Crashes, Safety Cars headline remarkable start to 2025 12 Hour
Four cars out after first three hours in Bathurst
Chaz Mostert charged from fifth to lead in opening hour
Craig Lowndes crashes out, three cars crash at Skyline
Incidents and Safety Cars have punctuated an extraordinary start to the Meguiar's Bathurst 12 Hour, with four cars already out of the race after the two-hour mark.
A stunning first stint from Chaz Mostert helped put Arise Racing GT and Ferrari into an early lead, which got underway in dramatic scenes on Mountain Straight.
Later, three Safety Cars were called after the race breached two hours, first for a beached Maximilian Gotz (#77 Mercedes-AMG), before two more following big crashes at Skyline.
A collision between the #25 McLaren and #44 Audi triggered the second Safety Car, before Stephen Grove (#4 Mercedes-AMG) suffered a scary hit following contact with Kenny Habul (#75 Mercedes-AMG). The #4, #25 and #44 joined the #222 Mercedes-AMG in retirement, with two-time winner Craig Lowndes crashing across the top of the Mountain.
At the 60-minute mark, Mostert led the pole-sitting #77 Craft-Bamboo Mercedes-AMG by nine seconds, having taken the race lead through The Chase. The pass for the lead came after Mostert started fifth, and had the best view of arguably the most dramatic race start in Bathurst 12 Hour history.
As the field was released to green, understeer for Gotz invited Ricardo Feller (#183 Audi) and Maro Engel (#888 Mercedes-AMG) to attack up Mountain Straight. The moment led to a barely-believable three-wide run to Griffins Bend, with Gotz hanging on as Engel rounded up Feller.
As the race wore on, Mostert emerged as the pace-setter in the #26 Arise Ferrari, passing Augusto Farfus (#32 BMW) before hunting down the leaders. Mostert was second by the eighth lap, and caught Gotz before getting by the #888.
From there, Mostert stretched his legs, the lead breaching 10 seconds by the 65-minute mark.
The race was held in earnest behind Mostert, Jamie Day (#14 Aston Martin) surviving a clash with the wall under the Reid Park tree.
Gotz tried to respond to Mostert with fastest first sector on his 19th lap, and it again on 20th lap. Feller also regained fourth from Engel through Murray's Corner at 57-minute mark, but no one had an answer to Mostert as the first pit stops approached.
At the hour mark, Mostert's #26 Ferrari led Gotz (#77 Mercedes-AMG), Farfus (#46 BMW), Feller (#183 Audi) and Engel (#888 Mercedes-AMG).
Following the first stop, the race turned on its head when a racy Gotz drew alongside Will Brown into Murray's Corner. Contact sent the #77 Mercedes-AMG into the sand trap, and Gotz beached, the Safety Car was deployed. WRT BMW and GruppeM were given a free kick, with Brown slotting the #26 into fourth.
To green, Farfus (#32 BMW) led teammate Valentino Rossi's #46 BMW, which had started 12th. Maxime Martin (#888 Mercedes-AMG), was third ahead of Ian James in Heart of Racing's #27 Pro-Am Mercedes-AMG, with Brown (#26 Ferrari) fifth.
Ayhancan Guven, who had started 11th, had pushed the #911 Absolute Racing Porsche into contention, with Habul (#75 Mercedes-AMG) ahead of Lowndes (#222 Mercedes-AMG).
Stewards advised no further investigation over the Gotz/Brown`clash as Farfus took the restart, with James bowling a wide at Murray's Corner. The lapped Gotz baulked and was hit by Brown, with Guven and Lowndes just behind. Behind them, Dean Fiore (#9 Audi) sent the Ryan Sorensen #25 McLaren into a spin at Griffins Bend.
GruppeM's race then suffered a hit after the #888 was slapped with a drive-through penalty over a breach of Safety Car procedure, with Martin forced to hold under the second Safety Car. Habul hit James at The Chase, with the #75 hit with a 15-second penalty and also forced to hold.
Lowndes pulled over after The Chase with rear suspension damage, rubbing the #222 out on the spot. Shortly afterwards, Liam Talbot (#183 Audi) put a bold move on Habul at Griffins Bend, only for the #183 to suffer a puncture.
Before the #25 and #44 collided, Farfus led Rossi by 1.3s, with Martin 2.1s down. Brown was 18.5s behind, ahead of Guven and Mateo Villagomez (#14 Aston Martin).
The second caution was called after Sorensen lost the #25 McLaren at Skyline, crashing on driver's left. Zalloua had nowhere to go, with the #44 stopping on the run out of Forrests Elbow.
Under Safety Car, Rossi jumped the #32 as Farfus handed over to Kelvin van der Linde. The #32 wouldn't turn over, gifting the place to the #46, as Guven took over the race lead from Villagomez.
The race ran green for nearly 30 minutes before Habul and Grove collided, the latter walking away from the crash, which saw the #4 tipped onto its side following the hit. No further investigation was required over the incident.
