McLennan Motorsport has overcome two tyre failures to salvage a top 10 finish and fifth in class in the 2024 Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour today.
The Hastings Deering BMW M4, driven by Tom McLennan, David Russell and Shane Smollen was one of the leading contenders for the race, and proved that with fast times in early weekend practice.
But come race day, luck was not on their side.
After qualifying ninth, Smollen started the race and ran sixth until he endured the first of two tyre failures.
The second tyre issue caused a major ABS failure that meant a lengthy pit stop to get the car back out on track.
The #81 entry fell as low as 43rd in the field, losing five laps with the combined tyre and ABS repairs.
The team, however, never gave up. Russell jumped into the car to recover up to 24th, handing the car over to McLennan for a giant two and a half hour final stint that saw him come home in ninth place overall.
The team also recovered two of its lost laps, meaning they came home three laps off the lead.
McLennan’s solid final hour saw him rise from 15th up to 10th on the final lap before making one final pass on the BMW of Courtney Prince to secure ninth place.
McLennan’s focus now returns to Carrera Cup where he will compete in the second round of the championship at Taupo in New Zealand.
QUOTES
Tom McLennan
“It wasn’t the day we were expecting. We got a bit of bad luck with two tyre failures and an ABS fault that put us about five laps behind, but we ended up finishing in ninth overall and three laps down,” said McLennan.
“We gained a bit back at the end, so that was really positive.
“Shane started in the car for an hour and a half. Dave jumped in for an hour and a half and I had a big stint at the end for two and a half hours or something, which was the longest I’ve ever been in a car.
“It was an awesome experience. I’d like to thank the team for all their hard work all weekend. We didn’t get the result, but coming back from 44th to ninth was a really cool outcome.”
David Russell
“Firstly, the crew did a fantastic job. All of our pit crew. They were awesome,” said Russell.
“The car was unbelievably reliable. We had some bad luck with two tyres going down, so we just kept dropping laps.
“At one stage we were five laps down so to end up back fifth in class, we just had that persistence of just working away with our pit stop strategy.
“Tommy did an awesome job towards the end, just clawing back those other places in front of us.”
Shane Smollen
“Not exactly the result we’re looking for, but when you think about all that happened today, finishing ninth is a great result,” said Smollen.
“This car is unbelievable. It has done three Bathurst 6 Hours now and it has actually never had a mechanical failure.
“It was a great effort by the team. And I think just to get to ninth after being as low as 45th Iis something that we can all be happy with.”
