A pair of red flags, a confirmed withdrawal and a further drama for the second Nissan Australia GT-R were the headlines from the final Free Practice session before qualifying gets underway for the 2017 Bathurst 12 Hour.
The second Red Flag came after Katsumasa Chiyo barely clipped the wall at the The Esses, the brush instantly breaking the steering arm and suspension leaving the #23 bunny hopping to a stop with remarkably little secondary damage.
The car was delivered to the back of the garage minutes after the session, which was red-flagged to a premature finish as a result of the incident, the team getting to work instantly and looking to get the car back out for the Qualifying session in 90 minutes time.
It came just after the return to the fray from the sister #24 car, the car comprehensively rebuilt after Florian Strauss’s big shunt yesterday, Jann Mardenborough immediately into the top 20.
The damage for the earlier red flag incident was far more significant, Jan Struve hitting the inside wall hard in the #62 Aston Martin, the driver mercifully OK but the R-Motorsports Class C entry out on the spot, we’re down to 54 starters (pic Sam Tickell @racerviews).
Better news for the RA Motorsports Ginetta squad, the damage to their Class C pace setting #55 Ginetta G55 GT4 greater than the team had expected after their impact with the wall yesterday, the team another one pulling an overnight rebuild, the Ginetta platform once again proving it can take the punishment it seems!
Mike Simpson proved the point somewhat by setting the best Class C time in the session.
The final overnight casualty, the #37 Darrell Lea McLaren was also back in action and up to speed this morning.
Beyond the casualty list the story of the session was all about teams completing their todoo lists, the late session red flag potentially robbing the growing crowd trackside of some qualifying simulations in the dying minutes, Toni Vilander winding up for a very quick time before the red flags stopped the session.
That left the #75 Jamec Pem Audi of Christopher Haase to top the session, 2:03.500 edging out Warren Luff’s best effort in the #11 Objective Racing McLaren with the #60 BMW and the #23 Nissan next up.
The Viper and Grove Porsche scored fastest times in Class I and Class B respectively.
Qualifying gets underway at 10:40 local time with the top 10 Shootout at 3:40 – all sessions live streamed on RadioLeMans.com, http://www.bathurst12hour.com.au and on NISMO.TV with the top 10 Shootout live across Australia on 7 Mate – all coverage featuring commentary from John Hindhaugh, Richard Craill and the DSC Editor with Shea Adam and Chad Neylon patrolling pit lane.
