New liveries for Phoenix, MPC & Nissan
Phoenix Racing has created a tradition of turning up to the Bathurst 12 Hour with an Aussie-themed livery, and this year is no exception. This time, the team will race with a livery representing the local Bathurst Wiradyuri Aboriginal Community, who contributed to the design.
The Goanna and the Platypus are native animals to Australia, and feature prominently. The Goanna is the Wiradyuri people’s totem, while the Platypus is the most important dreaming story in the area. It is the first time a race car with an Australian Indigenous livery has ever competed in an international motorsport event.
The Melbourne Performance Centre is also going to be donning a fresh livery thanks to a new sponsor.
The team’s striking electric blue livery was revealed along with the news that 25-year-old Shae Davies will join the pre-existing combination of brothers James and Theo Koundouris, and fellow Queenslander Marcus Marshall in the #40 R8.
Tekno Motorsport also revealed its colours. The McLaren squad is going to be running a pair of liveries very similar to Von Ryan’s from last year: one white and one orange.
And finally Nissan has tweaked its livery ahead of its title defence, adding the Australia national flag to its standard global livery.
The team tested recently carried out a test session at Phillip Island ahead of the event. Rick Kelly and Florian Strauss shared the driving duties along with 2015 Nissan PlayStation GT Academy winner Matt Simmons, who is preparing to race full-time in the 2016 Blancpain GT Endurance Series.
Nissan released a nice onboard video of Strauss at the test:
Grant Denyer completes Maranello Motorsport’s lineup
Bathurst-based Grant Denyer will join Tony D’Alberto, Mika Salo and Toni Vilander in the 2014-race winning team’s #88 Ferrari 458 for the 12 Hour.
Denyer debuted for the team last year in the Australian GT Championship, and finished an impressive second overall. He also won a solo race at Sydney Motorsport Park last August, and paired with D’Alberto to win two-driver events at Townsville and Sundown.
“Grant had an outstanding season last year and is more than ready and capable to step into the seat and maintain our extremely strong squad of four fantastic drivers,” said team owner Mark Coffey.
“His development last year was brilliant and, as we saw last year, he and Tony work very well together. They are both looking forward to working with Toni and Mika and working together through the build-up to the race so we’re in the best position on Sunday afternoon.
“This is going to be one of the most competitive races ever seen at Mount Panorama and we feel confident that the McDonald’s Maranello Motorsport Ferrari will be amongst the many contenders.”
Denyer recently tested the Maranello Ferrari at Phillip Island ahead of his 12-hour GT3 class debut.
