News
24th Bathurst start for veteran warhorse
An outright 12 Hour winner returns to Mt Panorama for yet another crack at the Hi-Tec Bathurst 6 Hour over the Easter weekend.
It will be the 24th time that Peter O’Donnell’s BMW E92 335i will cut laps at the famous mountain. This year it will be co-driven by O’Donnell, car preparer Garry Mennell and Scott Turner.
Since 2007 where the car won the Bathurst 12 Hour, it since competed in a further 10 once-around-the-clock events, four 6 Hours and several other Production Car races as well as the Challenge Bathurst events.
The car has covered more competition laps at Mt Panorama than any other over an 18-year period. After that initial 12 Hour with Craig Baird, Garry Holt and Paul Morris, it won again in 2010 with Morris, Holt and John Bowe sharing the driving duties.
Parkes businessman O’Donnell purchased the car and had two class wins along with a second and a third before regulation changes ruled it out of contention. In the four subsequent 6 Hours it has had a High Performance Forced Induction Class B1 win and a third.
Last year which was O’Donnell’s tenth 12/6 Hour appearance where he shared with Super 2 driver Matt Chadha and Mennell, the car performed admirably against many newer and more powerful machines. For a period of 11 laps, it was in the top two on the road and even led the 58-car field for a couple of laps.
On Mount Panorama alone, the BMW 335i has lapped the circuit 3,683 times in practice, qualifying and races. That is 22,882.5 kilometres or 14,218.5 miles. It is more than the distance to circumnavigate the Australian mainland which measures 17,100 kilometres. It is more than halfway around the Earth’s 40.075 kilometres circumference and is around the distance from Sydney to New York and back.
The car has also competed at various other tracks around Australia like Sandown, Queensland Raceway, Wakefield Park and Sydney Motorsport Park.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
The BMW E92 3 Series Coupe 335i was first produced in December 2004 and production ran through to 2013. It was sold in Australia from 2005.
It is powered by a direct injection inline 3.0 litre six cylinder, turbo charged with intercooler, mated to a six-speed manual transmission. In production form it produces 225 kW @ 5800 rpm and 400 Nm of torque.
The 1600 kilogram two-door coupe has a top speed of 250 kilometre per hour, has 348 millimetre vented front and 336 millimetre rear disc brakes and is tyred with 225/45 R17 and 255/40 R17 front and rear respectively.
BATHURST 12 HOUR RESULTS
2007 – Craig Baird, Garry Holt, Paul Morris – 1st Outright 257 laps, 1st Class A
2008 – Craig Baird, Garry Holt, Paul Morris – 3rd Outright 252 laps, 1st Class B
2009 – Craig Baird, Ric Shaw, Garry Holt – 8th Outright 228 laps, 3rd Class A
2010 – John Bowe, Paul Morris, Garry Holt – 1st Outright 202 laps, 1st Class B
2011 – Christian D’Agostin, Peter O’Donnell, Matt Hansen – 10th Outright 252 laps, 2nd Class D
2012 – Christian D’Agostin, Peter O’Donnell, Grant Duffy – 13th Outright 205 laps, 3rd Class D
2013 – Peter O’Donnell, Andre Heimgartner, Anthony Gilbertson – 29th Outright 183 laps, 1st Class D
2014 – Peter O’Donnell, Allan Shephard, Kean Booker, Matt Chahda – 12th Outright 238 laps, 2nd Class D
2015 – Ric Shaw, Jake Williams, Matt Chahda, Steve Devjak – 28th Outright 239 laps, 1st Class D
2016 – Jake Williams, Will Cauchi, David Cox, Ric Shaw – DNF 107 laps
2017 – Garry Mennell, Bernard Verryt, Steve van Bellingen – DNF 111 laps
BATHURST 6 HOUR RESULTS
2017 – Peter O’Donnell, Simon O’Donnell, James O’Donnell – 26th Outright 109 laps, 3rd Class B1
2021 – Peter O’Donnell, Peter Johnston, Garry Mennell – 25th Outright 114 laps, 1st Class B1
2023 – Matt Chahda, Matt Harris, Garry Mennell – DNF 40 laps, Class B1
2024 – Peter O’Donnell, Matt Chahda, Garry Mennell – 15th Outright 118 laps, 3rd Class B1
2025 – Peter O’Donnell, Garry Mennell, Scott Turner – ?