Erebus scores record time at Bathurst

Reigning Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour champions Erebus Motorsport ended the first day of action on a high by setting the fastest ever GT lap at Mount Panorama.

The #1 Erebus Mercedes SLS started the session strongly and continued to progress with former V8 Supercar racer Maro Engel blitzing the circuit to set a new event record time around the 6.2km circuit.

Engel’s 2m04.4533s effort was eight tenths of a second quicker than sister Erebus Motorsport Mercedes SLS of Will Davison, who had held the top position for a considerable amount of time.

Times kept falling as the session drew towards a conclusion with the Maranello Motorsport popping up into third with a great lap from ex-F1 star Mika Salo.

#12 McElrea Racing Porsche 997 GT3 Cup: David Calvert-Jones, Alex Davison, Patrick Long

Photo by: Bathurst 12H

The session was once agin interrupted by three red flags but this didn’t prevent a fascinating session from unfolding. The HTP Mercedes endured the biggest incident as Harold Primat hit the wall at McPhillamy, which brought out the red flags.

Dale Wood in the M Motorsport Lamborghini set the initially pace before Bastian eclipsed the effort with a 2m07.6660s. A change overt of drivers to Engel saw the former DTM star shave more time of the car’s best lap.

The Nissan GTR continued its strong performance from earlier in the day as it held a spot inside the top five for the majority of the session.

However, the last ten minutes produced a flurry of quick times. First Davison topped the times but his team mate responded with Engel storming to the top with a 2m04.4533s lap.

The #23 JBS Swift Lamborghini was the quickest in Class B with a time which was good enough for fourth overall.

Once again the Griffith Corporation Ginetta topped Class C, while the Motorline BMW headed Class D.

The #70 MARC Focus was the quickest of the three Ryan McLeod cars in the Invitational class and the #95 Abarth was the fastest in Class F.

Bathurst 12 Hour.com