Holden meanwhile has two more chances at adding to its current record of 34 Bathurst victories, despite the brand having been retired from the new car marketplace at the end of Although Gen3 machines will not race in , Supercars has promised that fans will see plenty of the new cars during the year.
Become a subscriber to the V8 Sleuth Newsletter to get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign in. Log into your account. Forgot your password? Password recovery. Recover your password. Log in Contact Us About Us. Whincup ends his full-time driving career at the end of the current season and will take up the managing director and team principal roles at Triple Eight Race Engineering, which opted for Feeney over a more experienced driver.
Parallels will inevitably be drawn with Whincup, who joined Triple Eight Race Engineering in and won on debut with the team in Adelaide, won Bathurst as co-driver to Craig Lowndes and finished 10th in the championship.
After a Dunlop Super2 Series championship win and multiple main-game starts, Thomas Randle will finally race in the Repco Supercars Championship on a fulltime basis with Tickford Racing in Thomas Randle also steps up, with Tickford Racing expanding to four entries next season.
Randle joins the main game after an incredible journey over the last two years, having been diagnosed with testicular cancer and undergoing treatment throughout the course of After winning the Australian Formula Ford championship in and finishing runnerup in the Australian Formula 4 championship in ,. The Victorian returned to Australia in and joined Tickford Racing in the Dunlop Super2 Series for two seasons, before a move to MW Motorsport resulted in a championship victory in the second-tier category in After an endurance codriver stint with Brad Jones Racing in , Randle returned to Tickford Racing for further wildcard entries and another Bathurst start in ahead of his full-time promotion in He also returned to his open-wheeler roots by winning races in the S championship.
Gates has been a long-time supporter of Victor Bray and Jay Upton, two of the most iconic names in Australian drag racing, and, more recently, developed a mutually beneficial relationship with Heimgartner. With emerging teenager Matt Payne joining their junior development program and the charismatic David Reynolds, Gates is excited about continuing their relationship with the team. Get connected Join the Shannons Club - shannons. Premium Quality. In many types of cars went to Bathu one man, conq rst, But one uered It.
The hu sT. A uTopics. After 13 years of team ownership, brothers Todd and Rick Kelly have sold their remaining stake in Kelly Grove Racing, ending more than two decades of direct involvement in Supercars. Brothers Rick and Todd Kelly have sold their 50 percent stake in Kelly Grove Racing to the Grove Group, handing over full ownership of the Victorian-based team to father-and-son duo Stephen and Brenton Grove from But now is the time to hand over the reins to Stephen and Brenton Grove.
Kelly Racing switched to Nissan with a factory-backed deal from , turning the Altima into a race-winning package despite the challenge of developing the aerodynamic and engine package from the first year of the Car of the Future regulations. Kelly Racing will retain. Todd and Rick Kelly end their direct ownership in Supercars with the sale of their remaining stake in Kelly Grove Racing. Unfortunately, we were forced into another long spell without racing. But now we are back racing again, with a hectic end to the season that concludes with the biggest event of the year.
The preparation for Bathurst has again been impacted by the changes to the schedule, so we enter the event with very limited testing, a run of consecutive events at Sydney Motorsport Park and no lead-in endurance event. While Team 18 has been busy in the workshop practicing pitstops and preparing for Bathurst, nothing compares to the real thing in. However, we are all in the same boat and have the experience from last season, with an endurance event to end the season after a run of sprint rounds, so teams should be better prepared knowing what to expect.
He will constantly say what we should be trying and even gives his thoughts on pit strategies and how we should. That experience is crucial for a Bathurst without a lead-in event. With so little recent racing for most co-drivers ahead of Bathurst, experience and confidence will be a big factor once again. How the teams and drivers deal with that pressure will be vital, so experience counts for a lot. Last season we came away from Bathurst with two top 10 finishes in the race to secure two top 10 finishes in the championship standings.
This season we are better placed with the second-season experience of running two cars and stability in terms of personnel, with only Michael new to the team this season. We started this season with fourth and fifth places across the two kilometre races at Bathurst, so clearly the goal is to make it onto the podium.
