Bentley leads the way into qualifying

FINAL practice before today's qualifying sessions for the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour has seen Bentley lead the way and only just missing out on a sub-2:03 lap time in the progress.

Frenchman Jules Gounon piloted the #107 Bentley Continental GT3 to the top spot in the last 20 minutes of the session, taking advantage of a clear track to post a time of 2:03.0801.

His time came shortly after the session was restarted, coming to a halt 40 minutes in due to the weekend's sixth red flag thanks to another accident at The Chase.

Approaching the entry to The Chase on a fast lap, David Crampton, driving the #50 Class C KTM, was caught off guard by the freshly repaired #51 Spirit of Race Ferrari, driven by Paul Dalla Lana, diving up the inside.

The contact sent the KTM through the gravel trap, washing off speed before coming back across the track with minor bodywork damage and a puncture.

A brief stoppage to clear the track saw the session quickly restarted, allowing the cars to hit the track for a final 20 minute sprint.

Before the restart it was Audi Sport Team Valvoline driver Christopher Hasse at the top of the order, getting around Mount Panorama in a time of 2:03.3936 around the session's halfway mark in the #2 Audi R8.

With the Class A cars dominating the top spots, it was Anton de Pasquale in the #91 Class I MARC Cars entry who threatened the faster cars, his time of 2:05.5140 good enough for 23rd overall at the end of the session.

Again the #4 Grove Group Porsche 911 entry was quickest in Class B with the M Motorsport #48 KTM ending up on top of Class C.

Qualifying kicks off at 11:20 for all classes while Class A gets the track all to themselves from 12:05, setting the provisional grid ahead of this afternoon's top ten shootout.

Words: Jordan Mulach