BATHURST 12H: Defending Champions lead at halfway point of race
2022 LIQUI MOLY Bathurst 12 Hour Champions, SunEnergy1 Racing, led by Mount Panorama resident and 2022 race winner Kenny Habul, has taken the lead halfway through today’s race.
The team cleverly utilized Safety Car stops to perform a short-stop and secure the top spot.
French driver Jules Gounon was at the wheel of the #75 Mercedes-AMG when the race passed the six-hour mark.
Rounding out the top three were Mathieu Jaminet in the #912 Manthey EMA Porsche and Raffaele Marciello in the #999 GruppeM Mercedes-AMG.
The lead battle was closely contested, with Shane van Gisbergen taking the lead in the fourth hour after the Aaron Cameron-Theo Koundouris accident.
The race was neutralized for a third time with eight hours remaining due to the stranded #19 Mercedes GT4.
After the green flag was raised, the Porsche, BMWs, and Mercedes all changed drivers, leading to Thomas Preining of the #912 Manthey Porsche taking the lead.
Van Gisbergen took over the #888, while Feeney took over on the 118th lap after van Gisbergen was forced to deny Farfus at The Chase.
Marciello had to wait over five hours for his first laps after taking over from Engel on the 131st lap.
A short stop for the #75 Mercedes-AMG saw SunEnergy1 take over the lead. Feeney made the #888’s fifth stop on the 154th lap, allowing Jaminet to take a break from the 25-lap battle.
To the midway point, four cars had been withdrawn from the race — the #74 Audi, #4 Porsche, #6 Lamborghini, and #44 Mercedes-AMG.
Valentino Rossi was impressive behind the wheel in his Bathurst acing debut holding down their position for his team without losing track position to any of the other more experienced GT drivers, even chasing Supercars Champion van Gisbergen for several laps.
Despite completing seven stops and a drive-through penalty, SunEnergy1’s clever strategy kept them in the lead.
Scenes from Bathurst 12H
Race Start
Pre-Dawn Action
Pre-Dawn Action
