Bathurst. The BMW M6 GT3 will start the Bathurst 12 Hour at
the legendary Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst (AUS) from pole
position. In the top-10 shootout on Saturday, Chaz Mostert (AUS)
topped the timesheets at the wheel of the no. 43 BMW M6 GT3 of BMW
Team Schnitzer. His fastest lap was clocked at 2:01.934 minutes. On
Sunday, Mostert will share driving duties with the two BMW DTM
drivers Marco Wittmann (GER) and Augusto Farfus (BRA).
The no. 100 BMW M6 GT3, run by BMW Team SRM, had also battled it out
on the front end of the field in all sessions. The BMW DTM drivers
Timo Glock (GER) and Philipp Eng (AUT), along with Steve Richards
(NZL), finished third in qualifying. However, due to a
disqualification they missed the shootout and will start from the back
of the grid.
The new BMW M4 GT4 has celebrated a successful Australian debut so
far. In the GT4 category, BMW teams locked out the top-3 positions on
the grid. The no. 30 Boat Works Racing BMW M4 GT4 with Tony Longhurst,
Matt Brabham and Aaron Seton (all AUS) at the wheel will start from
pole. The no. 44 BMW M4 GT4 of BMW Team SRM, driven by the Australian
trio of Dean Grant, Xavier West and Cameron Hill, came second. The
third-fastest lap time was set by the no. 13 BMW M4 GT4, fielded by
Team RHC Lawrence/Strom. It will be driven by Daren Jorgensen, Cameron
Lawrence, Brett Strom (all USA) and Kuno Wittmer (CAN) in Sunday’s
12-hour race that will go green at 5:45hrs local time.
Reactions on qualifying for the Bathurst 12 Hour.
Chaz Mostert (BMW Team Schnitzer, No. 43 BMW M6 GT3):
“It is fantastic and still a bit unreal for me. It is a great reward
for the team who flew in from Germany and put a pretty quick car on
the track. I am just driving the magnificent car they gave me.”
Marco Wittmann (BMW Team Schnitzer, No. 43 BMW M6 GT3):
“It’s great. Chaz did a fantastic lap, unbelievable. The whole
weekend we’ve been competitive, we’ve been in the top three all the
way through practice. We had a quick car, and then Chaz put together a
perfect lap with no mistakes.”
Augusto Farfus (BMW Team Schnitzer, No. 43 BMW M6 GT3):
“What a lap by Chaz. We had the best guy behind the wheel for the
shootout, he did an awesome job. We’ve been working together really
well all weekend, and I’m looking forward to pushing hard tomorrow.”