But we are well placed with a strong team and a car that on its day can compete at the front of the field. Anything can happen at Bathurst. And we are certainly mindful that weather could play a big factor at the start of summer. Now we just have to deliver. These special livery model cars have just been announced andBeare available Orders Must Received By 30th November 2 now to pre-order. Phone orders will no longer be accepted. But nothing compares to the intensity of a race meeting, especially at Bathurst.
Once again there will be a lot of pressure on co-drivers with no lead-in endurance event, going into Bathurst stone cold in a Supercar without the crucial experience from a recent race.
I know what that feeling is like having gone through that experience in Newcastle in Fifteen years after we first won Bathurst together, it would be a great way to end his fulltime career. Having made the decision on his future, he will go to Bathurst with the mindset of enjoying the experience while also leaving nothing on the table. Knowing how methodical he is with his preparation, it remains to be seen if he decides to combine his role as team manager with co-driving duties moving forward, which could make this event even more significant.
I was given a similar opportunity with the Holden Racing Team at Bathurst in and in the championship in , and racing for such strong teams is a great foundation for a young driver. Like with Garth and I, the championship continues to evolve after we stop racing full-time, but the hunger and determination to compete remains the same, especially at Bathurst. After the pressure cooker of consecutive events at Sydney Motorsport Park, it will be another intense Bathurst with championship considerations also in play.
Return the order form below or order online www. Holden committed to Australian touring cars with the creation of the Holden Dealer Team. But with Generals Motors not allowing its manufacturers to race in an official capacity, Holden garnered the support of its dealer network to overcome that limitation. From saddlery manufacturing in Adelaide in , Holden grew into an Australian automotive giant. The race, the first to be run under Appendix J regulations, featured 44 cars, 23 of which were Holdens, the majority the FX.
It set the tone for the future of the championship, with Holden not only a constant presence but often having the most cars on the grid. Six decades on, Holden still contributed more than half of the cars on the grid with 16 of 24 entries in Holden entrants switched from the Monaro to the Torana in the s, coinciding with the rise of the Holden Dealer Team and the arrival of Peter Brock.
Brock scored a podium in his Bathurst debut in and three years later won the event singlehandedly in a dominant display in wet conditions in Brock was lobbying the Confederation of Australian Motorsport CAMS hard for acceptance that year of more powerful big-valve Ltype cylinder heads being used in his new HDT Special Vehicles road cars, but the governing body disagreed due to insufficient numbers being produced for homologation.
So in Brock had his work cut out against Dick. Brock countered with another Sandown win and was looking fast and threatening in the opening laps of the Bathurst until a broken axle put him out of contention. All you need to do is subscribe or renew your SupercarXtra Magazine print subscription before January 31 and tell us in 25 words or less why you should be the winner.
Terms and conditions can be found on www. Ingall, at 57 years of age, and Murphy, who is 49, have Bathurst wins among their many credentials and are two of the greats of recent times in terms of their racing, profiles and personalities. While they are Bathurst veterans, their addition to the field will be a breath of fresh air to the Great Race in Then there are their co-drivers, teenager Feeney on the brink of a full-time graduation with Triple Eight to replace the seventime champion Jamie Whincup, and Stanaway, who walked away.
Ingall is the no-holds barred enforcer; one of the hardest racers the sport has seen, who won the Supercars championship once and claimed victory at Bathurst twice. Murphy has been a Holden man for his entire career apart from his Bathurst debut in a Toyota Carina in , while Ingall has driven Holdens, Fords and Nissans at Bathurst.
But they have both been out of the seat for a few years; Murphy last raced there in and Ingall in That is not in their DNA. Former rival and co-worker in television land to both, Mark Skaife, expects they will get up to speed and race hard because that is what they do.
People are just so obsessed with this age thing. Have a look at the age that Peter Brock was in his original retirement when he was leading Bathurst and broke the lap record — he was 53! He had a new radio show among his many other ventures. The last thing on his mind was coming out of retirement for another Bathurst. Funnily enough, he was enjoying himself. But he knew he needed to get in a car, preferably a Supercar, and Murphy will race in the Bathurst for the first time since , continuing his streak of racing Holden Commodores that dates back to It is a challenge that motivated him.
He is expecting some parts of the driving will be better and easier than before, while other parts will be harder. He is under no illusions. Stanaway, he feels, will be the same. But keep in mind, he says, that this is not realistically an outright tilt at win number five. I want to be competent. Ingall finished in second place in the Bathurst , five days before Broc Feeney was born.
