2002 Bathurst 24 Hour

Group structure

The race was open to entries in ten Groups.

Group 1

For FIA N-GT, British GTO, All Japan GT and Nations Cup (Group 1) cars. It featured the Ferrari 360 N-GT, Mosler MT900R, Porsche 996 GT3-RS, Porsche 996 GT3 Cup and the controversial Holden Monaro 427C which did not have a production counterpart.

Group 2

For Porsche Supercup cars. No entries were received.

Group 3

For Nations Cup (Group 2) cars and Super Touring Cars. Only three BMWs entered, Super Touring versions of the 318i and 320i and a modified Z3 M Coupe.

Group 4

For FIA Super 2000 cars. No entries were received.

Group 5

For Australian GT Performance Cars. The entry consisted of BMW ME Coupe, Ford Tickford T3 TE50, HSV Y Series GTS, Mazda RX-7 Series 8, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, Nissan 200SX, Nissan 350Z and Subaru Impreza WRX STi.

Group 6

For FIA Group N cars (3001cc and over). No entries were received.

Group 7

For FIA Group N cars (2500cc-3000cc). No entries were received.

Group 8

For FIA Super Production cars and New Zealand Schedule S cars. No entries were received.

Group 9

For Australian GT Production Cars. The entry consisted of BMW 323i, Holden VX Commodore, Honda S2000 and Toyota MR2 Bathurst.

Group 10

For Invited cars including Future Tourers and Mirage series cars. Entries included Future Tourer Holden Commodores and a Holden V8 engined Mitsubishi Magna, a pair of Nürburgring VLN series BMW M3s and Mitsubishi Mirages.

Top 10 Qualifiers

The top 10 qualifiers for the 2002 Bathurst 24 Hour were as follows:

• During the first qualifying session, the #999 PHR Scuderia Porsche 996 GT3-RS driven by Jim Richards set a time of 2:20.4364 which would have placed the car 4th on the grid. However, later during that same qualifying session, Peter Fitzgerald crashed on the top of the mountain which damaged the car beyond immediate repair. PHR were then forced to substitute team owner Maher Algadrie's Porsche 996 GT3 Cup car in the race. Due to having to substitute cars, the original lap time did not count and the GT3 Cup car eventually qualified in 14th place.
• According to Monaro driver Cameron McConville, as he was such a late addition to the driving line up only a week prior to the race when it was decided that 4 drivers would be better than 3, his first drive of the car actually came in the qualifying session where he managed to set the car's fastest qualifying time, good enough for 2nd on the grid.
• At the recent Sandown 500, the Ferrari 360 N-GT's were severely restricted on top speed by Procar's FIA approved air restrictors. With these allowed to be removed for Bathurst, Brad Jones found enough speed in the 3.6L V8 Ferrari to put it on pole position.

Official results

Results as follows

• #999 PHR Scuderia Porsche 996 GT3-RS had set 4th fastest qualifying time. However, due to a practice crash the car was withdrawn and replaced by the teams 996 GT3 Cup car. As the RS was withdrawn the original time was not counted for grid position.

References

Statistics

• Pole Position - #888 Brad Jones - 2:15.0742
• Fastest Lap - #427 Garth Tander - 2:14.3267 (lap 359)
• Average Speed - 138 km/h

References

1. [https://web.archive.org/web/20060821130631/http://www.procar.com.au/StatsBathurst24hr.pdf Bathurst 24 Hour Race, www.procar.com.au, as archived at web.archive.org]
2. [http://racing.natsoft.com.au/results/#2 Natsoft Race Results]
3. [http://racing.natsoft.com.au/results/#2 2002 Bathurst 24 Hour results]