BMW beats T8 Mercedes to Bathurst 12 Hour pole position

While the ‘Top 10 Shootout’ is nowadays a pair of 15-minute segments for the top and bottom half, van der Linde was virtually a one-and-done effort.

His first lap was just a 2:07.6197s as the South African brought his Pirelli tyres up to temperature, but then he nailed a 2:01.9810s and was promptly back to pit lane with five minutes still to go.

Both Triple Eight Race Engineering drivers in the session took their time to come up to speed, with provisional pole-sitter Feeney still only ninth-quickest after his second lap in the #888 Mercedes-AMG, ahead of just team-mate Jordan Love in the #88 Mercedes-AMG.

The 2023 Sandown 500 winner then punched out a 2:02.2407s to move into second position on his third lap, and then a 2:02.2372s on his fifth.

Maro Engel in the #130 GruppeM Racing Mercedes-AMG looked a threat of upsetting both van der Linde and Feeney when he went personal-best to the second sector on his final lap, but bailed into pit lane rather than rounding Murray’s Corner and crossing the control line.

Nevertheless, the 2023 pole-sitter had already banked a 2:02.4100s which was good enough for third.

Matt Campbell was in the slower shootout group but dragged the #912 Manthey EMA Porsche up to fourth on the final starting grid, with Luca Stolz putting last year’s race-winning #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes-AMG fifth.

Earlier, sixth through 10th from Qualifying took to the circuit for their 15-minute segment.

The two Melbourne Performance Centre Audis went out hard early, with Kelvin van der Linde leading the way initially on a 2:03.7894s, a 2:02.8271s, and a 2:02.7602s in Car #22.

Team-mate Ricardo Feller then drove Car #2 to a 2:02.6604s on his fourth lap, as Maxime Martin in the #46 Team WRT BMW and Campbell started to push.

Martin put half his M4 onto the dirt through The Chase on his first genuine hot lap, which produced a 2:03.2467s, before he strung together a 2:02.8230s to consolidate third, then pitted.

Campbell was ragging his ‘grello’ 911 GT3 R and, in the final minute before he took the chequered flag, jumped from fourth to first on a 2:02.4259s, guaranteeing #912 a third row starting berth at worst.

In the end, it was good enough for the second row, with Feller earning sixth for the #2 MPC Audi, ahead of the #22 MPC Audi, the #46 WRT BMW, and the #911 Manthey EMA Porsche in ninth.

Love, who caught a moment when he touched the grass entering Hell Corner during the second group, ended up 10th on a 2:03.0911s.

Race start will officially take place tomorrow at 05:45 local time/AEDT/UTC +11.

Results: Top 10 Shootout