MOTOR SPORT
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WHILE Brad Shiels can rightly claim to have done more racing at Mount Panorama than many drivers who will line up for next year’s Bathurst 12 Hour, the talented local knows he must still prepare himself for a massive challenge.
Joining the Bathurst Light Car Club as a teenager gave Shiels the chance to put his foot down as he raced up the slopes of the famous Mount Panorama circuit. He has driven around the full circuit under racing conditions as well.
But come next February the now 21-year-old will tackle the Bathurst 12 Hour for the first time as a member of the AMAC Motorsport team.
He will link with team owner Andrew Macpherson and Matt Campbell in a Porsche GT3R will which will contest the leading Class A category.
Earlier this month Shiels joined his team-mates for three test days, getting good time in the driver’s seat at Wakefield Park and Sydney Motorsport Park.
“It was really good to get those three test days under my belt, because up until then in this model of car I had probably only done 20 laps, which is stuff all really,” Shiels said.
“Now after those three days I’ve done 200-odd laps. That has given me a lot more confidence and I am a lot more comfortable with the car now.
“Most race cars are all the same, but this car is a bit different as it has got all the new GT car stuff like ABS [anti lock braking system]. The ABS is the weirdest thing to get used to as now you can brake in corners.
“Usually you would spin out and crash if you used your brakes in the middle of a corner, so this goes against everything I’ve done in the rest of my driving career.
“But I’ve got my head around it now and that is what doing the test days were all about.”
As a Class A competitor Shiels will be putting his skills to the test against some impressive GT cars. His rivals will steer vehicles such as the Ferrari F458 Italia, Mercedes SLS AMG, Lamborghini Gallardo, Audi R8 LMS Ultra, McLaren MP4, Bentley Continental and the Aston Martin Vantage.
Each of those cars will have their strengths across the 6.213 kilometre circuit and while the Porsche might not clock the highest speeds, Shiels knows it will be competitive.
“It is really, really quick so it should be good,” he said.
“It is not really its power that makes it quick. When I drove a Camaro in one of the Bathurst 12 Hour support races two years ago it had 840 horse power while this Porsche only has 480 horse power.
But where it makes up for it is into the corners and under brakes, it has a lot more down force.
“This Porsche will probably do 270-280 kilometres an hour at Mount Panorama while the Camaro hit 310, but this car will be pretty quick across the top with the aerodynamics it has.”
Shiels will have another chance to get seat time in the IMAK Porsche GT3R next month with the AMAC Motorsport trio to conduct another three test days in the build up to the 2015 Bathurst 12 Hour.
But he is also working on getting himself right physically as he faces the prospect of racing long stints in the summer heat.
“I have been working on my fitness. I could be doing up to two hour stints in the car with 70 degrees cabin temperature, so I need to be ready for that. I have been doing a lot of running and riding,” he said.
“I am getting excited, it really isn’t that far away now, it has crept up pretty fast.”
The 2015 Bathurst 12 Hour event will run from February 6-8.