seconds gained with good tyres and setup while the quick sports sedans will be close to the two minute mark.
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