2022 race winner Kenny Habul has clocked the fastest lap in Practice 3, for Bronze drivers only, at the 2023 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.
Driving his own #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes-AMG, Habul finished the session with a fastest lap of 2:05.3096s, slightly quicker than the benchmark in the day’s earlier Bronze session and 0.9548s ahead of his nearest rival in the latest hit-out.
That was Liam Talbot, setting a 2:06.2644s around Mount Panorama in the #65 Melbourne Performance Centre Audi, with Brad Schumacher third in the #55 Schumacher Motorsport Audi.
Having been pipped to Practice 2 honours by none other than Valentino Rossi (#46 Team WRT BMW), Schumacher set the fastest first flyer in the third session of the day, a 2:08.6420s.
Habul then reeled off three fastest laps in a row to move the benchmark to a 2:05.3096s, which would prove the quickest lap of the session.
Schumacher got back within two seconds of the best pace when he set a 2:06.8500s early in his second run, before Talbot moved into second place with a 2:08.8281s.
Talbot closed the gap to less than a second with a 2:06.2644s with just over five minutes to go, before Schumacher improved marginally to a 2:06.4028s with the chequered flag out.
Triple Eight Race Engineering claimed fourth courtesy of Prince Jefri Ibrahim’s 2:07.3631s in the #99 Mercedes-AMG which he is sharing with Jamie Whincup and Richie Stanaway.
Ross Poulakis took fifth with a 2:07.4807s in the #101 Volante Rosso Motorsport Mercedes-AMG, with the rest of the top 10 rounded out by the #24 Volante Rosso Mercedes-AMG, the #777 MPC Audi, the #4 Grove Racing Porsche, the #10 MPC Audi, and the #44 Valmont Racing Mercedes-AMG.
The #9 MPC Audi which was crashed in the preceding session did return to the race track, with Marc Cini back in the saddle to notch up six laps of the 6.213km circuit.
Rossi, as a Silver driver, had been given dispensation to drive in the second practice session of the day which was otherwise also for Bronze drivers only, but the #46 BMW stayed in the garage for the duration of Practice 3.
Practice 4, an all-in hit-out, starts this afternoon at 16:10 local time/AEDT.
Results: Practice 3 Bronze drivers
| Pos | Num | Team/Sponsor | Driver(s) | Car | Cls | Fastest lap | Split |
| 1 | 75 | Sun Energy 1 | Kenny Habul | Mercedes Benz AMG GT | PRO | 2:05.3096 | |
| 2 | 65 | Sportsbet Team MPC | Liam Talbot | Audi R8 LMS Evo 2 | PAM | 2:06.2644 | 0:00.9548 |
| 3 | 55 | FUCHS Lubricants Racing | Brad Schumacher | Audi R8 LMS Evo 2 | PAM | 2:06.4028 | 0:01.0932 |
| 4 | 99 | Boost Mobile Racing | Jefri Ibrahim | Mercedes Benz AMG GT | PAM | 2:07.3631 | 0:02.0535 |
| 5 | 101 | Harrolds Volante Rosso M’Sport | Ross Poulakis | Mercedes Benz AMG GT | SIL | 2:07.4807 | 0:02.1711 |
| 6 | 24 | Tony Bates Racing /Makita | Tony Bates | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | PAM | 2:08.2695 | 0:02.9599 |
| 7 | 777 | The Bend Motorsport Park / MPC | Yasser Shahin | Audi R8 LMS Evo 2 | PAM | 2:08.4183 | 0:03.1087 |
| 8 | 4 | Grove Racing | Stephen Grove | Porsche 911 GT3R | PAM | 2:08.5872 | 0:03.2776 |
| 9 | 10 | MYLAND Team IMS | Andrew Fawcet | Audi R8 LMS Evo 2 | SIL | 2:09.1804 | 0:03.8708 |
| 10 | 44 | Valmont Racing | M.Zalloua/S.Pires | Mercedes Benz AMG GT | SIL | 2:09.3204 | 0:04.0108 |
| 11 | 6 | Wall Racing | G.Denyer/A.Deitz | Lamborghini Huracan | SIL | 2:09.4632 | 0:04.1536 |
| 12 | 47 | Supabarn Team MPC | T.Koundouris/J.Koundouris | Audi R8 LMS Evo 2 | SIL | 2:09.6181 | 0:04.3085 |
| 13 | 222 | Scott Taylor Motorsport | Scott Taylor | Mercedes Benz AMG GT | PAM | 2:12.2724 | 0:06.9628 |
| 14 | 52 | Wheels /FX Racing | Hadrian Morrall | MARC II V8 | INV | 2:12.6693 | 0:07.3597 |
| 15 | 9 | Hallmarc Team MPC | L.Holdsworth/M.Cini | Audi R8 LMS Evo 2 | PAM | 2:13.3270 | 0:08.0174 |
| 16 | 66 | Daytona Sports Cars | B.Shoots/S.Woodman | SIN R1 | INV | 2:14.0121 | 0:08.7025 |
| 17 | 111 | 111Racing/MRA Motorsport | Grant Donaldson | MARC I Mazda | INV | 2:14.5801 | 0:09.2705 |
| 18 | 19 | Nineteen Corporation | Mark Griffith | Mercedes Benz | INV | 2:15.7689 | 0:10.4593 |
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