MOTORSPORT: Mercedes-AMG wins Bathurst 12 Hour thriller
Record-breaking Mount Panorama enduro delivers over 2000km of action, kicking off 2023 motorsport year in styleMount Panorama has delivered again, with the 2023 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour going down to the wire and Jules Gounon, Luca Stolz and Kenny Habul successfully defending their 2022 title aboard a Mercedes-AMG after a grandstand finish.
Following a dramatic final sequence of pit stops, Gounon found himself defending vigorously from Maro Engel, who shared an AMG with Mikael Grenier and Raffaele Marciello.
With 45min remaining, the two came together at The Chase, after which Engel was awarded a drive-through penalty.
Gounon then came under pressure from the Porsche of Matt Campbell (shared with Mathieu Jaminet and Thomas Preining), while Engel closed back in by the finish.
In the end, just 1.4sec separated the trio as they crossed the line after 2006km of racing, which was completed with a 4hr45min green flag run to the finish – both event records.
For Gounon, the Frenchman became the first three-time winner of the event, which was earned in consecutive races after he anchored Bentley’s success in 2020.
“I’m dead,” said Gounon.
“I want to say sorry to Maro for the contact. Last week we won an amazing race [in Daytona].
“This week, we had to fight. It’s going to be hard to win Bathurst.
“I’m really dead… the last stint with old tyres [and] having to defend.”
Other notable performers included the Triple Eight Race Engineering Mercedes-AMG of Shane van Gisbergen, Max Goetz and Broc Feeney, who claimed fifth.
Feeney was impressive on Saturday when he qualified second to Engel, who registered the first sub-2:01sec lap time in the event’s history.
Valentino Rossi didn’t disappoint on his Bathurst debut, claiming sixth in the BMW M4 he shared with Augusto Farfus and Maxime Martin, with the seven-time MotoGP champion playing his part in attracting a record weekend crowd of 53,446 fans.
Elsewhere, Chaz Mostert set the fastest lap of the race enroute to securing Pro-Am honours in the Audi he shared with Fraser Ross and Liam Talbot.
The five safety car appearances equalled the record low for the event, with 16 slow laps being the fewest ever.
Notable retirements included the all-Pro Audi squad, after Christopher Haase was punted into the turn two wall on lap 15, and Stephen Grove, who lost control of his Porsche at McPhillamy Park.
The Lamborghini of Adrian Deitz also DNF’d after incidents at both The Cutting and The Chase, while the Mercedes-AMGs of Aaron Cameron and Scott Taylor crashed out at The Esses in separate incidents.
While Reb Bull Racing Formula 1 reserve driver, Kiwi Liam Lawson, completed some demo laps in the 2011 RB7 on Saturday, the most dramatic moment of the event came on Friday afternoon, when Keith Kassulke lost the brakes on his MARC II at the end of Conrod Straight, with the driver sent to hospital for observations following a hefty impact.
2023 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour results:
- Kenny Habul/Jules Gounon/Luca Stolz, Mercedes-AMG GT3
- Matt Campbell/Mathieu Jaminet/Thomas Preining, Porsche GT3R
- Maro Engel/Mikael Grenier/Raffaele Marciello, Mercedes-AMG GT3
- Sheldon van der Linde/Dries Vanthoor/Charles Weerts, BMW M4 GT3
- Shane van Gisbergen/Broc Feeney/Maximilian Goetz, Mercedes-AMG GT3
- Augusto Farfus/Maxime Martin/Valentino Rossi, BMW M4 GT3
- Chaz Mostert/Fraser Ross/Liam Talbot, Audi R8 LMS
- Daniel Juncadella/Philip Ellis/Nicky Catsburg, Mercedes-AMG GT3
- Christopher Mies/Ricardo Feller/Yasser Shahin, Audi R8 LMS
- Jamie Whincup/Richie Stanaway/Prince Jeffri Ibrahim, Mercedes-AMG GT3
Crash photos: Mick Koroleff
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