Bentley scores maiden Bathurst 12 Hour win

Jules Gounon survived a late-race tire puncture and an ongoing threat of rain to give Bentley their first victory in the Bathurst 12 Hour at Mount Panorama Sunday afternoon.

Gounon and co-drivers Maxime Soulet and Jordan Pepper dominated nearly the entire event, with the No. 7 Continental leading at both the race’s half and three-quarter marks.

While it appeared that Gounon was comfortably in control of the race with just over an hour remaining, a right-rear tire puncture sent the Frenchman into the pits.

Despite the tire mishap, Gounon was able to maintain his lead and finish 37 seconds ahead of the No. 999 GruppeM Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Raffele Marciello.

Bentley wins at Bathurst!@JulesGounon brings the #7 he shares with @jordanpepper46 and @SouletMaxime across the line to claim @BentleyRacing's first-ever #IntGTC victory. #B12Hr | #IntGTC 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/GsXiUZN3BU

— Intercontinental GT Challenge (@IntercontGTC) February 2, 2020

However, Marciello was assessed a 30-second penalty for his car not being turned off during its final pit stop, and the No. 60 59Racing McLaren 720S GT3 of Tom Blomqvist, Alvaro Parente and Ben Barnicoat was promoted up to second place.

The No. 888 Mercedes of Shane van Gisbergen, Jamie Whincup and Maximilian Goetz finished third.

Sunday’s win is the first marquee endurance race victory for Bentley since the manufacturer’s debut in GT racing in 2013.

Rolex 24 winners come up short

While 23 of the drivers in Sunday’s race competed in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona a week prior, none were able to win to reach victory lane at Mount Panorama.

Though Scott Dixon and Renger van der Zande were part of Wayne Taylor Racing’s overall victory at Daytona seven days earlier, both drivers had to settle for less-than-stellar finishes down under.

The No. 76 R-Motorsport entry Dixon shared with Rick Kelly and Jake Dennis finished 16th overall, while electrical issues prevented van der Zande from completing the entire race.

Other Rolex 24 competitors who were in Sunday’s race included Earl Bamber and Laurens Vanthoor, who along with Craig Lowndes, co-drove the No. 1 Earl Bamber Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R.

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In a continuing effort to help fans keep track of the on track action, SuperMotocross is in the process of developing and implementing leader lights for the unified series.

Currently Supercross (SMX) utilizes stanchions in the infield that are triggered manually by a race official. At least two stanchions are used in each race as a way to draw the eye to the leader, which is especially useful in the tight confines of the stadium series when lapping often begins before the halfway mark in the 22-bike field. This system has been in place for the past two decades.

Later this year, a fully automated system will move to the bike itself to replace the old system. At that point, fans will be able to identify the leader regardless of where he is on track.

The leader lights were tested in the second Anaheim round this year. An example can be seen at the 1:45 mark in the video above on the No. 69 bike.

“What we don’t want to do is move too fast, where it’s confusing to people,” said Mike Muye, senior director of operations for Supercross and SMX in a press release. “We’ve really just focused on the leader at this point with the thought that maybe down the road we’ll introduce others.”

Scheduled to debut with the first SuperMotocross World Championship race at zMax Dragway, located just outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3D carbon fiber-printed LED light will be affixed to each motorcycle. Ten timing loops positioned around the track will trigger the lights of the leader, which will turn green.

SMX’s partner LiveTime Scoring helped develop and implement the system that has been tested in some form or fashion since 2019.

When the leader lights are successfully deployed, SuperMotocross will explore expanding the system to identify the second- and third-place riders. Depending on need and fan acceptance, more positions could be added.

SuperMotocross is exploring future enhancements, including allowing for live fan interaction with the lights and ways to use the lighting system during the race’s opening ceremony.

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