Boss Surveillance C63 owners/drivers Karl Begg and Justin Anthony may be running a naturally-aspirated Mercedes C63 AMG in the upcoming Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour, but say their vehicle is capable of taking the fight right up to the turbo cars.
“We’re expecting to be the fastest non-turbo vehicle at Bathurst, and to be competitive against the turbo cars in Class A1,” Begg said.
“I ran the car in the Combined Sedans support races at the Bathurst 12 Hour in February, and reached a top speed of 272km/h on Con-rod Straight, which should make ours one of the fastest cars in a straight line.”
Begg will share the Mercedes, built to Production Car Class A2 specifications last year, with fellow Queenslander Justin Anthony – it is the only one of its kind developed and run in Australian production car racing, and no effort has been spared in preparing it for the marathon endurance race at Australia’s most famous circuit.
“Since we built the car, it’s been a steady development exercise – we’ve worked on improving areas such as the suspension and brake package, and like a lot of European cars there are some sophisticated electronics which we’ve had to figure out.
“The last few months of testing have allowed us to identify and resolve some of the little glitches that might impact upon our performance.
“Justin will be a great co-driver – he has been one of the front-runners in the Queensland Touring Car Championship and he and I have a very similar driving style. Our lap times have been very evenly-matched, and we like similar sorts of things from the car.
“We’re also bringing (Carrera Cup racer) Anthony Gilbertson along to be our strategist. He has a very analytical brain, which is perfect for making the right calls with pit stops during the heat of battle, and also helping us improve our driving with data analysis. He’ll be a valuable asset to the team.”
The Bathurst 6 Hour will be the first event in a busy 2018 program for the Boss Surveillance team, which will also contest the Queensland Production Car Championship along with selected rounds of the Australian Production Car Series.
“The Queensland PCC only started recently, but through the efforts of Gerry Murphy and the other organisers, it has exploded in popularity,” Begg said.
“Production cars are very popular because they are affordable, easy to source parts for, and eligible for a very wide variety of races.
“We look forward to further developing the car throughout the year and promoting our sponsors, especially Boss Surveillance which has been instrumental in enabling us to put the Bathurst 6 Hour program together,” Begg concluded.
The 2018 Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour will be live streamed on Sunday, 1 April.
Bathurst 6 Hour – Event Schedule
Friday, 30 March
8:35 – Practice 1 (60 min)
13:40 – Practice 2 (60 min)
Saturday, 31 March
8:20 – Practice 3 (60 min)
14:25 – Slower 50 % Qualifying (30 min)
15:00 – Faster 50% Qualifying (30 min)
Sunday, 1 April
11:30 – Bathurst 6 Hour (360 min)
