We are at the 2015 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour (find it this weekend on your social media channels with #B12hr ) this weekend as the Australian sportscar season gets underway. The massive field features the Vicious Rumour Ferrari squad which features a top lineup including Renato Loberto and Benny Simonsen.
The squad had a solid first day, keeping the car straight – more than they had in 2015 and more than many other runners in the field. The four, one hour sessions were punctuated by many red flag periods – which obviously plays around with the plans of the team. As Benny said in this interview – “There were a lot of red flags out there so it was difficult to get a lap. We had maximum of three clean laps today.”
The Bathurst 12 Hour features the Allan Simonsen Trophy for qualifying after the late Allan Simonsen, Benny’s brother set brutally fast lap times around this track. The race is more important without a doubt but it does raise something extra for this team and especially Benny – “The main thing is to focus on the race without a doubt. But it would be nice to win the trophy.”
The team also has the vastly experienced Andrea Montermini in the team – a man with F1, Champ Car and a lot of GT experience in the team. While there were plenty of jokes about his height – or rather lack of it, Andrea brings many advantages to a squad looking to get to the end of the first proper Bathurst 12 Hour – lets not cound their 2014 race where they didn’t make it past practice one – “His history with the Ferrari GT program has been over 13 years – he has a huge amount of experience”. The Italian nature of the team also brings other challenges for a team, something Andrea has helped with – “He (Montermini) speaks Italian so it is good to have someone to speak Italian to the Mechanics”
The team is confident – “I think we have a good chance for a class win and don’t see why we can’t battle for the outright podium or win” which could result in more than just Bathurst for the team this year – “See how we end up on Sunday and see then (for GT rounds in 2015)”
For the full B12hr interview you can listen below. Loberto is the first to respond.
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By Sam Tickell, February 2015
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