Manthey EMA beats T8 in Bathurst 12 Hour Practice 3

After the #22 Melbourne Performance Centre Audi had set the pace in each of the weekend’s first two sessions, Laurens Vanthoor was the fast man in the latest 40-minute hit-out on a 2:03.6897s.

Mikael Grenier earned second for the #888 Triple Eight Mercedes-AMG with a 2:04.1551s on his final lap, pushing the #13 Phantom Global Racing Porsche driven by Joel Eriksson back to third on a 2:04.4692s.

Nevertheless, Kelvin van der Linde still holds the fastest time of the day at Mount Panorama, a 2:02.7346s in Practice 1 in the #22 R8 LMS GT3 evo II.

It was again somewhat overcast when pit exit opened at 13:30 local time for Practice 3, with a van lapping the track in the early minutes as a ‘circuit safari’.

As for the race cars, David Reynolds was quickest initially with a 2:07.3924s and then a 2:05.8519s in the #130 GruppeM Racing Mercedes-AMG.

The Manthey EMA Porsches then took over the ascendancy, Alessio Picariello with a 2:05.8398s in the older 911 GT3 R (991) which is entered in the Pro-Am class, before Laurens Vanthoor moved the marker to a 2:04.8561s in the new-generation car (992).

Laurens Vanthoor found much more time in setting a 2:03.6897s on his next lap in Car #912, while brother Dries sat second on a 2:04.8859s in the #32 Team WRT BMW.

In the #46 WRT BMW, Valentino Rossi was enjoying his first laps of the weekend, and the seven-time MotoGP champion took over second on a 2:04.4974s just past the quarter-hour mark.

The session settled down somewhat thereafter, although it was enlivened again when Ayhancan Guven had a moment in the #912 Porsche at The Cutting and just kept it off the wall.

Eriksson jumped to second place with five minutes to go, before Grenier usurped him with the chequered flag out.

Rossi ended up fourth in the #46 M4 GT3, from the #130 GruppeM Mercedes-AMG, while Triple Eight topped the Pro-Am class thanks to Jamie Whincup putting the #88 Mercedes-AMG into sixth outright on a 2:04.5392s.

The #22 Audi, through which van der Linde, Christopher Haase, and Liam Talbot all cycled during Practice 3, ended up seventh on a 2:04.5409s.

Practice 4, for Bronze drivers only, starts this afternoon at 16:10 local time/AEDT/UTC +11.

Results: Practice 3 All drivers