Windy, cool but sunny conditions greeted the drivers for the final practice session for the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hours.
Most of the teams were running on used tyres through the session and despite this, the times were falling with Maro Engel in the Erebus SLS GT3 the dropping into the 2:02.367, the the fastest driver in a competitive session around the Mountain.
That time, set half way through the session would not last with Matt Campbell setting a 2:02.287 late in the session to send the Objective Racing McLaren to the top of the time sheets. His lap average speed was just shy of 183km/h.
They didn’t have it their own way though, with Rene Rast the quickest driver in sector two – across the top of the Mountain in the Jamec Pem Audi. Additionally the top eight were covered by less than a second with both Michelin and Pirelli represented, along with Audi, Bentley, McLaren and Mercedes all represented.
Notably the Ferrari squads were again off the pace with the Maranello squad leading the manufacturer’s times down in 14th on a 2:04.2.
The Class B cars were a lot quicker today than yesterday and indeed last year with Earl Bamber setting the fastest time. The Le Mans winner lapped in 2:08.762 – faster than last year’s pole time and faster than Chris van der Drift’s time of 2:10.172.
Not all the Class B cars went out. While the #38 car did go out after their crash yesterday, the teammate – #6 car did not go out through the session. Additionally the #10 Bentley crew were late to the track after affecting mechanical repairs under the bonnet area of the car. They would end up in seventh lapping in 2:03.273.
After topping every session yesterday in Class I and topping 300km/h on Conrod Straight, the Daytona Coupe failed to top this session with the Marc Cars Australia Ford Focus #93 topped the class with 2:13.163.
That was after an awkward start for the team who brought out a red flag on the first lap of the session after a spin on the out lap in the opening minutes of the session. The car had to be recovered but was not damaged.
For the first time over the weekend, the driving standards flag was shown and to the front running Jamec Pem Audi #74 for aggressive behaviour prior to passing a car.
The session then ended six minutes early after a heavy crash to the Interlloy M-Motorsport Lamborghini who spun into Hell Corner and made contact with the barrier with the right rear of the car. The team are now in a race against time to get ready for qualifying.
The first qualifying session for all cars gets underway at 12:55pm local time. The one hour session is then followed by a Class A only session that will last for 20 minutes.
Sam Tickell
