Jamec Racing’s #55 Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO paced the field in Practice 5 at the Bathurst 12 Hour. Christopher Haase was aboard when the car vaulted to the top of the timing screens in the closing stages of the penultimate session ahead of qualifying Down Under.
The German went on multiple push laps with time running down. The first flyer, a 2:03.447, put him second by a whisker after the Wall Racing Lamborghini held him up at the exit of the final corner.
His second tour, though, was a 2:03.040, enough to put the R8 fastest by just over two tenths of a second, with comfortably the quickest time of the event so far.
“The car felt good, we tried to make a bit of a qualifying run, and it went well,” Haase told Shea Adam on the broadcast. “We did a lot to fine-tune the car and switch on the tyres. I had one clean lap, and it worked out, but it means nothing this year. The big job comes tomorrow.”
Second in the times was the #222 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo from Scott Taylor Motorsport. A late 2:03.255 from Cameron Waters pushed the 75 Express AMG, which also showed pace late, to third.
It took a while for the first fast times to come in, with the first drivers setting laps in the 2:03s just before the halfway mark. In the end though, the top 10 cars would set times under 2:04.
Outside the top three, the #268 Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO from Team BRM – which held the fastest time for a chunk of the session – would end up fourth and fastest of the Pro/Am cars. The #100 Grove Racing team ensured three AMGs finished in the top five.
The fastest Bronze time came from the sixth place #79 Tsunami RT Porsche. The #32 WRT BMW, #64 HRT Ford, #93 Wall Racing Lamborghini, and #46 WRT BMW finished seventh through 10th.
It was a nice, clean session to kick off Saturday’s track action for the 12 Hour runners, with no major incidents.
Maxime Martin came closest to neutralising the action just after the 30-minute mark when he overshot Turn 1 in his #888 Team GMR Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo. Thankfully, the Belgian went straight into the escape road, avoided contact, and the track stayed green.
There were two omissions from the 60-minute run. The first, as expected, was the Team NZ Aston Martin Vantage GT4. It has been withdrawn from the event following its shunt in Practice 4, reducing the field to 34 cars. The second was the #111 Racing IRC GT entered in the Invitational class.
A car that did make it out but hit trouble after just five laps was the #26 Arise Racing GT Ferrari 296 GT3. It spent most of the session in the garage being worked on with the front clip pulled off. Shea Adam reported on the broadcast that the car was experiencing sensor failures and a coolant leak.
Another car that received attention in the pit lane during the session was the #89 Team KRC BMW M4 GT3, which was spotted by TV cameras having its diffuser swapped out. It didn’t cost the team much time, though; the car quickly rejoined the session and went on to complete 22 laps.
The final practice session of the event is up next, at 10:05 am local time on Saturday morning, 13:05 UK (Friday).
Image courtesy of Bathurst 12 Hour
