Ferrari on the Mountain: A history
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THE PRANCING HORSE: Arguably the most iconic brand in motorsport – and Mount Panorama has a significant part to play in Ferrari’s GT racing legacy.
The brand returns after a lengthy absence this year via Arise Racing GT, who have confirmed the addition of their pair of 296GT3 cars to the 2025 grid.
Despite years of GT and Production Car racing on the big hill, Ferrari had never won a ‘tin top’ race in Bathurst prior to the Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour opening its doors to international GT racing in 2011.
Lex Davison’s win aboard a Ferrari 625 in the 1958 Australian Grand Prix was the only time the brand had won on the Mountain prior to the 12-Hour’s move to ‘go global’.
Even then it took a couple of years, but that shift finally allowed the folks in Maranello to add Bathurst to the iconic list of global circuits where the brand had achieved long distance racing success.
23 Ferrari entries have been part of the Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour since 2011, though four of those failed to make the race start after incidents earlier in the weekend ruled them out.
The brand has achieved two famous victories, an additional pair of podium finishes and nine top 10 finishes in total since the first car with a Prancing Horse tackled Australia’s International Enduro in 2011.
Ferrari’s pair of victories have come via two of arguably the most memorable races in 12-Hour history and have each included Craig Lowndes - just to add to the importance and both national and international appeal.
With the still-new Arise Racing GT prepared pair of Ferrari 296 GT3s, that finished first and third in the 2024 Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia season, locked and loaded to contest the race next February 2, we though it timely to look back at Ferrari’s history in Australia’s International Enduro.
Scroll down for our year by year recap..
Much of the history covered here has been sourced from ‘Going Global’, the history of the Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour’s first 10 years as a GT race, published by the V8 Sleuth. Limited copies remain and the book is on sale at a special price now – order yours at the V8 Sleuth Superstore here.
TWO Ferrari F430 GT3s entered the first iteration of the 12-Hour as a global GT race, and while they lacked the raw speed of the factory-supported Audi’s, the sixth place from the Rosso Verde entry was a sign of the potential to come from the prancing horse.
And after years of competition in domestic GT racing, 2011 also saw the debut of Maranello Motorsport on the Mountain, a significant moment that would bare fruit just a few years later.
Rosso Verde Ireland Ferrari F430GT3 Allan Simonsen, Luke Searle, Hector Lester. Qualified 9th, finished 6th.
Maranello Motorsport Ferrari F430 GT3 Peter Edwards, John Bowe, Tim Leahey. Qualified 8th, DNF (Engine failure)
ALLAN Simonsen’s early laps in the lead are the stuff of 12-hour legend now, the shrieking Ferrari piercing the cool morning air as he disappeared off into the lead setting lap record after lap record. While that car sadly failed to finish, the debut of Asian team Clearwater Racing was stunning – despite a BoP penalty post-qualifying slugging them an additional 50kg of weight, they led laps and finished third outright, winning plenty of fans along the way.
Clearwater Racing Ferrari 458GT3 Craig Baird, Matt Griffin, Mok Weng Sun. Qualified 3rd, Finished 3rd Notes: Led two laps, 50kg weight penalty for exceeding benchmark lap time in qualifying.
Maranello Motorsport 458GT3 John Bowe, Peter Edwards, Dominik Farnbacher, Allan Simonsen. Qualified 2nd, DNF (Electrical issues, 114 laps) Notes: Led 23 laps early, Allan Simonsen set the fastest lap and race lap record.
CLEARWATER went one better in 2013 despite a wild race that at one point saw them a lap down, before an heroic stint from Irishman Matt Griffin dragged them into contention despite a damaged front splitter. AF Corse made their Bathurst debut with a solid top-10, while Maranello’s streak of shocking luck continued with an early non-finish having earlier qualified second. Notable was the debut of Mika Salo, and while we didn’t know it at the time, this would be Allan Simonsen’s last 12-hour start.
Clearwater Racing Ferrari 458GT3 Craig Baird, Matt Griffin, Mok Weng Sun. Qualified 3rd, Finished 2nd Notes: Led 40 laps, multiple drive through penalties, finished one lap off the lead in torrential rain. Heroic drives by Baird, Griffin to haul into contention.
AF Corse 458GT3 Marco Cioci, Michele Rugolo, Steve Wyatt. Qualified 10th, finished 7th Notes: Debut for storied AF team and all three drivers
Maranello Motorsport 458GT3 John Bowe, Peter Edwards, Mika Salo, Allan Simonsen. Qualified 2nd, DNF after 11 laps Notes: Delayed early, out following a shunt at McPhillamy
OF the four Ferrari’s entered in 2014, two failed to make the start and one was out after less than three hours – but it didn’t matter: the one that counted lasted ‘til the end and delivered Ferrari their first 12-Hour victory as Peter Edwards, Mika Salo and John Bowe watched Craig Lowndes fend off the Mercedes of Maxi Buhk in the race’s most thrilling finish yet.
