Craft-Bamboo Mercedes leads at halfway point
A smart strategy play has the #91 Craft-Bamboo Mercedes-AMG in the lead at Mount Panorama.
Kevin Tse was at the wheel of the car as the LIQUI MOLY Bathurst 12 Hour went past the halfway mark.
Tse led Jules Gounon by 44 seconds, although the latter had eaten into what was a minute-plus margin.
The first four hours of the race included six Safety Car interventions, two for low-lying fog.
However, the race had been green for two hours once the race hit the halfway point.
Tse had completed 134 laps when the six-hour mark ticked over.
The pole-sitting #65 Audi lost 10 laps due to a compressor change in the pits.
Gounon, aboard the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes, continues to eat into the margin Am driver Tse held.
The Frenchman set the fastest lap of the race, a 2:03.668s, on lap 123.
It was an equally impressive fightback for the #91 car after two penalties for Kenny Habul.
The Craft-Bamboo squad had pitted 14 times to the halfway mark, having soaked up time in the pits early on.
The car had pitted a whopping nine times through three hours.
The #91 was running for the first time since undergoing an engine change on Saturday.
The Hong Kong squad’s entry stayed in contention thanks in part to the new Safety Car wave-by rule.
The team completed its ninth 120-second compulsory pit stop under the sixth Safety Car of the race.
Pole man Chaz Mostert and Kelvin van der Linde traded fastest laps when the race began in darkness.
Through 40 minutes, the two leading Audis were split by just 0.7s.
The first Safety Car was called after Zane Morse crashed his MARC car across the top.
Later, the #777 Audi was slapped with a penalty after Yasser Shahin was found to have breached Safety Car procedure.
A quiet achiever through the opening stanza was the #17 BRM Catan Audi.
Joey Mawson moved the car from 17th to fourth, before it took the lead with Nick Percat at the helm.
An off for Brenton Grove at Hell Corner triggered a second Safety Car, before Jack Perkins crashed at the Chase.
Another four Safety Cars, two for fog, saw the pit strategy rear its head.
There, the Craft-Bamboo team played its cards and found its way into the lead.
Daniel Juncadella handed over to Tse, who retained the margin despite a minor wall scrape at McPhillamy.
The race is scheduled to end at 5:13pm local time/plus one lap.
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