By RUSSELL BENNETT
UPPER Beaconsfield motor-racing sensation Jack Le Brocq has once again cemented his reputation as one of the rising stars of speed sport with a top-five finish at the famed Bathurst 12-hour event.
The event was held earlier this month (6-8 February) at the iconic Mount Panorama, with Le Brocq partnering with former Porsche GT3 Cup champion Richard Muscat and V8 Supercars regular Dean Canto in an Erebus Motorsport SLS AMG Mercedes – finishing fifth overall behind eventual winners Florian Strauss, Katsumasa Chiyo and Wolfgang Reip in their Nissan NISMO GT-R.
Le Brocq, Muscat and Canto led the field for 47 laps and sat in the top six for the duration of the race, but two late safety car periods thwarted their chances of victory.
Le Brocq threw everything at the final two laps of the race, passing a series of backmarkers and attempting to rein in the leaders but he ultimately ran out of time.
“… We were in the running for the win until the end and as happens at Bathurst safety cars can really hurt your strategy at times,” said Erebus team principal Daniel Klimenko.
“We also got a drive-through penalty unfortunately for an incident, which we don’t agree with, but that’s racing and you just have to deal with it.
“I’m proud that at the end of the race we were there fighting at the front.”
Le Brocq said he hoped to return to Mount Panorama and give the race another crack next year.
“We had a really good run during the middle of the day, with good speed and running in first… we were looking quite good at that stage,” he said.
“Then a few things happened during the day which hurt us a little bit but that’s what happens in motorsport.
“There’s a lot we can take away from this weekend and do some things differently to help us.
“It was unfortunate not to get a podium place but as always the whole team did a great job.”
