Augusto Farfus narrowly missed out on his third consecutive podium earlier today, when he and his BMW Team Schnitzer team-mates finished in fifth place in Bathurst 12 Hour, the opening round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge.
The Brazilian racer was hoping to add another trophy to his recent FIA GT World Cup and Daytona 24 Hours wins, by conquering the 12-hour endurance race on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, Australia. But, despite a near-perfect performance from the team and solid driving from Farfus and his team-mates Chaz Mostert and Martin Tomczyk, a top-five finish was the best they could achieve.
“I was incredibly proud of everyone in the team this weekend,” he said. “It was our first race without Charly but everyone remained strong and never missed a beat. The team was great, my team-mates were great and the car was great, we just didn’t have enough in the bag to get onto the podium.”
After starting from P14, the trio of drivers took it in turns to climb through the pack in extremely hot conditions. By the middle of the race, the #42 BMW M6 GT3 was running out front and battling for a podium position. Going into the final hour, the crew was in third place and the sprint to the end was on, but Mostert didn’t have enough power to defend from the competition and had to concede two places.
“We had to push so hard to get ourselves into a fighting position at the end because that’s what an endurance race is all about. But, when it came to it, we just couldn’t fight with the package we had. Still, a top-five finish isn’t a bad start to the season and is points in the bag for the championship.”
Farfus next races in the World Endurance Championship Sebring 1000 Miles on 13-15 March before the Intercontinental GT Challenge continues with the California 8 Hours at Laguna Seca on 28-30 March.
