Ayhancan Guven leads the way in the #912 Manthey EMA Porsche at the three hour mark with the race just restarting after the first safety car interruption of the race.
Guven was handed the #912 Porsche in the lead of the race, after the EMA Manthey team stayed out longer in the first stint, jumping those who decided to pit early.
Prior to the safety car, Guven had stretched out a 10 second lead ahead of a tight battle for second place, with the field compressed after the safety car. Felipe Fraga sits second in the #130 Gruppe M Mercedes, ahead the pair WRT BMW’s, Rafaele Marciello in the #46 and Dries Vanthoor in the #32. Broc Feeney rounds out the top 5 in the #888 National Storage Mercedes. However, the #130 Gruppe M Mercedes has just been adjudicated a drive-through penalty for making an aerodynamic adjustment during their last pit stop.
The second hour of the race was punctuated with some incredible battling, as strategies began to diverge through the first round of pit stops. The race leading #32 WRT BMW was jumped in the stops, and forced into a battle with the sister car, Valentino Rossi behind the wheel of the #46, with the #130 Gruppe M Mercedes and #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes jumping the battle as they almost came to blows out of the lane.
Wow, just wow. The two BMW’s are trading blows and it’s playing right into the hands of Manthey EMA!
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— Bathurst 12 Hour (@Bathurst12hour) February 17, 2024
The battling gave the chance for both Manthey EMA Porsches to make the overcut work; Laurens Vanthoor and Harry King stretching the stint to 32 laps, and handing over the #912 Manthey EMA and #911 Shell V-Power/The Bend Porsches to positions 1 and 2. While Ayhancan Guven was able to kick on and gap the field, Yasser Shahin in the #911 struggled with cold tyres, and fell back into the pack.
The race settled into a rhythm, with the battle for second especially tight. David Reynolds in the #130 Gruppe M Mercedes, the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes of Jules Gounon, and the pair of WRT BMW’s – Rossi’s #46 ahead of Weerts in the #32 – were nose to tail, dive bombing traffic and trying to needle their way past each other. Rossi was especially impressive, shaping up to pass Gounon on multiple occasions, until a minor mistake at Murray’s Corner allowed Weerts through at Hell Corner.
During the early hours, the #22 Wash-It Audi put Liam Talbot in, with the current GTWC Australia Champion completing his required drive time for the race. That car is still on the lead lap, with Haase now at the wheel, in 9th place. Currently, both Kenny Habul and Brad Schumacher are in their respective Pro-Class cars.
The first Safety Car interruption of the race came just before the 3 hour mark, with a big spray of dust settling to reveal the #701 Vortex 1.0 in the gravel trap at McPhillamy Park.
Julien Boillot was at the wheel, with replays showing him losing the rear over the hump at McPhillamy, and spinning rear-first into the gravel, coming to a safe stop. Boillot was lucky not to hit a wall, and was extracted from the gravel and back into the race.
Almost simultaneously, the #56 Nineteen Corp Ginetta G55 was seen parked up on the left hand side of Mountain Straight. The Ginetta had been repaired after the driveshaft drama in the first hour, but looks to be in significant trouble again.
There was almost another monster crash at the 90 minute mark of the race, with Lee Holdsworth getting out of shape down the Esses, and tagging the right-hand side wall in the #9 Hallmarc Audi. Lee was lucky to escape major damage, only just keeping the #9 from pinging into the outside wall at The Dipper.
Holdsworth clips the inside wall at The Esses but avoids secondary contact and major damage!
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— Bathurst 12 Hour (@Bathurst12hour) February 17, 2024
The top 10 cars are still on the lead lap, which includes the entire Pro field bar the #222 Scott Taylor Motorsport Mercedes, down in 14th. Pro-Am is lead by Alessio Picariello in the #912 Shell V-Power/The Bend Porsche, who dropped off the lead lap as Shahin went up against the Pro drivers.
Silver is still being lead by the #44 Valmont Tigani Motorsport Audi, with Sergio Pires behind the wheel, while the #91 Wheels/FX MARC II leads Invitational.
The three untroubled GT4 cars are on the same lap and in competition, with the #25 Method Motorsport McLaren leading the field, Marcos Flack at the wheel.
Pic GruppeC Photography
