The first half of the race was a stop-start affair with constant intervention from the safety car.

The cautions started after just 15 minutes, initially when the #3 ended up stuck in the sand at Hell Corner, with another following before the first hour was done with the #4 Astra stranded at the Elbow.

Two noteworthy cars prompted the next stoppage with #92 BMW M2, which led early after the team elected to start its Pro driver Thomas Randle, going into limp home mode.

That happened right as the Grant Denyer/Tony Quinn/Ryder Quinn Camaro ran out of fuel.

In the meantime both the #1 BMW M4 and #23 BMW M3  enjoyed stints on top, although the latter had its progress slowed when it was hit with a drive-through for a restart infringement.

It had to wait another safety car period to actually serve the penalty, with three caution periods punctuated by just two racing laps.

Following a restart at the 2h15m mark the Speedcafe-backed BMW driven by Oscar Targett was the leading Class X entry and was close to taking the race lead before it appeared to go into limp home mode.

That left the #9 Mustang of Tyler Mecklem out front until the safety car was called once again at 2h40m when the #154 BMW ended up in the sand at The Chase.

That prompted a flurry of stops and left Darcy Inwood in the #143 BMW in the lead and shuffled the recovering #92 with Ben Kavich at the wheel right up to second.

Inwood led the restart but was overhauled by Kavich on the first green lap.

The #1 BMW, looking for its third straight Bathurst 6 Hour crown, is well placed just outside the top 10, having completed all six of its mandatory long stops.