Plenty of action on track and in the pits for our eight cars in the Bathurst 6 Hour, RA Cup and GT at Mount Panorama today – here are the key points.
RA Cup
Peter Paddon and Chris Perini finished second and third outright in a chaotic opening race of the season for the RA Cup.
Pit strategy worked to both drivers’ advantage, as they had completed their compulsory pit stops when the Safety Car was deployed due to a crash for Phil Anseline at Forrest Elbow, but the short-term sacrifice of track position left them buried in the field when the race restarted.
Determined not to be delayed by the slower cars ahead of them, Paddon and Perini both pulled off some spectacular overtaking manoeuvres across the top of the Mountain as they fought back to the front of the field. They chased hard after the race leader, Brad Shiels, and fell just short at the chequered flag.
Apart from Anseline, the other GWR car of Steve Champion was a disappointed mid-race retirement with mechanical problems while holding down a top-five position.
Bathurst 6 Hour
Car #45 – Michael Sheargold/Ollie Shannon/Brett Hobson
A superb effort in qualifying by Ollie Shannon landed the #45 Mercedes A45 AMG pole position in Class A1 (ninth outright). Shannon made the most of some relatively clear track late in the session to record the car’s fastest time of the weekend. The car ran faultlessly apart for some brake temperature issues in this morning’s practice session, but these were resolved in time for qualifying.
Car #42 – Garth Walden/Michael Auld
Some turbo boost issues caused Walden to miss the first half of qualifying, but he returned to the track in time to punch out the car’s best time of the weekend, scoring second on the grid in Class A1 and 10th outright. Both drivers are confident with the car’s race pace.
Car #15 – Ben Kavich/Michael Kavich
Some excellent work from the GWR team resolved the Kavich’s clutch dramas from yesterday, with Ben qualifying sixth in Class A1 and 19th outright. Both drivers are evenly matched in pace and looking forward to the 6 Hour tomorrow.
GT World Challenge
Brett Hobson qualified his Nissan GTR an outstanding second outright and challenged for the lead early in today’s race before taking his compulsory pit stop. After the pit stop cycle was complete, Hobson emerged inside the top five outright and second in the GT Trophy Class, but was forced to slow with a late-race vibration and fell to third in the Trophy Class (eighth outright) at the chequered flag.
Stay tuned for all the action tomorrow on 7MATE and 7PLUS and check out the schedule here: https://bathurst6hour.com.au/calendar/round-2-bathurst-6-hour/
