Bathurst 12 Hour news: Van der Linde puts Audi on top in Bathurst 12 Hour Practice 1

The Melbourne Performance Centre Audi team has set the pace in Practice 1 for the 2024 Repco Bathurst 12 Hour thanks to Kelvin van der Linde.

Van der Linde went as quick as a 2:02.7346s in the 40-minute session, with the #22 Audi finishing half a second ahead of the two Team WRT BMWs, Charles Weerts having set a 2:03.2445s in Car #32 and Raffaele Marciello a 2:03.3544s in Car #46.

The 2022 and 2023 race winners, SunEnergy1, ended up fourth thanks to Luca Stolz’ 2:03.4664s in the #75 Mercedes-AMG, ahead of the #2 MPC Audi, the #912 Manthey EMA Porsche, and the #888 Triple Eight Race Engineering Mercedes-AMG.

Overnight rain had left the Mount Panorama Motor Racing Circuit damp off-line when the field exited pit lane at 08:15 local time in overcast conditions.

Kelvin van der Linde kicked things off with a 2:09.3553s and then a 2:06.2403s in the #22 Audi, before being usurped by brother Sheldon van der Linde on a 2:04.6305s in the #32 BMW as drivers’ Pirelli tyres came up to temperature.

Kelvin van der Linde then made contact with an Invitational class entry when he caught the #702 TekWorkX Motorsport IRC at The Cutting, but it was a light nudge and the Audi pilot was back on top when he clocked a 2:03.9010s on his fifth lap.

The van der Linde versus van der Linde theme continued when Sheldon set a 2:03.8561s, before Kelvin nailed a 2:02.8839s and a 2:02.7346s when he found some clear track.

SunEnergy1’s Stolz split them with a 2:03.4664s to put the #75 Mercedes-AMG into second before he followed Kelvin van der Linde into pit lane.

By then, the #32 BMW had undergone a driver change and, with just under five minutes to go, Weerts put it back into second on the timing screen with a 2:03.2445s, before Marciello moved into third with a 2:03.3544s in the sister #46 M4.

The #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes-AMG thus ended up fourth and the #2 MPC Audi fifth after Ricardo Feller’s 2:03.8867s during the opening run.

First of the Pro-Am entries was the #27 Heart of Racing/SPS Mercedes-AMG in eighth outright on a 2:04.5711s, with the #88 Triple Eight Mercedes-AMG second in class in 10th outright on a 2:04.6846s.

Practice 2, for Bronze drivers only, starts at 09:50 local time/AEDT.

Results: Practice 1 All drivers

Pos	Num	Team/Sponsor	Driver(s)	Car	Cls	Fastest lap	Split
1	22	Wash It Team MPC	C.Haase/K.van der Linde	Audi R8 LMS Evo II	PRO	2:02.7346
2	32	Team WRT	C.Weerts/S.van der Linde	BMW M4 GT3	PRO	2:03.2445	0:00.5099
3	46	Team WRT	M.Martin/R.Marciello	BMW M4 GT3	PRO	2:03.3544	0:00.6198
4	75	SunEnergy1	K.Habul/J.Gounon	Mercedes-AMG GT3	PRO	2:03.4664	0:00.7318
5	2	KFC Team MPC	M.Winkelhock/R.Feller	Audi R8 LMS Evo II	PRO	2:03.8867	0:01.1521
6	912	Manthey EMA	A.Guven/M.Campbell	Porsche 992 GT3R	PRO	2:04.2655	0:01.5309
7	888	National Storage Racing	W.Brown/M.Grenier	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	PRO	2:04.3573	0:01.6227
8	27	Heart of Racing by SPS	Alex Riberas	Mercedes-AMG GT3	PAM	2:04.5711	0:01.8365
9	130	Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM	M.Engel/F.Fraga/D.Reynolds	Mercedes-AMG GT3	PRO	2:04.6253	0:01.8907
10	88	Triple Eight JMR	J.Whincup/J.Love	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo	PAM	2:04.6846	0:01.9500
11	9	Hallmarc Team MPC	L.Holdsworth/D.Fiore	Audi R8 LMS Evo II	PAM	2:04.9439	0:02.2093
12	222	Scott Taylor Motorsport	C.Waters/C.Lowndes	Mercedes-AMG GT3	PRO	2:04.9906	0:02.2560
13	911	The Bend Manthey EMA	A.Picariello/H.King	Porsche 991 GT3R Spe	PAM	2:05.0378	0:02.3032
14	48	MMotorsport	Glen Wood	Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO	PAM	2:05.0520	0:02.3174
15	44	Valmont Racing/Tigani M’sport	M.Zalloua/S.Pires	Audi R8 LMS	SIL	2:05.1873	0:02.4527
16	13	Phantom Global Racing	Joel Eriksson	Porsche 992 GT3R	PRO	2:05.1885	0:02.4539
17	93	Wall Racing	David Wall	Lamborghini Huracan	SIL	2:05.1985	0:02.4639
18	47	Supabarn Supermarkets/Tigani	T.Koundouris/D.Russell	Mercedes-AMG GT3	SIL	2:05.3779	0:02.6433
19	77	Mercedes-AMG Team Craft-Bamboo	D.Juncadella/M.Goetz	Mercedes-AMG GT3	PRO	2:06.5060	0:03.7714
20	111	MRA Motorsport / 111 Racing	R.Gray/G.Donaldson	Marc II 2023	INV	2:07.2275	0:04.4929
21	10	SUPAGLASS RACING	N.Percat/C.Hill	IRC GT	INV	2:07.9368	0:05.2022
22	20	T2 Racing / Localsearch	C.Sbirrazzuoli/A.Hargraves	IRC GT	INV	2:08.4449	0:05.7103
23	91	Wheels FX Racing	K.Kassulke/T.Slade	Marc II 0	INV	2:08.6611	0:05.9265
24	702	IRC / TekworkX Motorsport	Daniel Stutterd	IRC GT	INV	2:12.8753	0:10.1407
25	50	KTM Vantage Racing	T.Harrison/L.Kraihamer	KTM XBow GT2	INV	2:13.3817	0:10.6471
26	25	Method Motorsport	M.Flack/C.Mostert/J.Bryan	McLaren Artura GT4	GT4	2:18.7181	0:15.9835
27	19	Prestige Iveco	A.Christodoulou/D.Bilski	Mercedes-AMG GT4	GT4	2:19.0972	0:16.3626
28	56	Ginetta Australia	P.Buccini/O.Hizzey	Ginetta G56 GT4	GT4	2:20.1821	0:17.4475
29	701	Vortex	L.Amrouche/J.Boillot/P.Bonnel	Vortex Vortex 1.0	INV	2:25.8172	0:23.0826
30	230	Method Motorsport	T.Hayman/T.McLennan/E.Schutte	McLaren Artura GT4	GT4	2:26.3256	0:23.5910