MOTOR SPORT
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GERMAN ace Christopher Haase has twice stood on the top tier of the podium as a Nurburgring 24 Hours victor, but when he makes his return to Mount Panorama next February he will be chasing his maiden Bathurst 12 Hour crown.
The GT racing star made his debut in the Bathurst 12 Hour earlier this year, placing ninth in the #16 Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS he shared with Stephane Ortelli and Felix Baumgartner.
The entry was a chance for a podium before problems with their engine robbed them of pace.
“For us novices ninth place is a very good result. We have not made a mistake and had a steep learning curve,” Haase said.
“We were making good progress and have at times fought even a podium finish. But then rose the heat of the engine temperature.”
Still, that taste of sitting amongst the leaders lured Haas – whose quickest lap was a flying two minutes, 4.7293 seconds effort – back for another shot at the endurance race.
He will steer a Jamec-Pem Racing Audi R8 in next year’s Bathurst 12 Hour.
“The 12 hour race at Bathurst in Australia has developed into a true endurance classic over these last few years,” Haase said.
“The old style road course that leads around Mount Panorama is one of the most renowned, as well as one of the toughest, in the world.”
Jamec-Pem has acquired two new Audi R8s from Germany which it will race at Mount Panorama, with Haase set to share the seat of one of those entries with factory Audi driver Christopher Mies.
Craig Lowndes is the lead driver for the other entry.
Even with the announcement on who the third driver for that Audi will be still pending, it is already shaping as a car to watch.
Mies is a five-time Bathurst 12 Hour entrant and won back-to-back crowns in 2011-12. He also placed third in this year’s GT3-Am class.
He was just 21 when he won the first of his titles and by the end of the race, only six-time Bathurst 1000 winner Craig Lowndes had clocked a faster lap of the 6.123 kilometre circuit.
“It means quite a lot. I did the first stint then Mark [Basseng] did the double stint. I set the fastest race lap before Craig [Lowndes] did on the last lap. It is just incredible,” he said at the time.
Given Mies is the current leader of the Australian GT Championships Champ class with one round remaining, he could very well help Haase to a Bathurst podium.
As part of his preparation for the Bathurst 12 Hour, Haase will also contest the final round of the Australian GT Championships.