He does expect that the ride over the top of Mount Panorama will be more entertaining as a driver than it was because of that, though.
Any time you get to drive around Bathurst is an honour. Reality settled in the day the covers came off the car at the formal launch. If this is my last Bathurst, I want to have a decent crack at it.
The high-profile additions to the grid in the Repco Bathurst add to the long history of wildcard entries at the event. The third and final Armstrong at Phillip Island, before the race moved to Bathurst in , saw the first women to enter the event, driving together in a Simca Aronde. They paved the way for the more than 30 women and 15 all-women combinations in the history of the event. This was the first non-Antipodean and non-European combination at Bathurst, and the first of many Japanese drivers to race in the event over the coming decades.
Though a start-line stall that resulted in significant damage curtailed their race, which eventually ended with engine failure, it remains the most high-profile combination in the history of the Great Race. The rally stars were the first internationals to venture to Australia to compete in the Bathurst endurance event in Guthrie had become the first woman to qualify for an Indianapolis earlier in the year.
She was joined at Bathurst by Rutherford, who by that stage had won the Indianapolis on two occasions. The entry failed to finish the race, with Thatcher going on to make worldwide headlines when he went missing for six days during the Paris to Dakar Rally. Marshall was a long-time entrant in British touring cars, while van Rooyen made two starts in Formula 1 in his native South Africa. Like the other all-international combination at Bathurst that year, they failed to finish the race.
Bell impressively qualified in fifth place, though the entry retired after five laps following an accident. It was one of five consecutive Bathurst starts for Bell, which culminated with a third place alongside Allan Moffat in Barbour and Posey appeared in multiple Le Mans 24 Hours entries, though the duo failed to finish at Bathurst. They finished in 15th place and second in class. Cecotto won races in grand prix motorcycle racing before moving into Formula 1, sportscars and touring cars, while Ravaglia went on to win world, European, German and Italian touring-car titles.
Niedzwiedz lost his second place following disqualification in , with his Bathurst podium added to an impressive resume that includes wins in the DTM. The Super Touring regulars acquitted themselves well in very wet conditions, finishing in 10th place — their best-ever finishes at Bathurst. Magnussen raced in Formula 1 over the course of three seasons before becoming a regular contender in sportscars, while Minassian was also a successful sportscar racer after transitioning from open-wheelers.
Marshall became a regular in the championship following his open-wheel stint, while Tagliani continued in IndyCar racing with a win in Champ Car and pole position at the Indianapolis They finished in 12th place. Triple Eight Race Engineering often took advantage of its overseas connections to field international drivers of a high pedigree. Giovanardi had just won his second consecutive British Touring Car Championship title, while Hynes won a British Formula 3 title and went on to represent Lewis Hamilton.
The duo finished in 15th place. Triple Eight Race Engineering once again opted for an allinternational line-up in its second entry, featuring sportscar ace Simonsen and British Touring Car Championship title winner Thompson, though the entry failed to finish. The entry may have failed to finish, but Waters made a positive impression and is now a front-runner in Supercars. The North American duo finished in 18th place after a late-race spin.
The deal was done. Courtney would be the replacement for Will Davison as HRT pushed on into in the wake of the death of owner Tom Walkinshaw a few weeks before Christmas. It shaped up as a pivotal year for the HRT. The flagship Red Lion squad clearly was not the Holden team that had done the bulk of the winning in This was not going to be an easy task, with Triple Eight Race Engineering having scarcely missed a beat in its switch from Ford to Holden.
The dayglo red-and-chrome-coloured TeamVodafone Commodores went into as hot favourites. The defending champ beat TeamVodafone when they rolled out for the season opener in faraway Abu. The Supercars season saw Jamie Whincup return to the top after narrowly missing out on the title the previous year; significant changes for foundation teams; a rookie winner at Bathurst; and one of the most spectacular crashes in the history of the category.
Well, not in the first race of the year; that was won convincingly by Jamie Whincup. A fantastic win, but it was the only victory Courtney would record all season. Garth would fare better once the Australian races began a few weeks later, starting with Adelaide, and there would be a significant late-season trophy for his mantelpiece.
This was a huge vote of confidence in the Aussie category and was unprecedented. There were some caveats. Europe was off-limits due to the proliferation of strong touring car series there, but Asia and America were fair game for expansion.
