Team Eastern Creek Karts Confirms Bathurst 12 Hour Plans
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Mar 30, 2007
The Eastern Creek International Karting Raceway-sponsored car has been constructed by renowned engineers Bob Riley – formerly the chief engineer for Ralliart Australia – and Nigel Bolling, who has engineered many successful cars including Holt s Championship winning Mitsubishi Lancer last season.
A waiting list of six months has left preparation on the car to the last minute and whilst the team will not have an opportunity to test prior to the gruelling event, Holt said that the package would be ideally suited to endurance racing at the world-renowned 6.213km circuit in New South Wales.
“We expect the car to hit 280 to 290kph down Conrod Straight, so it will be a quick car, ” he explained.
“However because it is turbocharged it also produces a lot of torque which will make it ideal for climbing the mountain. We chose the car because it is a fantastic overall package and I think that it s going to be a very strong car for the 12 hour race.
“It has taken a long time to get the car and then to build it so we are going to be relying on it to be quick and reliable from the first lap in opening practice.
“We believe that with all the research and development that we have done on the car we will have a strong package. ” He said.
Joining Holt behind the wheel, Baird and Morris bring a wealth of Bathurst and endurance racing experience to the team.
Both are veterans of the Bathurst 1000, whilst Baird has recent endurance racing experience behind the wheel of a Porsche Turbo in Dubai, and in the famed Nurburgring 24 hour event in Germany.
Paul Morris also finished third in the Bathurst 24 hour in 2003 driving a Porsche 911.
Garry Holt has been one of the most consistently successful drivers in Australian Performance Car and Production car racing throughout the last five years, finishing inside the top three in the Performance Car Championship in each of the last four years.
In 2006 he dominated the championship and won it in the final round at Eastern Creek.
He has also started three Bathurst 1000 races and contested two Bathurst 24 hour endurance events.
“Paul and Craig s résumé s speak for themselves, ” Holt said.
”I don t think there will be many stronger driving combinations in the race and I am confident that we have one of the strongest teams out there. It s going to be a challenging event but we certainly have all of the ingredients together to make it a successful one for us. ” He said.
The Team Eastern Creek Karts team will be supported by Sydney s Eastern Creek International Karting Raceway, Yokohama Tyres, 2UE and Racer Industries.
The WPS Bathurst 12 hour will be contested as part of the second-year Bathurst International Motoring Festival this Easter Long Weekend.
