Hankook Competition Australia lead driver Peter Conroy has warned that the winner of this weekend's Bathurst 12 Hour race will be the car that does the best job of "avoiding the carnage on the Mountain."
Conroy says last year's race showed that inexperienced drivers and the Mount Panorama circuit are a volatile combination.
"The winner will be the Class A car that best manages the inevitable accidents and safety cars - which judging by the entry list and last year's race, I think we can expect again," said Conroy.
He says that he and his co-drivers Mark Brame and Anthony Robson will be aiming to keep their new Mitsubishi Evo X out of trouble in the hope they can challenge for the lead towards the end of the 12 hours.
"The strategy is pretty simple really - stay on the lead lap, minimise the number of fuel and tyre stops and be ready for the sprint at the end."
Following extensive pre-race testing of the Hankook Evo, the team believe they have a package capable of winning.
Conroy says the newly built Evo X is within a second of the best times set by that model at Eastern Creek.
"We're particularly happy with the car's improved engine performance following some tuning by team engineer Geoff Forshaw," said Conroy.
A lot of the team's testing has been focussed on their Hankook tyres, which Conroy says are performing very well, particularly in the rain.
"We've had suspension guru Murray Coote help us sort the car to suit the Hankook tyres and the result is that it's more stable and very comfortable to drive quickly over a long distance.
"Based on our experience of the car and tyres at Eastern Creek in the wet, we wouldn't be afraid of a bit of rain at Bathurst."
Hankook Competition Australia is also supporting two Class D Honda Integras of sister team Conroy Motorsport - the lead car driven by V8 Supercar driver Leanne Tander, veteran racer Terry Conroy and Gerry Burgess.
The Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour is Australia's leading production car endurance race and is scheduled for 12-14 February at Mount Panorama.
