FIA GT Series champion 2013 Laurens Vanthoor had the opportunity to open his 2014 season on the beautiful racetrack of Mount Panorama Bathurst in Australia. The natural and fast track hosted the 12 Hours of Bathurst this weekend, a semi classic for both GTs and Touring Cars. Laurens Vanthoor shared the Phoenix Audi R8 LMS Ultra with both Rahel Frey and René Rast. The trio came home fifth, less than a lap behind the winners.

A turbulent and – with an outside temperature of about 40 degrees centigrade – a very hot endurance classic – was awaiting Laurens Vanthoor and his teammates in the 12-hour race at Bathurst, Australia. With a fifth place, Phoenix Racing achieved the best result of an Audi R8 LMS Ultra. After 296 race laps with numerous incidents and safety car periods, Rahel Frey, René Rast and Laurens Vanthoor were still on the same lap as the overall winners. Two punctures, a drive-through penalty plus three resets after misfires cost valuable time on the tradition-steeped track at Mount Panorama.

Laurens Vanthoor: “We did everything possible, but I think the Balance of Performance was not right, we had no chance on the straights. A better result than that was impossible. We managed to drive faultlessly and remained out of trouble throughout. All in all it was a tremendous experience, and highly physical as well. The heat was enormous, which did not make driving easy at all. But one thing is for sure: I want to come back!”

Laurens Vanthoor will very shortly be announcing his 2014 programme, and of course it goes without saying with Audi.