+ Porsche and BMW complete overall podium
+ Independent Cup winner Li enjoys dream IGTC debut with second overall
+ Top two fight through form 29th and 30th on the grid
+ Result: Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour
Mercedes-AMG began the new Intercontinental GT Challenge season in style by scoring a record-breaking fourth Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour victory. It was also a first win at Australia’s International Enduro for GMR, Maxime Martin, Mikael Grenier and Maro Engel who finally triumphed at Mount Panorama on his 10th attempt.
They beat the High Class Racing Porsche shared by Independent Cup winner Kerong Li and his co-drivers Anders Fjordbach and Dorian Boccolacci by just one second. The trio belied their Bronze class status to not only win their category but also out-perform the plethora of factory crews that finished behind.
Even more remarkably, but perhaps indicative of this race’s unpredictable nature, the top two achieved their results despite starting 29th and 30th, respectively. In doing so, GMR comfortably broke the event record of 11th that had stood since 2020.
An attendance figure of 55,231 was also an all-time high, while 13 cars finished on the lead lap – another new benchmark for the race.
BMW began the defence of its IGTC titles by completing the podium with WRT’s Raffaele Marciello, Augusto Farfus and Valentino Rossi who led home the Jamec/MPC Audi and Team KRC’s M4 driven by Tony Ruan, Maxime Oosten and Max Hesse.
Absolute’s Porsche rounded out the overall top six and IGTC’s first five entries.
Late clash hands GMR victory
After fighting through its lowly grid slot, GMR found itself in prime position when long-time leaders 75 Express and WRT’s #32 BMW came to blows with 40 minutes remaining
The race ebbed and flowed over the first eight hours with the likes of Craft-Bamboo, JMR’s #2 Corvette and the #46 BMW all spending time out front. GMR also ran first at half distance before dropping to third during a Safety Car period that benefitted the other two front running Mercedes-AMGs.
Those circumstances would have a huge bearing on the race when leader Ralf Aron was the first to encounter Johannes Zelger’s stationary Porsche at The Dipper. Luca Stolz and Engel were fortunate to escape damage in the resulting impact, which triggered an immediate red flag with three hours and 40 minutes remaining. Both drivers extricated themselves from their cars before Aron was transferred to a nearby hospital for further assessment.
Stolz inherited the lead when the race restarted 55 minutes later and remained there until Jules Gounon climbed aboard at the penultimate round of pitstops. He emerged just ahead of Martin, who’d taken over from Engel, to consolidate the track position that should have given 75 Express a comparatively straightforward run to the chequered flag.
Two more Mercedes-AMGs would flip the script, however, when Jayden Ojeda and Chaz Mostert came to blows on the exit of Griffins Bend, triggering the 10th and final pitstop. But while most of the field elected to make their final stops, WRT rolled the dice by leaving its #32 BMW on track. That car spent most of the race reclaiming a lost lap after sustaining front-end damage at the start, but now found itself ideally placed to repeat the victory from 12 months prior.
Everything changed at the restart, however, when Van der Linde and Gounon collided going into Hell Corner. Both cars sustained damage and ran wide, leaving Martin the simple task of diving to the inside and into the lead.
He was never troubled thereafter despite Boccolacci remaining a second or so behind in the Porsche that had also successfully overcome its lowly grid position.
75 Express’ damage saw Gounon slip to seventh overall in the final reckoning, although his co-driver Kenny Habul did at least finish second in the Independent Cup classification.
EBM’s Porsche was eighth overall following several wild off track moments on the exit of Hell Corner, while Arise Racing’s Ferraris – the second running under the Ziggo Sport Tempesta banner – completed the top 10. The latter was also an Independent Cup podium finisher courtesy of Jonathan Hui.
IGTC’s other full-season manufacturers endured a mix of early disappointment and unfulfilled potential. Ford’s Intercontinental debut was less than 20 minutes old when Chris Mies struck a kangaroo on Conrod Straight, which caused significant damage to the Mustang and left its driver in a state of shock. Chevrolet, meanwhile, remained in the lead battle despite a drive-through penalty until its Pro entry sustained a mechanical failure heading over Skyline, pitching Earl Bamber into retirement with 90 minutes to go.
Victory leaves Mercedes-AMG five points clear of Porsche at the top of IGTC’s manufacturers’ standings ahead of round two at the ADAC Ravenol 24h Nürburgring on May 14-17.