Lowndes added the 12-Hour to his (then) six Bathurst 1000 crowns, Salo became the first Finn to win at Bathurst and JB claimed his second. Peter Edwards, who paid for it, and Maranello Motorsport boss Mark Coffey, who ran it, key factors also in a famous Bathurst win.
Maranello Motorsport 458GT3 Craig Lowndes, Peter Edwards, John Bowe, Mika Salo. Qualified 2nd, 1st 296 laps
Clearwater Racing 458GT3 Craig Baird, Matt Griffin, Hiroshi Hamaguchi, Mok Weng Sun. Qualified 12th, DNF after 57 laps Notes: Heavy shunt for Hamaguchi at entry to McPhillamy
AF Corse 458GT3 Marco Cioci, Michele Rugolo, Steve Wyatt. DNS – crashed at Cutting in qualifying
Vicious Rumour Racing 458GT3 Dean Canto, Tony D’Alberto, Tony Defelice, Renato Loberto. DNS – hit at McPhillamy by another car in FP1
TALK about a tough title defence! Of the record six Ferrari entries, the brilliantly named Vicious Rumour Racing entry was the best finisher in sixth, while Clearwater was 8th in what would be their final 12-Hour start. Defending winners Maranello Motorsport didn’t even get past practice one after a crash at The Elbow destroyed the 2014-winning car.
Vicious Rumour Racing 458GT3 Benny Simonsen, Andrea Montermini, Renato Loberto. Qualified 50th (No time), Finished 6th Notes: Runner up in GT3AM Class, gained 44 spots.
Clearwater Racing 458GT3 Mok Weng Sun, Toni Vilander, Matt Griffin. Qualified 6th, finished 8th Notes: P6 in GT3Am Class, third top eight in four starts
Trass Family Motorsport 458GT3 Jono Lester, John McIntyre, Graeme Smyth. Qualified 16th, DNF, overheating
AF Corse 458GT3 Steve Wyatt, Michele Rugolo, Davide Rigon. Qualified 4th, DNF – Crash with 36 Mercedes after 163 laps
Pirelli / Trofeo Motorsport 458GT3 Jim Manolios, Ryan Millier, Ivan Capelli. Qualified 25th, DNF after 114 laps, hit by 55 Audi under SC.
Maranello Motorsport 458GT3 Mika Salo, Ben Collins, Tony D’Alberto. DNS – 2014 winning car crashed at Forrest’s Elbow in FP1.
A QUIET year for Ferrari with both entries out of the race, though the Defelice Homes entry ran solidly before they were outsted. Maranello Motorsport’s horror run (aside from the 2014 win) continued; they were out before the third hour but really out of contention from lap one following contact at Griffin’s Bend.
Defelice Homes 458GT3 Tony Defelice, Andrea Montermini, Benny Simonsen, Renato Loberto. Qualified 21st, DNF after 256 laps, issues with rear suspension
Maranello Motorsport 458GT3 Mika Salo, Toni Vilander, Tony D’Alberto, Grant Denyer. Qualified 16h, DNF after 63 laps due to damage on lap one contact with Lamborghini
TALK ABOUT win or bust! Maranello Motorsport burst back into the Bathurst records in the best possible way in 2017 as Craig Lowndes, Toni Vilander and Jamie Whincup scored a remarkable victory.
The quickest car at every point across the weekend, Vilander’s pole lap was one thing but his remarkable mid-race stint that saw the car a second a lap quicker than anything else for more than 90 minutes still stands as one of Bathurst’s great drives. Win capped off by the late, famous battle between Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen that saw the former pass on the grass down Conrod and the latter crash exiting the dipper. The debut of the 488GT3, the third generation of Ferrari GT3 car to race at Bathurst, sure was a good ‘un.
Maranello Motorsport 488GT3 Toni Vilander, Craig Lowndes, Jamie Whincup. Qualified 1st, Finished 1st.
WITH Maranello Motorsport focusing on their road car operations, there were no Ferrari’s on the 12-Hour grid for the first time since the 2010 race this year.
SPIRIT OF RACE came to Bathurst with their IMSA and WEC combination of Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy and Mathias Lauda – Lamy the third ex-F1 driver to race a Ferrari at Bathurst following Mika Salo and Andrea Montermini’s efforts previously. The team had a solid day, too, climbing from outside the 20 to finish 9th outright but also claim the Pro-Am class – Ferrari’s first class win in the race.
Spirit of Race 488GT3 Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy, Mathias Lauda. Qualified 23rd, Finished 9th, Won Pro-Am class. Notes: Penalized 10 grid spots in qualy after crash with another car in FP2
HubAuto Corse 488GT3 Nick Foster, Tim Slade, Nick Percat. Qualified 20th, Finished 18th Notes: Delayed after contact with a MARC Car
HUB AUTO returned for a second attempt however a practice crash at the top of the Mountain meant they failed to start the race.
This would be the last Ferrari to grace Mount Panorama in 12-hour spec, with no entries from cars fielding a car made in Maranello in 2022, 23 or ’24.
HubAuto Corse 488GT3 Marcos Gomes, Tim Slade, Daniel Serra. DNS – Serra crashed in FP5 at McPhillamy
