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Chaz Mostert and Nathan Morcom have taken a commanding victory in the inaugural Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour at Mount Panorama.
Despite scoring pole on Saturday, Mostert started the #11 BMW 335i 10th due to a grid penalty for a technical infringement.
The V8 Supercars star charged into the top three in the early stages, after which the car was barely out of the top four for the remainder of the day.
Mostert was almost a minute clear of the eventual second place finishing Sherrin BMW 135i following the final round of pitstops with an hour left on the clock.
With the race running Safety Car free for its remainder, Mostert was able to cruise the DPO backed entry to victory.
“In the last stint we were conserving and looking after the car,” confirmed Mostert, who adds the 6 Hour to his 2014 Bathurst 1000 triumph.
“It had done five hours and it would’ve been a shame for something to go wrong in the last hour and we were just nursing it around.
“It’s been a great weekend and great to be part of the event. It’s all down to the boys on the car, the way they did the engine change on Friday night was incredible and they’ve worked so hard.
“The trophy and the champagne is down to them.”
The result marks the biggest career win to date for Morcom, who already has Formula 3 and Formula Ford race victories at Bathurst to his credit.
“We couldn’t ask for anything better,” he said.
“The car has been sitting around since the last time me and Chaz raced it in 2012.
“We’ve been prepping it for the last couple of months with the plan to get both of us in the car and it all goes back to the boys who prepare it.
“Chaz did an awesome job, the car’s still straight, nice and clean and no scratches and it’s good to get the first six hour win under our belt.”
The David Wall/John Bowe Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX finished third and won Class A after a controversial late dice with the Michael Caine/Gerry Murphy Evo X.
Wall, whose chances of victory were dashed by an earlier tyre failure, fought gallantly to hold out the newer Evo, which proved significantly quicker down the straights.
The duo ultimately made contact at Murray’s Corner with just eight minutes remaining, both visiting the gravel trap before continuing to the finish.
“Our car is 30km/hr slower in a straight line than the top 10 or 12 cars, so I was just holding my defensive line,” explained Wall, who re-passed the limping Caine after the incident.
“When we got down to Murray’s I moved once to the left and he went to the right and I think he basically misjudged and hit my right rear.
“Luckily she’s four wheel drive, we used the speed limiter to get out of the gravel but the damage was pretty bad.”
Caine was left displeased with Wall’s driving after dragging his damaged car to the chequered flag in fourth.
“I think he knew that I was a bit quicker,” he said.
“I went around the outside coming into the last turn. The footage will show what the reality is.”
Jim Pollcina and John O’Dowd (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X) finished fifth, ensuring the race finished with two BMWs and three Mitsubishi’s in the top five.
Mount Panorama again claimed plenty of key contenders who looked likely to score a strong result – most notably the Garth Walden / Ben Porter Mercedes Benz A45 AMG that led a bulk of the early running.
Electronic issues claimed that car after completing 48 laps while the Dylan Thomas / Terry Nightingale CXC Global Mitsubishi also had a share of the lead in the opening two hours before a misfire ended their day a lap later.
Adam Proctor and Mark McHenry were denied a top six finish in their Subaru WRX STi after they were forced out within the final 20 minutes of the race.
Mark Eddy and Francious Jouy combined to seal Class C in their Renault Megane RS265, finishing an outstanding 8th outright and only six laps behind the winning BMW.
Chris Reeves and Mark Caine won Class D in their Toyota 86 by a full lap, while Dimitrios Agathos and Mark Duckworth drove their Nissan Pulsar to the Class E win, completing 114 laps and finishing 22nd outright.
Lindsay Kearns and Colby Cowham won the invitational class in their Falcon Saloon Car, running as high as eighth at one stage before fading to a still-strong 15th outright at the line, with 116 laps in the books.
Ultimately 33 of the 50 starters were classified as finishers with 125 laps (776km) completed by the winning car.
The official attendance for the three-day event was announced as 16,151.
CLICK HERE for the full results.
