Bathurst 12hr: Griffin gunning for podium finish on the ‘Mountain’

Ferrari GT driver Matt Griffin will be striving for three podium finishes in as many years this weekend, as he heads to Australia for the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12hr. Irishman Matt, will drive for Singapore based Ferrari team, Clearwater racing, alongside Australian Craig Baird, Singapore based Mok Weng Sun and Japanese driver Hiroshi Hamaguchi.

Matt Griffin

Photo by: Ed Fahey

The town of Bathurst in New South Wales is home to one of the most demanding racing circuits in the world. Held on closed public roads, The Mountain, as it is known, is made up of some extremely high speed sections with very little margin for error, which means it presents a huge challenge for both team and driver.

“When you first get on ‘The Mountain’ it is a very daunting place. It has a great flow to it and to be quick you have to be totally committed. Once I got the hang of the fast flowing section over the Mountain, I was on it; I’m really comfortable with the place now and can’t wait to get back there. When you have the car underneath you and you feel comfortable around Bathurst, it’s got to be one of the best feelings in the world.” revealed Matt.

With the might of Erebus Motorsport Mercedes, returning to defend their victory, and the strongest field of International GT cars and world-class drivers ever assembled in Australia, Griffin, who set the fastest lap of the 2013 edition, feels his team has every chance to complete their run of podium finishes with a victory this coming weekend.

“It will be tough! I know we have a great car, great team and a great driver line up – Bairdo (Craig Baird), is very fast and experienced and together with Weng (Mok Weng Sun) and Hiroshi (Hamaguchi), we have the ingredients to do the job. I think last year people overlooked us slightly going into the race, but I think this year we will go in as serious contenders.” Matt added.

It has been a very busy start of the season for the Northamptonshire based ELMS champion, having already tackled two 24hr races on 2 different continents in 2014. Matt, however, doesn’t see any issue in his busy schedule that will see him drive in over 30 races all over the world this year. “Its been a very busy start to the season and that looks set to continue throughout the year, while the travelling is difficult, doing all that driving keeps me sharp and in the zone, which is exactly where I need to be”.

MIS Motorsport