Schnitzer BMW quickest again in Practice 3

THE #43 BMW Team Schnitzer M6 GT3 has gone fastest by 0.04s in the third practice session of the weekend ahead of the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.

Augusto Farfus set a 2:03.429s in the 45-minute hit out aboard the car before handing the M6 over to his co-drivers for the rest of the session.

Jamec Pem Racing's #22 Audi ended the session second quickest from the sister #74 car, making it three German brands in the top three, with a mere 0.2s covering the three cars.

Fourth fastest was the #100 BMW Team SRM M6 while Craft-Bamboo Racing rounded out the top five.

Leading the time sheets in Class B was the #23 Team Carrera Cup Asia Porsche, which experienced issues at the beginning of the session after it briefly stopped out on track causing a red flag.

The car managed to return to pit lane under it's own steam with what was believed to be a miss-firing issue, while Grove Racing took out second in class with the #4 car.

Boat Works Racing claimed the top spot in Class C with their #30 BMW M4 GT4, from a similar car of BMW Team SRM who grabbed second with the #44.

In Class I, the #91 MARC Cars Australia Mustang took the honours ahead of the #66 Daytona Sportscars Australia Dodge Viper in second.

The #22 Jamec Pem Audi of Garth Tander lead the times early on from the #12 Competition Motorsports Porsche ahead of a raft of other Audis.

Just as the 20-minute mark ticked over, the #43 Schnitzer BMW of Farfus jumped to the top with a 2:04.226, while the #100 BMW Team SRM car of Timo Glock slotted into P2.

Farfus, who also topped Practice 2 earlier in the day, improved on his time a lap later to knock the benchmark down to a 2:03.429 which ultimately ended up being the fastest lap of the session.

As it moved into the final 10-minutes, Laurens Vanthoor nicked third place aboard the #991 Craft-Bamboo Racing Porsche as the two Jamec Pem Audis continued to run strong in the top five.

After being pipped down the order slightly, the #74 Audi moved itself into third during the closing stages of the session as further down the field, the #56 Mercedes-AMG Team Strakka Racing car occupied eighth.

The #911 Manthey-Racing Porsche finished up in 24th overall, while the two Bentley's took out 17th and 34th overall.

Needing recovery from the top of the Mountain after the checkered flag was the #11 Objective Racing McLaren 650s GT3, which stopped on track out of the way during the session.

The fourth and final practice session for the day takes place at 13:35 local time.

Session results.

Track schedule.

Click here for live audio commentary during the session from radiolemans.com.

BY: Slade Perrins.