This BMW M4 GT4 won at Bathurst!

All specialist race cars are truly incredible machines, in as diverse of categories from the technically precise Formula One cars to more roughhouse touring cars. But GT racing is perhaps what can be traced back the furtherest to the early Le Mans races. Nowadays there are three categories: GTLM (one known as GT2) which is raced in the WEC, and GT3 and GT4 which each have their own series (Blancpain and European GT4) while they are also combined at many other events around the world. This is a BMW M4 GT4 that was raced, and won the GT4 class, in the 2018 Bathurst 12 Hour, being driven by touring car icon Tony Longhurst (who also owns the car, and displays it at his museum Garage 25 on Queensland’s Gold Coast), second-gen racer Aaron Seton and third-gen racer Matt Brabham.

The 2018 race was poised to be a true classic with all of the top 5 cars sweating on fuel mileage while the #911 Manthey Porsche was flying at them having taken an extra fuelstop. Unfortunately, a massive crash at McPhillamy Park when the #69 Audi spun across the racing line and was collected brought the race to an early end, leaving the #37 Audi in a surprise victory. Only five of the nine GT4 cars entered (and eight that started) finished, with this car (#30) winning by four laps in class. As for the other entries, the second Ginetta #77 finished second and the highest finishing KTM finished third. The other finishers (albeit well down after accidents at Reid Park and Forrest Elbow respectively) were the #13 and #44 BMWs. As for the others, the remaining BMW didn’t even start, the #48 KTM didn’t last long at all, the sole Cayman GT4 retired about four hours in and the lead (#88) Ginetta was absolutely eviscerated by an out of control Class B Porsche directly after the restart.

This car is special not just for winning Bathurst, but it was also the final ever race car that ATCC champion (and, as mentioned above, the car owner) Tony Longhurst drove, as he retired immediately after the race. It was quite the way to send him out, capping off a fine career that included five AMSCAR titles, an Australian Super Touring title in a BMW, nine Top 10 championship positions in ATCC/V8 Supercars, winning his class in the 1987 Bathurst 1000, then winning it outright in 1988 and 2001; driving with drivers such as Johnny Cecotto Sr, Steve Soper, Jim Richards (many times), Mark Skaife, Alan Jones, Denny Hulme and Tomas Mezera, and winning his class three times at the 12 Hour (1992, 2009 and 2018) as well as winning outright in 2009. He left with a 100% class win record at the 12 Hour when he finished (having had his BMW GT3 crashed by Russell Ingall the year before).