GruppeM, SunEnergy1 in effective lead battle

SunEnergy1 Racing and GruppeM are battling into the final three hours, with Mercedes rivals Triple Eight stung by a penalty.

The #75 Mercedes-AMG was a comfortable leader through the third quarter of the 2023 12 Hour.

Luca Stolz and Raffaele Marciello (#999 GruppeM Mercedes-AMG) traded blows, with Mathieu Jaminet third (#912 Manthey EMA Porsche).

Mercedes stablemates Triple Eight, meanwhile, saw its hopes evaporate after the team’s #888 copped a drive-through penalty.

The race ran green for nearly three hours following the third Safety Car for the stricken #19 Mercedes GT4.

Later, a crash for Scott Taylor across Brock’s Skyline ended the long run of green flag running.

However, the race again ran green into the final three hours, with the #75 and #999 still in prime position.

Chaz Mostert again demonstrated the pace of the #65 Audi, and set the fastest lap — a 2:02.1683s — on the 169th lap.

However, the #65 remained on the comeback trail after losing a lap earlier in the race.

Notably, Mostert passed the #32 BMW of Charles Weerts at The Chase.

Taylor’s crash triggered a flurry of activity in pit lane, with SunEnergy1 spearhead Jules Gounon staying out as those behind changed drivers.

Matt Campbell handed over to Thomas Preining, Marciello to Maro Engel, Weerts to Sheldon van der Linde, and Valentino Rossi to Maxime Martin.

Broc Feeney also handed the #888 Supercheap Auto Mercedes-AMG to Shane van Gisbergen.

Gounon led Preining, Engel, van Gisbergen, van der Linde, Martin and Philip Ellis (#77 Craft-Bamboo Mercedes-AMG) to green.

Battling on cold tyres, van Gisbergen dropped like a stone from fourth to seventh. Ellis, meanwhile, fought from seventh to fourth.

Gounon battled Engel, Preining fought van der Linde, and Ellis staved off Martin.

At the 7h45m mark, Gounon handed over to Stolz and resumed back in sixth place behind van Gisbergen.

Engel enjoyed into a big lead over Preining until the next round of stops at the 8h30m mark.

Preining, van der Linde and Martin handed over to Jaminet, Dries Vanthoor and Augusto Farfus respectively.

Engel then stopped a lap later, handing the #999 car back to Marciello.

Maximilian Gotz took over the #888 Mercedes in the fateful stop, with a crew member adjusting the rear wing in pit lane.

Stolz and Marciello were separated by 10 seconds until Stolz pitted on the nine-hour mark.

With 2h45m remaining, Marciello led Jaminet by 28.3s, with Vanthoor, Stolz, Farfus, Gotz and Nicky Catsburg (77 Mercedes-AMG) behind.

On the 9h28m mark, Team WRT's hopes were also stung when the #46's rear lights required cleaning.