Ferrari P1 for Bathurst

Ferrari’s new 488 GT3 car will head the field from tomorrow’s 5:45am start of the 2017 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.

But in a shock result, the red Italian supercar will be alongside one of the four BMW M6 GT3s entered in the race. And an Aston Martin and BMW fill row two!

The fastest Mercedes-AMG GT3 will start on row nine -- a victim of 'hard marking' from the handicappers. The best Nissan GT-Rs are just a couple of rows further forward. Both marques missed the top ten. Only one Audi R8 and one McLaren made it into the shootout.

The pole-setting Ferrari, driven by Finn Toni Vilander, was the only car to dip into the 2m02 range in the first ever Pirelli Top Ten Shootout at the 2017 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour. The time was off the pace of last year’s 2m01.286 pole but was set in hot conditions. Tomorrow’s weather is expected to be even hotter.

Vilander will be partnered in the Ferrari in the race by Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup. The trio will be a hard act to match on current form.

In second place, the MARC BMW M6 GT3 of Virgin Australia Supercar Championship star Chaz Mostert logged a lap of 2m03.055.

The MARC entry and third placed Team BMW Steven Richard Motorsport M6 GT3 benefited from factory updates this week and have impressed with their consistency and speed. The Team BMW SRM entry grabbed third (2m03.249) with DTM fast man Marco Wittman in charge.

The well-raced Miedecke-Stone Motorsport Lubrimaxx Aston Martin Vantage V12 GT3 surprised the crowd to grab fourth in the hands of Supercars enduro regular, Ash Walsh. The Aston’s time was a 2m03.823.

But it was an emotional result, for the #88 Maranello Motorsport Ferrari crew as with pole position comes the Allan Simonsen Trophy. Simonsen raced in the Bathurst 12 Hour with the Ferrari outfit in 2012 and 2013 but was killed in 2013 in a crash at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 24.

Next it was the #5 GT Motorsport Audi R8 LMS’ turn, with Nathan Antunes at the wheel. A hard lap delivered a 2m04.473s time stamp.

Ash Walsh aboard the #35 Infants Friend Team Lubrimaxx MSM Aston Martin V12 Vantage was up next, and after three green sectors took himself to the top of the times at that point with a 2m 03.823s lap.

“That was a neat little lap wasn’t it! He is really good at pushing it across the top and he used every single inch,” Walsh’s teammate George Miedecke said as the #35 undertook its cool-down circulation.

Earl Bamber and the #911 Walkinshaw GT3 Porsche 911 followed, setting a 2m04.067s lap to be third fastest at the time. Next in line was the #8 Bentley Team M-Sport Bentley Continental GT3. Maxime Soulet set a 2m03.968s lap to go to second on the sheets, pushing Parente and Bamber down the order despite dropping a wheel on the run to Meguiar’s Corner.

With Timo Glock at the wheel, the #7 Team Castrol Vodafone Team SRM BMW M6 GT3 then laid down a surprising 2m04.288s lap to slot into fifth behind Bamber, with co-driver Mark Skaife telling commentators that Glock reported making a mistake at Virgin Australia Corner (turn one) which adversely affected their result from the get-go.

The #12 Competition Motorsports powered by Ice Break Porsche 911 was then fielded by Matt Campbell, who set a 2m04.366s lap to be sixth on the sheets ahead of Antunes.

Then, things started to get very interesting as the clouds came over and the track temperature cooled slightly.

The #60 Team BMW SRM Laser Plumbing and Electrical BMW M6 had Marco Wittmann at the wheel for its flying lap around the Mountain. Wittmann took the #60 to the top of the sheets with a very smooth 2m023.249s lap which included a middle sector that took half a second off the previous top time of Walsh.

“That was really good. The clouds have just covered the sun a little bit so I think these last couple of runs from the guys are going to be a bit tight. He was commtited and had a big crack there, and had a big second sector,” teammate Mark Winterbottom said after Wittmann’s performance.

As ‘Frosty’ eluded to, the fight was far from over, with it then being time for Chaz Mostert to take to the Mountain for his shootout lap in the #90 Castrol MARC Cars Australia BMW M6.

Two green sectors saw Mostert heading to the final corners looking likely to take his green machine to the top, and that is exactly what he did – setting a 2m03.055 second lap to bump his fellow BMW driver from the provisional pole.

“He has been hot all weekend mate. Everyone in this team is motivated and Chaz just pulled it all together there, I have a great feeling about tomorrow,” Mostert’s team mate Max Twigg said after the lap.

Then, there was only one left – the #88 Maranello Motorsport Ferrari 488 GT3 was the last of the ten after setting the fastest time in Q2.

Toni Vilander went green for the first sector, but wasn’t able to better Mostert’s middle sector time. After everyone held their breath, he crossed the line with to record the 2m02.861s pole lap.

Vilander’s co-driver Craig Lowndes was obviously happy with the result when interviewed immediately following the conclusion of the lap.

“That was pretty intense, it’s a hot day and looking at the times, we thought the track might have gone off but Toni did a great job. He knows the car so well and Jamie and I are trying to support him as well as we can,” Lowndes said.

“These guys are obviously very emotional about it -- you can see by their reaction. The first session went well, the second was tight, and Toni pulled something out at the end – we’ve done stage one, now we have to do stage two,” Lowndes commented.

Full results and a provisional starting order will be posted at the Bathurst 12 Hour official site

The 2017 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour kicks off at 5.45am tomorrow morning (Sunday). Look out for motoring.com.au's Facebook live updates and interviews from around 8.00am.

The race will be telecast on Network Seven

-- with Bathurst 12 Hour media