M6s set early pace at Bathurst

BMW M6s topped the timesheets at the end of the first serious hit out at this weekend’s Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour today at Mount Panorama.

Local hero Steve Richard’s German teammate and DTM champ Marco Wittman – a newcomer to the infamous Bathurst layout -- put the BMW Team SRM M6 GT3 on the top of the timesheets in the final practice session.

Wittman’s time of 2m03.219s was the fastest of the day and was over 2sec faster than Jamie Whincup’s 2016 Bathurst 1000 Supercar qualifying time.

The second fastest car on the day was also a BMW M6 GT3, that of Supercar driver Chaz Mostert, whose third practice session 2m03.312s was fractionally behind Wittman’s later benchmark.

Wittman and Richards will share the BMW Team SRM M6 with Mark Winterbottom. Mostert is partnered with Max Twigg and Morgan Haber in the MARC GT BMW.

“They were definitely good laps and getting a clean lap is important here. It went pretty well in free practice but it is tomorrow that counts,” Wittman stated.

“I really like to be here in Bathurst and it is my first time racing here. The track is challenging and good for drivers,” he said.

Third fastest was double Bathurst 12 Hour winner Christopher Mies in the JAMEC-PEM Racing Audi R8 LMS he will share with Christopher Haase and Garth Tander. Mies clocked a 2m03.913s.

Toni Vilander’s best lap of 2m04.192s saw the Maranello Motorsport Ferrari 488 he will share with Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup set the fourth fastest time of the day.

In the ‘Three Amigos’ BMW M6 GT3 Bathurst stalwarts, Mark Skaife, Tony Longhurst and Russell Ingall had a steady start. Ingall topping the first session of the day for ‘Am or unseeded’ drivers.

“This morning, the car was good… [But] It is a lot hotter than when we tested here, so we lost a bit of pace, but think we will get it back alright,” Ingall stated.

“There are going to be a lot of pace car laps [in the race], so I think you’ll have to re-think your strategy to the race.  If any team thinks they are just going to run away - I don’t think it is going to happen,” he said.

The Castrol-sponsored squad with fourth driver BMW DTM star and Bathurst debutante Timo Glock ended the day 11th fastest with a 2m05.064.

carsales.com.au Racing Todd Kelly’s first 12 Hour outing didn’t get off to the best start when driving partner and former event winner, Florian Strauss, crashed the #44 Nissan GT-R at the infamous ‘Metal Grate’ near Reid Park over the top of Mt Panorama.

The car missed the final session of the day as the Nismo team worked to repair the significant front end damage. Kelly and Strauss will share the Nissan Oil/Total GT-R with UK gamer-turned racer, Jann Mardenborough.

With the fastest times already well under the Supercar mark, some pundits are tipping the final qualifying session tomorrow could see a lap under 2m00.00. Last year’s fastest lap was in the mid-2m1sec range.

Mercedes-AMG factory driver Mari Engel told motoring.com.au that he thought a lap into “the ones” was a realistic expectation.

“If one of the fastest cars can get a clear lap in the morning session on the right tyres, it is a definite possibility. In the top ten shootout it will depend how hot it [the track] gets,” he explained.

Engel is partnered with reigning Supercars champ Shane van Gisbergen and veteran racer Craig Baird in the Scott Taylor Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3. There’s was the fastest AMG-Benz today with a 2m04.613.

One other Mercedes-AMG caused a stir today with a 2m16.500 lap. That was the new streetcar lap record set by Bernd Schneider in the brand-new $349,000 AMG GT R supercar. The lap can be viewed at motoring.com.au's Facebook page.

In a new initiative by Bathurst 12 Hour organisers, manufacturers have a number of sessions within which to display their latest and greatest. Just Mercedes-Benz and Ferrari have taken up the option, the latter with a LaFerrari hypercar.

No official time was recorded for the peak Prancing Horse, but timing officials revealed that its fastest lap was around 2m22.000. Perhaps tomorrow (Saturday) the rivalry will be too much for them…

Saturday’s 12 Hour action will see a further one-hour practice session between 8-9am in the morning, prior to an all-in 60-minute qualifying session that starts at 10:40. A 20-minute session for the GT3 cars only will then set the 10 contenders for the Pirelli Top-10 Shootout later in the afternoon.

The Pirelli shootout will be broadcast live on 7mate between 3:30pm – 4:30pm.

It’ll be intriguing to say the least…

For full Friday practice session details go to the Bathurst 12 Hour live timing and results service.