Porsche leads as rain threatens Bathurst 12 Hour

Dark skies are looming over Mount Panorama as Ayhancan Guven heads the field shortly after the fifth Safety Car period of the day.

Team WRT’s sole surviving BMW runs second in the hands of Mr #46 himself, Valentino Rossi, with Melbourne Performance Centre’s #22 Audi third with Christopher Haase behind the wheel.

Triple Eight Race Engineering’s #888 Mercedes-AMG is fourth with Broc Feeney having passed Joel Eriksson in the #13 Phantom Global Racing Porsche at Griffins Bend on the most recent restart lap.

The field was somewhat compressed at the three-hour mark given the race had just gone green after the first Safety Car period of the day.

The #912 Porsche led in the hands of Guven from the #130 GruppeM Racing Mercedes-AMG with Felipe Fraga behind the wheel, but the latter would soon serve a drive-through penalty for a pit stop breach and dropped to 10th, last of those on the lead lap.

The #46 BMW thus inherited second with Raffaele Marciello in the seat, from team-mate Dries Vanthoor in the #32 BMW and Feeney in the #888 Mercedes-AMG, each of whom were half a stint up on strategy after stropping under Safety Car.

The #13 Phantom Global Porsche was next with Bastian Buus onboard, from the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes-AMG (Kenny Habul), the #2 MPC Audi (Brad Schumacher), the #22 MPC Audi (Haase), and the #77 Craft-Bamboo Racing Mercedes-AMG (Maximilian Goetz).

A Safety Car was not required when the #111 MRA Motorsport IRC turned the Silver class #47 Supabarn Mercedes-AMG at Forrest’s Elbow, but it was on Lap 202 when Hadrian Morrall spun the #91 Wheels FX Racing IRC into the wall at Griffins Bend.

Despite the strategy offset, the BMWs and the #888 Mercedes-AMG followed the race-leading #912 Porsche into pit lane, as did most of the rest of the top 10.

Habul initially stayed out to provide more flexibility for his Platinum-ranked co-drivers later in the day but eventually pitted during the yellow.

The #912 Porsche thus resumed the lead, in the hands of Matt Campbell, from Maxime Martin in the #46 BMW, Charles Weerts in the #32 BMW, Mikael Grenier in the #888 Mercedes-AMG, Jaxon Evans in the #13 Porsche, Goetz in the #77 Mercedes-AMG, Maro Engel in the #130 Mercedes-AMG, Markus Winkelhock in the #2 Audi, Kelvin van der Linde in the #22 Audi, and Luca Stolz in the #75 Mercedes-AMG.

In 11th back, the #222 Scott Taylor Motorsport Mercedes-AMG, #911 Manthey EMA Porsche, #48 M-Motorsport Mercedes-AMG, and #88 Triple Eight JMR Mercedes-AMG were among those receiving the wave-by, which put them back on the lead lap.

Prince Jefri Ibrahim ran off at The Chase in the #88 Mercedes-AMG as he tried to bolt clear of the train at the end of Lap 92, but maintained 14th spot.

Up front, Campbell greeted the green flag at 0.86s to the good, and was three seconds up when Martin had to fend off BMW WRT team-mate Weerts when he got loose having touched the grass entering Hell Corner on Lap 96.

The Safety Car was called on Lap 99 after Yasser Shahin (#911 Porsche) was turned around by Glen Wood (#48 Mercedes-AMG) at McPhillamy Park, in the battle for the Pro-Am lead, and became stuck in the gravel.

Triple Eight, Craft-Bamboo, GruppeM, and STM all pitted their Pro class Mercedes-AMGs, as did SunEnergy1 a lap later.

Meanwhile, Julien Boillot managed to loop the Invitational class #701 Vortex under Safety Car while exiting The Dipper.

At the head of the field, the #912 Manthey EMA Porsche still led, from the #46 and #32 WRT BMWs, the #13 Phantom Global Porsche, the #22 and #2 MPC Audis, the #888 Triple Eight Mercedes-AMG, the #130 GruppeM Mercedes-AMG, the #77 Craft-Bamboo Mercedes-AMG, and the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes-AMG.

Ibrahim and Shahin were among those to receive the wave-by at the end of Lap 103, at which point the green flag flew again with four hours and 12 minutes elapsed.

Shahin would pass Ibrahim for third in the Pro-Am class a handful of laps later, but then had to cede track position to team-mate and outright leader Campbell, and hence was back off the lead lap.

Campbell was six seconds clear of Martin when Kelvin van der Linde (#22 Audi) passed Evans (#13 Porsche) for fourth at The Chase on Lap 116.

Teams were preparing for another pit stop cycle when the pole-sitting #32 WRT BMW crashed out in spectacular fashion on Lap 121 after Weerts tangled with the GT4 Ginetta on the run into The Cutting, deep into the fifth hour.

Once all of the remaining contenders had been through the lane under Safety Car, the #912 Manthey EMA Porsche emerged back in the lead with Laurens Vanthoor onboard, from Rossi in the #46 WRT BMW, Kelvin van der Linde in the #22 MPC Audi, Eriksson in the #13 Phantom Global Porsche, Will Brown in the #888 Triple Eight Mercedes-AMG, Winkelhock in the #2 MPC Audi, the #130 GruppeM Mercedes-AMG, Craig Lowndes in the #222 STM Mercedes-AMG, the #77 Craft-Bamboo Mercedes-AMG, Brad Shiels in the Silver class #44 Valmont/Tigani Audi, and Jules Gounon 11th in the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes-AMG, ahead of the Lap 126 restart.

Felipe Fraga lost seventh position in a somewhat ill-sounding #130 Mercedes-AMG to Goetz in the #77 Mercedes-AMG down Conrod Straight on Lap 133, by which time Laurens Vanthoor had crept three seconds clear.

The Ginetta triggered the fifth Safety Car on Lap 137 when Owen Hizzey hit the wall exiting The Cutting and eventually crabbed to a stop next to the track at the top of Conrod Straight.

The top 12 all pitted and Guven was reinstalled in the #912 Porsche, which led from Rossi in the #46 BMW, Haase in the #22 Audi, Eriksson in the #13 Porsche, Broc Feeney in the #888 Mercedes-AMG, Daniel Juncadella in the #77 Mercedes-AMG, Garth Walden in the #48 M-Motorsport Mercedes-AMG which stayed out in the lead of the Pro-Am class – and which had escaped penalty over the Shahin incident – Gounon in the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes-AMG, Ricardo Feller in the #2 Audi, and Fraga in the #130 Mercedes-AMG.

The restart came on Lap 140 and Feeney wasted no time passing the #13 Porsche at Griffins Bend.

Traffic kept the top four tight, and thus feisty, until Guven pulled 1.60s clear after Lap 144, just prior to the six-hour mark.

Of late, Gounon has moved the #75 Mercedes-AMG up to seventh, from the #2 Audi, the #130 Mercedes-AMG, and the #88 Triple Eight Mercedes-AMG which is leading Pro-Am, with Jessie Bryan on top in GT4 in the #25 Method Motorsport McLaren.