Engel resets 12 Hour lap record in qualifying

Maro Engel has set the fastest LIQUI MOLY Bathurst 12 Hour lap in thrilling qualifying at Mount Panorama.

Engel laid down a 2:01.0536s to dominate proceedings in the #999 GruppeM Mercedes-AMG.

The German driver’s time undercut the previous benchmark set by Shane van Gisbergen in 2016.

Seven years ago, van Gisbergen — aboard a McLaren — clocked a 2:01.2860s en route to pole.

Come 2023, and Engel — who finished second last year — wiped 0.2324s off van Gisbergen’s time.

Engel’s efforts came in two-part qualifying, with the Shootout running order set off aggregate times.

The #999 GruppeM Mercedes-AMG scored provisional pole, and will be in the second part of the Pirelli Top 10 Shootout.

Engel and Raffaele Marciello took provisional pole with an aggregate time of 4:02.567s.

The #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes-AMG was second on a 4:03.066s.

Third was the #888 Mercedes-AMG on a 4:03.483s, ahead of the #912 Porsche (4:04.080s) and the #32 BMW (4:04.115s).

The second 50 per cent was led by the #46 BMW (4:04.457s), with the #74 Audi (4:05.404s) seventh.

Mostert’s #65 Audi (4:05.512s) was eighth ahead of the #77 Craft-Bamboo Mercedes (4:05.516s) and #44 Valmont Mercedes (4:06.121s).

Two pros were required to set a lap time in the cars in the top class.

Richie Stanaway set the early running with a 2:04.3717s in the #99 Triple Eight Mercedes-AMG.

Engel then left his rivals for dead, first with a 2:01.7072s on his second flyer before nailing a 2:01.0536s.

Sheldon van der Linde(#32 BMW) punched in a 2:01.7072s with Chaz Mostert (#65 Audi) moving to third with a 2:01.9659s.

Matt Campbell, who topped Practice 5, jumped to second with a 2:01.6146s, but still had half a second to find on Engel.

Mostert, being in a Pro-Am car, remained in the #65 Audi. Meanwhile, the Pro class entries began to switch drivers.

The Supercars star looked to challenge Engel’s time, but caught Daniel Gaunt at The Chase and failed to improve his time.

Luca Stolz took over from Jules Gounon and set a rapid pace, first with a 2:01.5705s, then a 2:01.4154s, and finally a 2:01.3210s.

Broc Feeney shot the Supercheap Auto-backed #888 Triple Eight Mercedes-AMG to third on the timing screen.

Feeney clocked a 2:01.4773s before turning in 2:01.4359s — both laps were faster than Maximilian Gotz’s 2:02.0471s earlier in the session.

Shane van Gisbergen, meanwhile, didn’t take part at all as Feeney and Gotz took the reins.

Mostert pushed in a 2:01.9462s before setting a 2:01.7353s to jump to sixth. He then moved to fourth on a 2:01.5647s.

By session’s end, the top 10 was the #999 Mercedes-AMG, the #75 Mercedes-AMG, the #888 Mercedes-AMG, the #65 Audi, the #912 Porsche, the #32 BMW, the #99 Mercedes-AMG, the #55 Audi, the #46 WRT BMW, and the #777 MPC Audi.

Earlier, Dylan O’Keeffe (#10 Audi) went fastest in Q1 with a 2:02.5652s.

The Q1 segment was halted due to a crash at Hell Corner for Grant Donaldson in the #111 MARC entry.

The two-part fight for the Allan Simonsen Pole Award will commence at 4:10pm local time.

Provisional top 10: LIQUI MOLY Bathurst 12 Hour