That was all in the future, but in the meantime the focus was on the actual racing in Australia. On the streets of Adelaide, Tander made amends for his disaster in Abu Dhabi with a nicely judged win in the Saturday km race.
The moment Steve Owen made contact with Karl Reindler off the start at Barbagallo Raceway, resulting in a spectacular fireball. If so, it was going to be a year of mixed feelings for the Albury team. Standing in was Jason Bargwanna. The lollypop men at the front of the cars in pitlane were earning their wages in Hamilton because several got skittled by their own cars as drivers arrived in their pitboxes with everything.
He fought Lee Holdsworth for the win, with Tander third, having vaulted from 19th on the grid. Points leader Whincup scored no points on Sunday, bowing out in a multicar crash that also accounted for Michael Caruso and Winterbottom. Barbagallo Raceway, dumped from the calendar in , was back in favour with V8 Supercars Australia after an injection of cash from the WA government and a promise to install pit garages.
For its return, the Perth track would host three races rather than two, and it proved a happy hunting ground for Whincup. Victories in the first and last races put his championship quest firmly back on track, with Lowndes also there.
And what of race two at Barbagallo? It was a shocking thing to see, reminiscent of fiery catastrophes of decades past. Reindler was lucky to escape with not much more than burns to his hands. What was a disastrous start for BJR ended in triumph, however, with Jason Bright storming home on fresher tyres and easily overhauling Whincup to deliver BJR its first success in V8 Supercars in a points-paying race at least.
The icing on the cake was third for Bargwanna. Steven Johnson. Second place for Whincup saw him extend his series lead. On Sunday the TeamVodafone Commodores, in their special one-off military camouflage livery, provided a one-two salute to the many defence force personnel present. When the circus headed south to Ipswich, Lowndes was dominant on both Saturday and Sunday.
The title fight arrived at the two-driver, endurance race portion of the championship, beginning with Phillip Island. Roland Dane signed up the otherwise unemployed Thompson, who was reasonably experienced at the highest level. And to make sure he was ready, Dane ran him in the Fujitsu Series in a Commodore that was technically identical to the Whincup car.
Holden Racing Team was doing much the same thing with Nick Percat. The reigning Formula Ford champ had been a long-term Walkinshaw prospect, and pay day had arrived at Phillip Island. Tander had been coaching his young co-driver for more than a year, but this was going to be a big ask for someone with so little touring car experience. The height factor Percat is a mere 2cm shorter than Garth meant it was ergonomic sense to pair them up, which left a more rounded, capable and shorter combo in the sister car in which Courtney would be joined by Cam McConville.
Bathurst, though, did indeed open the door see above re: pun for Lowndes when Whincup and. Thompson could only manage 21st on a day when his teammate bagged second. Alternator problems plagued car 88 intermittently. The racing gods that haunt Mount Panorama, usually so eager to teach errant newcomers harsh lessons, were smiling on the young South Australian that day, the 2 HRT Commodore emerging without damage from the incident.
Percat, meantime, became the first rookie to win the Great Race since Jacky Ickx in It was smart strategy and good fortune that had car 2 at the head of the field after frequent safety car periods. Lowndes and his international co-driver, Andy Priaulx, retiring from the Saturday race. Thirteenth on Saturday at Sandown in a race won by Rick Kelly was his only finish lower than second during this period, whereas Lowndes made only one podium appearance across the same six races. Heading to Sydney Olympic Park for the two remaining km races, Whincup held a point lead over his older rival.
Simply finishing ahead of Lowndes in Race 27 would be enough for Whincup to clinch his third title. Lowndes won the Saturday race, while Whincup could only manage 20th after tagging the wall. It meant Whincup needed to finish 12th or higher on Sunday if Lowndes won. Sounds simple, but a showery Sunday and a drying track for the race start complicated matters further. Lowndes kept the pressure on by running up front behind leader and eventual winner Winterbottom for much of the race, but Whincup kept his nerve behind them, letting several aggressive foe pass him in a risk-aversion exercise that netted him eighth place and a trio of championships.
Perfect to add to your collection! November - Order Form No. It took a unique person to survive and thrive. He was a niggling and snarky player and had a way with words; as quick with his tongue as he was with his fist. The car had a dream run; it barely got a scratch and it dominated the sport.
