BMW breaks Bathurst 12 Hour drought with dominant win

The win by brothers Sheldon and Kelvin van der Linde alongside Augusto Farfus marked the first win for the German marque in the GT3 era of the Bathurst 12 Hour.

It’s only the second time two brothers have won the top gong in an endurance race at Mount Panorama after Geoff Brabham and David Brabham won the 1997 Bathurst 1000.

It was a dominant display by Team WRT, with the sister #46 BMW M4 GT3 taking the second step on the podium with Rafaelle Marciello, Charles Weerts, and Valentino Rossi.

It’s the first win for BMW at the 12 Hour since 2010, which was the last race in the production era.

THREE WIDE UP MOUNTAIN STRAIGHT 🤯

What a start to the 2025 Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour!#B12Hr pic.twitter.com/XhJcrdGSh4

— Bathurst 12 Hour (@Bathurst12hour) February 1, 2025

The race was frenetic from start to finish. The madness began just moments into the race when the top three contenders went three-wide up Mountain Straight.

Pole position winner Maximillian Goetz (#77 Craft-Bamboo Mercedes) got loose into Hell Corner and opened the door for second place starter Ricardo Feller (#183 Jamec Audi) and third-placed Maro Engel (#888 Team GMR Mercedes) to attempt a pass.

The trio banged wheels up the straight with the Audi sandwiched in between the Mercedes pair. Goetz, ultimately, held sway.

In the cool morning conditions, Chaz Mostert (#26 Arise Ferrari) made headway early from fifth on the grid to take the lead on the seventh lap.

Contact with the wall for the #14 Aston Martin with Jamie Day behind the wheel 😬#B12Hr pic.twitter.com/tFnOKQXIOd

— Bathurst 12 Hour (@Bathurst12hour) February 1, 2025

Jamie Day (#14 Gulf Aston-Martin) threatened to cause the first caution when he slapped the wall under the tree as he crested The Mountain. He escaped unscathed but that car befell a clutch issue while leading the Silver class.

During the first round of pit stops, Gotz found himself buried in the gravel at Murray’s Corner after he came across the nose of the #26 Arise Ferrari, then driven by Will Brown. No penalty was issued and both cars were undamaged.

DRAMA AT MURRAY’S CORNER!

The first BMW Safety Car of the race has been called.#B12Hr pic.twitter.com/qsGXx8m0Pg

— Bathurst 12 Hour (@Bathurst12hour) February 1, 2025

An hour and a half into the race, Craig Lowndes (#888 Scott Taylor Motorsport Mercedes) crashed on approach to the Dipper. He damaged the left rear beyond repair and that brought an early end to his campaign with Thomas Randle and Cameron Waters.

The carnage continued shortly thereafter when the #24 Method Motorsport McLaren Artura lost control at McPhillamy Park. Ryan Sorensen veered across the track and into the wall before ricocheting back into the path of Pro-Am contender Marcel Zalloua (#44 Valmont Audi).

HUGE INCIDENT AT SKYLINE 💥#B12Hr pic.twitter.com/mLccpEz42s

— Bathurst 12 Hour (@Bathurst12hour) February 1, 2025

With nowhere to go, Zalloua got sandwiched up against the concrete wall entering Brock’s Skyline and suffered significant damage. Nevertheless, the car was brought back to pit lane and repaired. It lost laps hand over fist but finished the contest.

The biggest crash of the day came when Kenny Habul (#75 75 Express Mercedes) side-swiped Stephen Grove (#4 Grove Mercedes). The contact sent Grove hard into the wall at Brock’s Skyline, destroying his car. Grove was taken to hospital.

Grove suffers back injury in Bathurst crash

At the quarter-distance mark, it was the #911 Absolute Racing Porsche that led the way with Ayhancan Guven, Matt Campbell, and Alessio Picariello.

Porsche’s ascendency effectively stopped there. BMW came to the fore with the #32 Team WRT car making headway.

Bathurst heartbreak strikes Feeney again

After a lean period of drama in the middle of the race, Broc Feeney’s hopes of a surprise win ended when his Audi cried no more. Ricardo Feller was driving when broke began to billow from the front under brakes at The Chase, where he parked in the gravel trap.

With a little under five hours to go. The #888 Team GMR Mercedes crashed with Maxime Martin at the wheel. Out of The Chase, he got loose and suffered a tank-slapper, which sent him into the outside wall. Damage to the car was too significant to continue and the race ended there.

As the race continued, it became abundantly clear the win would be fought between BMW, Ferrari, and Mercedes – but one thing remained the same, the #32 largely controlled proceedings.

What Mostert hoped would be his final pit stop of the race put him in a precarious position on fuel. In the end, he had to pit for a splash-and-dash after shooting to the lead.

On the stroke of 23 minutes to go, Mostert made his way to the lane and surrendered the lead. He fell to sixth and lost the best part of half a lap.

Moments after that, Rafaelle Marciello (#46 Team WRT M4) blew by Jules Gounon (#75 Mercedes-AMG) for third, dropping the left side of his car onto the grass.

That became second for Marciello when Lucas Auer in the Craft-Bamboo Mercedes pitted for fuel. Auer, Gotz, and Jayden Ojeda finished fifth.

In the end, van der Linde was untouchable. He cleared out to a 10-second lead to claim a landmark win for BMW.

RESULT: 2025 Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour