Hour 3 Update:
Many teams took the second round of stops to do their first driver change. Bernd Schneider took over from Nico Bastian in the leading Mercedes SLS, while Will Davison took over the other Erebus entry. Dale Wood took over from Steven Richards, who had a mega battle for fourth with the Phoenix Racing Audi, which would be taken over by Rene Rast. The Clearwater Racing Ferrari hit the wall on approach to McPhillamy Park, moments after spinning at The Chase. The contact ripped the right rear wheel off the car, dumping fluid over the racing line. Many cars went off in the sand trap, avoiding the 458, but the Nissan GT-R, now steered by Katsumasa Chiyo smashed into the side of the motionless chrome Ferrari. Thankfully, both Chiyo and Hamaguachi (the pilot of the Clearwater entry at the time) stepped out of their respective cars under their own power. The massive incident brought out the third safety car of the day. Schneider leads from Rast, and the Class B Rotek Racing Audi R8 is in third. The top eight cars are on the lead lap.
(Above image provided by @samios4 on Twitter)
Hour 2 Update:
While its sister car dropped a lap repairing its splitter, the #1 Erebus Mercedes maintained its lead after the first round of stops. The second safety car came when the Motionsport Lotus bogged down in the sand trap at The Chase. Thomas Jaeger's aggressive driving in the first hour caught up with him, when smoke started coming from the right front as the field was about to back to green. Jaeger brought his HTP Motorsport SLS into the lane to fix damage caused by contact with Rick Kelly; they rejoined three laps down, with Harold Primat taking over driving duties. The second hour ended with Nico Bastian holding the lead for Erebus, the VIP Holdings McLaren in second, and a battle for third between Kelly's GT-R, Richards in the #48 Gallardo, and Laurens Vanthoor in the Phoenix Audi R8. Marcus Winkelhock lowered the lap record to 2:04.59.
(Photo provided by Speedcafe)
Hour 1 Update:
Just laps after the green flag, the first safety car appeared due to unusual circumstances. Well, unusual for everthing except Bathurst. The #63 Erebus Motorsport Merecedes SLS made contact with a kangaroo, damaging its splitter. The kangaroo then flew into the path of the #23 Reiter Lamborghini, resulting in heavy damage. The day ended just 10 minutes in for the #23 Gallardo, more bad luck for Peter Kox and David Russell at Mount Panorama. Kox was already suffering from a roll of tape flying into the pedal box after it was left in the car by a camera man. Unlike its sister entry, the #1 Erebus SLS had a flawless start from pole, leading the entire first hour. The lap record was lowered quickly, eventually to 2:04 .8075 by Craig Lowndes in the Maranello Ferrari. The HTP Motorsport Mercedes, started by Thomas Jaegar, charged through the field, making light contact with the Nissan GT-R and suscessfully pulling off a risky move at the final corner for third.
(Follow @RennsportStaff on Twitter for more updates)
Bathurst Hourly Updates