When the car eventually retired, it was perhaps, and still remains, the most successful car in Australian touring-car history. The Holden VX Commodore goes down in history as one of the greatest in Australian touring cars, winning backto-back championships and Bathurst s in and We were already sitting a long way back, but we tried to lay or reduce the angle of the steering column and make it slightly more open-wheeler in how it was functioning, and not by a little bit either.
We altered it for that car, which was something that I wanted to do pretty much from the time that I arrived at HRT. We just continued to evolve it to make it better. It was probably the ultimate expression of a pre-Blueprint era car.
It was on a championship roll; Skaife was dominating, and Jason Bright was a great wingman who brought more to the team than his results showed.
Like the great teams of today, it was also well staffed with engineers and mechanics as good, if not better, than any in pitlane. Both say it was not just a golden child but also a golden era. We used to build the cars in pairs, and each pair was always a little bit lighter, a little bit stiffer and full of development stuff from the previous pair. It still had a big Ronnie Harrop influence.
He said it had more turn, and that meant we could run softer rear springs in it, and that helped the drive traction. It was great right out of the. All those one-percenters made it a little bit more consistent and easier to turn.
It was a bit lighter with a lower centre of gravity and a bit easier on the tyres It was also well driven by Skaife, who was at the peak of his powers, and his feedback and connection with the engineers helped sharpen what was the best tool in pitlane into a dominant one.
Bargwanna Garry Rogers Motorsport S. Bates Lansvale Racing Team. Back in those days, you needed to dial it in pretty quickly with short practice sessions leading into short races. If you started up front it was always a bit easier, and we were always up the front.
The car evolved during its two years of racing life, but more just baby steps with better made and designed parts going in. That all led to the start of , where Skaife won 10 races in the first five rounds 13 races of the season with round wins in each of those, before winning Bathurst. The title was sealed on the Gold Coast with another two rounds remaining. It would have been done at Bathurst had the two drivers not had to split their points. It won the Adelaide and two other races in Project Blueprint-mode before fading away with a cameo later in after Jason Plato wrecked the 05 car at Bathurst.
By that stage, it had been painstakingly restored to its Adelaide winning trim, from the paint scheme to using the actual set-up sheets from the time to have it like it raced. We caught up with Mark Skaife and Jim Richards 30 years on from their comprehensive Bathurst win, where they qualified 1.
It was essentially a complete Japanese-spec car when it arrived in And by the time we got to the end of the year in , it had become an Australian-ised Nissan GT-R, which was not only faster but certainly more reliable and durable. We knew if we drove it fast that there was no car out there in the race that could actually beat us.
Fred and the boys made it into a better car than what the Japanese had at the time. So once we started to Australian-ise it, the engines were done in-house, we used our own turbo chargers, we basically made most of the ancillary components for the car. The brake diameters for instance, the rotar size, we increased the callipers that they used. We changed the actual four-wheel drive system. We tuned the gearbox; we made our gearbox a six-speed Holinger.
Every other item, brake ducting, radiator ducting, intercooler, interlock shrouding, all of the plumbing was different. It was the first of any proper data acquisition system in Australia where we used PI research. The PI dash became the data acquisition system. So we effectively bought the componentry and made stuff to suit. Even with the balancing equipment you needed to be able to build the turbos, we bought those plant and equipment pieces to be able to complete the turbo charger in-house.
It was so broad and so far reaching in the technical stakes. By the time we got to , we could drive it hard. But you basically knew that if you drove it well, you were going to win the race or come first or second.
It would not wheel spin out of the corner. It was an unbelievable feeling, something that every young racing driver in this part of the world wants to do. I did it with Richo and Fred, my mum and dad were there, the relationship with Nissan was so strong.
It was essentially like a big family. Jimmy taught me a lot of things, but he also taught me how to drink beer. So we did enjoy that a lot. But having said all that, the willingness in those days from the Nissan dealers to be behind it, the sort of reception that we got from a positive perspective, not blokes trying to chuck cans at us on the podium, was excellent. After the heartbreak of crashing out of the lead following a tangle with a rock at Bathurst in , Dick Johnson and his eponymous team fought back to win the championship and Great Race double in Forty years on, we reflect on one of the greatest comebacks in Australian touring-car history.
