Bathurst 12H: GWS Personnel Motorsport preview

GWS Seeks More Bathurst Glory at 12 Hour

The GWS Personnel Motorsport team is all fired up to defend their Bathurst 12 Hour one-two class result from last year's event, with their pair of BMW 130is undergoing a flawless preparation for the gruelling once around the clock production car classic.

2009 'Class C Performance' class winners Peter O'Donnell, Allan Shephard and Christian D'Agostin will return to defend their crown, joined at the last minute by regular HSV driver Steve Briffa.

The second of the GWS Personnel machines will be piloted by the experienced combination of David Ryan, Geoff Fontaine and Bruce Thomlinson, who has previously raced the BMW in sprint rounds, including at the Sandown Raceway finale in 2009.

Following on from a successful recent test session at Eastern Creek Raceway, the outfit is brimming with confidence coming into the opening round of the championship.

"After winning our class at Bathurst last year and finishing second overall in the 2009 championship, with 12 months worth of development having gone into the car, I must say we are very excited about the race this year," said O'Donnell.

"There is a fair bit more competition in the class this year, but I think we have a proven package, and realistically I think a top ten result outright is achievable.

"Allan is ultra-experienced around Bathurst in production cars, and Christian will be as fast as ever, he did an awesome job at the test session making some set up changes to make the car easier to drive.

"Having Steve on board for the 12 Hour is a bonus, he is very talented, and I'm glad we can help him out in scoring a good haul of championship points to start the season with."

Shephard meanwhile requires no introduction to Mount Panorama, having previous competed in the Bathurst 24 Hour, as well as several 12 Hour events.

"We're all very pumped up for the weekend, the cars ran faultlessly at the test session, and Garry Mennell from On Track Motorsport has done a brilliant job preparing and tuning the cars," said Shephard.

"At Eastern Creek we were only a couple of seconds off the outright class cars, that sort of pace coupled with the BMW reliability makes a very competitive package.

"Peter made his Bathurst debut 12 months ago, and he has really come along in leaps and bounds since then, while Christian and Steve really complete the driver line up.

"At this stage there is also a very good chance that we will be running a third car in the form of our trusty Toyota Celica, but we just need a few last minute things to fall into place."

Three practice sessions and a half hour qualifying run will precede the eighth running of the Bathurst 12 Hour, which dates back to 1991.

The event doubles as the opening round of the six round Australian Manufacturers Championship, which will include rounds at Symmons Plains (Tasmania), Phillip Island (Victoria), Eastern Creek (New South Wales), Morgan Park (Queensland) and Sandown (Victoria).

GWS Personnel and True Blue Motorsport would like to thank The Shire Conveyancer, Spinifex Australia, Rogue Lager and Briffa Smash Repairs for their continued support in the Australian Manufacturers Championship and Bathurst 12 Hour.

-source: gws personnel Motorsport