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<body> <Table Width="550" border="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" cellpadding="0"><TR><TD Width="35"><IMG SRC="//www.totalmotorsport.com/images/spacer.gif" WIDTH="35" HEIGHT="1"></td><td> <CENTER><Table border="0" width="100%"> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="5">ELSEWHERE AROUND THE WORLD</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2">20/11/2003</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="4">British GT Bathurst Rookies Stunned By Mountain Challenge</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="3">Shrimpton, Sharpe & Pearce Take A Peek</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="1">  </FONT></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2"><B>British GT Bathurst Rookies Stunned By Mountain Challenge</B><BR> <BR> British Bathurst rookies Adam Sharpe, Tom Shrimpton and Patrick Pearce took their first look at the fabled Mount Panorama circuit today - each being stunned but excited at the challenge ahead in this weekend's Bathurst 24 Hour presented by Formula Green and Eagles Boys Pizza.<BR> <BR> Mosler driver Pearce joined Sharpe and Shrimpton who were taken on a tour of the track by their Morgan Aero 8 team-mate Neil Cunningham.<BR> <BR> Born in New Zealand, raised in Australia, but resident in the UK for the past 20 years - Cunningham has previously raced a V8 Supercar at Mount Panorama.<BR> <BR> "Bathurst has to be the best circuit in the world, it is a real driver's track and every lap you do here is exciting," Cunningham said.<BR> <BR> "I have been racing in the UK for 20 years now but it is great to be back. Depending on who is winning the rugby decides whether I am a Kiwi or Australian - so this week I am an Aussie!"<BR> <BR> "The Morgan is really good on tires and brakes and its fuel consumption is also impressive so we should be quite strong in a race like this."<BR> <BR> The Morgan team's Australian connection continues with Cunningham's team-mate Adam Sharpe. Born in the UK, Sharpe's mother is actually Australian.<BR> <BR> "It is good to back in Australia and I can't wait for the race this weekend," Sharpe said.<BR> <BR> "I have my rugby shirt cut in half for Saturday night - one half Australian and one half English.<BR> <BR> "This is my first time here at Bathurst and my first ever 24 Hour race. Everybody was telling me the circuit was very steep and I thought it wasn't too bad - that was until we started heading back down the hill!<BR> <BR> "This is definitely one of the greatest circuits I have ever seen."<BR> <BR> Tom Shrimpton joins Cunningham and Sharpe in the Morgan for the first time this weekend. The young UK star turned 18 last Wednesday and is enjoying a break from school this weekend!<BR> <BR> "This place is absolutely unreal, it is like nothing I have ever seen before - words really can't describe it," Shrimpton said.<BR> <BR> "I want to get in the car and drive now - I really can't wait. My school friends were very jealous that I was coming down here. It is going to be an amazing weekend."<BR> <BR> 22-year-old Pearce will team up with Martin Short, Charles Lamb and kiwi female racer, Heather Spurle in the Mosler in this week's Mount Panorama event.<BR> <BR> Short's Mosler squad finished 2nd in last year's inaugural Bathurst 24 Hour.<BR> <BR> "The track is just amazing, I never been to a circuit like this before. I heard a lot about it, but it is a lot bigger and better than what I expected," Pearce said.<BR> <BR> "I have watched the V8 Supercars on television before but the first time I went around the circuit here it really took my breath away.<BR> <BR> "The Mosler should be very quick around here. It has a real torquey engine which will be handy coming up the hill, but it is a bit wide so it will be a little like threading the needle coming through some of the tight parts of the circuit like the dipper.<BR> <BR> "It is an easier car to drive compared to the Porsche which I usually drive. It is good for endurance races because you don't have to push as hard."<BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> </FONT></TD></TR> </TABLE><BR> </CENTER> <BR><CENTER><font size="1" color="#808080" face="Tahoma">Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport</font></CENTER> </td> </tr> </table> </body>