Johnson made semi-regular championship and Bathurst appearances in the s, initially in privateer Holden Toranas and then with Ford outfit Bryan Byrt Racing. It would prove to be worth the risk when he qualified on the front row and led the early stages of the biggest race of the year at Bathurst in The unfancied Johnson and co-driver John French were controlling proceedings at Bathurst in an impressive run for the new outfit when Johnson encountered a football-sized rock heading up Mount Panorama on lap With our car the way it was, it was more than capable of winning the race — and doing it easily!
As Johnson later admitted, winning Bathurst that year would not have given him the amount of exposure that he received following the crash. Johnson built a new Falcon XD and won his first championship race at the season opener at Symmons Plains. He went on to win the championship over Peter Brock following a thrilling finale on home soil at Lakeside.
II Ford Capri Mk. In a sense, that put an awful lot of pressure on me. But we never really did it easy because there was only the two of us. We were building.
There were some interesting times. It was a race around Lakeside, and we were wheel-to-wheel for the entire duration of the event. Following on from that championship success, Johnson returned to Bathurst to make amends for the heartbreak that had occurred days before.
Johnson again qualified in second place and overcame the challenge of Brock and Kevin Bartlett, leading on lap when a multi-car pile-up ended the race early. Despite engine concerns and the uncertainty around the race stoppage, Johnson and co-driver French were awarded the win, completing the remarkable comeback.
Fortunately, I won, which meant it was the first championship, and then to go to Bathurst that year was really something special. And that engine went in another car for. Surfers Paradise, and it would have well and truly done Bathurst had the race not been called without any problems at all. Further championship wins followed in and , the latter in the final year of the Group C regulations.
But amongst those title successes was further heartbreak at Bathurst, including the infamous crash into the trees in the Shootout in After being forced to park his Falcon and following an uncompetitive stint with the Mustang in the early years of Group A, the switch to Sierras resulted in championship wins in and and another Bathurst win in The switch back to the Falcon into the V8 era led to a third Bathurst in , with Johnson racing for a final time in the Bathurst in Stillwell and Co.
Ford Motor Co. The Phase III is one of the most iconic Australian cars of all-time, a road car built primarily for success on the race track that made Allan Moffat a household name and put Ford at the forefront of the Australian automotive market.
Success at Bathurst was the focal point for Ford as the battle between the Blue Oval and rivals Chrysler The Phase III may have looked just like the Falcon GT version it was based on, but it featured an upgraded engine, improved four-speed top-loader gearbox, a nine-inch differential, a larger fuel tank and race-ready brakes.
With an engine output in excess of bhp, producing more than rpm, it was generally considered to be the fastest four-door production car in the world.
Moffat stamped his authority on the event with. Right: Allan Moffat dominated at Bathurst in , setting a recordbreaking pace. The Phase III filled the top seven places on the grid with Moffat three seconds clear of the rest on pole position and the first non-Ford, the Charger of Leo Geoghegan, almost seven seconds off the time set by the polesitter. Moffat raced away from the start. Bond was best of the rest in fourth with the Chrysler challenge never materialising with the top Charger in seventh place.
The biggest concern for the Phase III at Bathurst was whether its brakes would survive the race distance. But new pads developed by Bill Collins were so good that the leading Phase IIIs went the distance without a change of pads, for the first time for the winner of the event.
By Bathurst that year it was replaced by the XA Falcon, featuring a significantly different body shape. Fifty years on, the Phase III remains a cult classic. It kicked off the Group C era as a legendary Bathurst special and is now a million-dollar classic. Available to order via the form below or online at SupercarXtra.
For other international deliveries please email office v8x. Over ads available online right now. Find your next race car with my Those international endeavours started 20 years ago with the first championship event held in New Zealand in Australian entrants were regulars in the Pukekohe and Wellington events between and The historic round, named.
Murphy set the tone for the weekend with pole position as the only driver to lap in the second bracket in both the qualifying and Shootout sessions. The first championship race. Another starring performance came from Jason Richards, who finished in fourth in the Team Kiwi Racing entry to add to the celebrations for the locals. Murphy completed the clean sweep in the third race with another comfortable margin, this time with Jason Bright overcoming teammate Skaife in the battle for second place.
It was the start of a dominant run for Murphy at Pukekohe. He backed up his success with further round wins in and ,.
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