Allan Dippie lines up for the Bathurst 12 Hour this Sunday , in what is hailed as the most international race held at Mount Panorama since the 1987 Bathurst 1000, which doubled as a World Touring Car Championship round.
In his third consecutive year at this event, the Dunedin driver's three-man team will be joined by a 12 overseas entries in a 32-car field that includes two Lamborghinis, two Ferrari 458 GT3s, three Audi R8 LMSs and two Mercedes-Benz SLS AMGs.
He will pilot the "old faithful" Porsche 996 GT3 Cup Car, in which he finished the 2008 Nurburgring 24-hour race in Germany. It is owned by the Motorsports Services team that is running four New Zealand entries, including Dippie, Scott O'Donnell, of Invercargill, in a Porsche 997, plus two BMWs.
Dippie had every confidence the Porsche was up to completing the endurance challenge.
"It's a quick car. It's certainly had a bit of modification to make it go even faster around Bathurst."
Sharing the 75 to 90-minute driving stints on each tank of fuel with him in the Class B GT3 category are Bruce Thomlinson - part of a class-winning BMW 130i team last year - and Dippie's 2011 compatriot Mark Maddren, with whom he finished eighth overall.
They will be up against a team containing former Bathurst 1000 winner Steven Richards and Australian V8 Supercar racing driver Steven Johnson, in the same model Porsche, ensuring they are "mixing in good company", Dippie said, with a laugh.
Much of the rest of the field is similarly impressive, featuring current champions in the Australian Porsche Carrera Cup (Craig Baird), Touring Car Masters (John Bowe) and Australian GT (Mark Eddy), plus four former Bathurst 1000 winners - Craig Lowndes, Richards, John Bowe and Bob Holden. From further afield come Dutch stars Porsche International Supercup champion Jeroen Bleekemolen and LeMans 24-hour class winner Peter Kox.
Dippie said the key to a good class result at Bathurst was to keep the car going for 12 hours at the demanding pace, as last year a third of the field did not finish.
"If we can get the two [Motorsport Services] Porsches into a top 10 position again this year, it will be a feat, given the competition but that's the aim."
