Porsche leads at halfway as rain hits the Mountain

THE #912 Manthey EMA Porsche continues to lead the way as the Repco Bathurst 12 Hour passes the halfway mark.

Ayhancan Güven was behind the wheel of the #912 Porsche as the race hit the six-hour mark, with dark clouds looming over the Mountain.

Shortly after the halfway mark, rain descended on Mount Panorama, with the Safety Car deployed for a sixth time after John Holinger (#10 SupaGlass IRC GT) was taken out.

Güven led the #22 Wash It Team MPC Audi of Christopher Haase, who passed Valentino Rossi’s #46 WRT BMW at The Chase after the MotoGP legend made an error.

Rossi kicked off another round of stops as rain fell, with WRT opting for wet Pirelli tyres on the #46 BMW. 

The #912 led the field at the three-hour mark after a Safety Car restart, with Güven heading the #130 GruppeM Racing Mercedes-AMG with Felipe Fraga behind the wheel.

However, the #130 would soon serve a drive-through penalty for a pit stop breach, and dropped to 10th.

The #46 inherited second with Raffaele Marciello behind the wheel, ahead of teammate Dries Vanthoor in the sister #32 WRT BMW, and Broc Feeney in the #888 National Storage Mercedes-AMG.

Behind them were Bastian Buus (#13 Phantom Global Porsche), Kenny Habul (#75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes-AMG), Brad Schumacher (#2 KFC Team MPC Audi) and Haas (#22 Wash It Team MPC Audi).

The Safety Car was called when Hadrian Morrall crashed the #91 Wheels FX Racing IRC at Griffins Bend.

The #912 Porsche, both BMWs and the #888 Mercedes-AMG pitted, with Habul initially staying out before eventually pitting.

Matt Campbell led at the restart in the #912, from Maxime Martin (#46 WRT BMW), Charles Weerts (#32 WRT BMW), Mikael Grenier (#888 Mercedes-AMG), Jaxon Evans (#13 Porsche), Maxi Gotz (#77 Mercedes-AMG), Maro Engel (#130 Mercedes-AMG), Markus Winkelhock (#2 Audi), Kelvin van der Linde (#22 Audi), and Luca Stolz (#75 Mercedes-AMG).

The pit cycle kicked off once again after 99 laps, when Yasser Shahin (#911 The Bend Manthey EMA Porsche) was turned into the McPhillamy sand by Pro-Am rival Glen Wood (#48 Mercedes-AMG).

Under yellow, Julien Boillot spun the Invitational class #701 Vortex while exiting The Dipper. Campbell led the BMWs, the #13 Porsche, the #22 and #2 Audis, the #888 Triple Eight Mercedes-AMG, the #130 GruppeM Mercedes-AMG, the #77 Craft-Bamboo Mercedes-AMG, and the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes-AMG.

Ahead of the next round of stops, Weerts dramatically crashed out of the race in the pole-sitting #32 BMW after a collision with the #56 Ginetta GT4 of Colin White, triggering another Safety Car.

The #912 Manthey EMA Porsche again emerged in the lead with Laurens Vanthoor behind the wheel, ahead of Rossi, Kelvin van der Linde (22 Audi), Joel Eriksson (#13 Phantom Global Porsche), and Will Brown (#888 Triple Eight Mercedes-AMG). Jules Gounon, meanwhile, was 11th in the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes-AMG.

Just as Vanthoor edged away, the Ginetta triggered the fifth Safety Car when Owen Hizzey crashed.

The top 12 all pitted and Güven got back in the #912 Porsche, with Feeney passing Eriksson at Griffins Bend on the restart.

The accident for Holinger, who was sent into the wall by Ricardo Feller (#2 Audi), triggered another Safety Car, with rain forcing the field onto wet tyres.